Best Detail Sander

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froggy3k

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2001
RO Number
4247
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437
Hi, I'm in the process of refinishing my toe rail by taking down to wood. The paint was chipping so wooding it is really my only option. I've made good headway using a Porter Cable electric DA. Now I'm at a point to get close to the stantions, cleats,etc. The heat gun works to a point. I'm looking for a power sander that would work well in this case. I see Dremel has a neat one (mini-max I think) for about $100 but the replacement paper is expensive and only available in small packs.
What do the masters say?
Thx in advance!
Chris
 
I've refinished all the of the bright wood on a 1955 Chris-Craft. If you want a bright finish then sanding with the grain produces the best result. Paint is different. Orbital sanders or disc sanders don't work for this (cross grain scratches are tragic if you use stain) and a belt sander is too aggressive.

For best results, remove all attached hardware prior to sanding.

I did it all by sanding through the numbers with sandpaper and rubber hand sanding blocks. Use the heavy rubber block for flat areas and a light block for curving areas if you want. Those are Ace Hardware items. I also use a long block with 3M Stick-it sandpaper on planks, but you aren't going to need this. You would be surprised just how fast you can sand with a hand block. Use long strokes. Some guys count the strokes to maintain even sanding.

My guess is that a Dremel or other rotary tool would be both too aggressive and too slow for this job.
 
Yep. Hands and fingers can do the job. If you will refinish with paint then you could mask off the hardware next to the wood and fold up little pieces of sandpaper to get as close as possible. I would not recommend this for any bright finish.

The best solution is to remove all hardware first. Think of this as an opportunity. You can take off the hardware, polish it, get a nice new finish on the wood and refasten the hardware with fresh bedding compound like Sikaflex 291. Freshly bedded and refastened, you won't have to worry about any leaks for a long time.
 
Thanks to both of you. My toe rail has had repairs in the past so varnish would be too labor intensive. It had paint and looked well. Yzer, my rail would NEVER looks like yours regardless what I did. I only have about 6 weeks to complete this under cover (working full time so only an hour or so at night and w/e's). After that, we go back in the open. On a 47', that's a lot of hardware. The aft portion I can't remove everyting due to the hard aft enclosure.
I guess I'll take a bottle of pain pills and start maskin' and sandin'. We'll see how that goes. Maybe if I burn enough off with the heat gun it won't be so bad....
Thx Again!
 
Good luck! Paint looks great. If the wood doesn't look that bad after you get it stripped and sanded, consider a finish like Bristol Finish over stain. I'm active on the Chris-Craft Antique Boat Forum and guys with big wooden cruisers that are kept in the open like Bristol Finish instead of varnish. Bristol will require yearly recoats while paint can go for years without recoating. Varnish in the open (not covered) may require one to four recoats per year depending how far south you are located.
 
Thx again. I have my hands full just keeping up with what I have. Since 01, the hull has only seen wax once. Doesn't look too bad, but I'd love it to be reeeeel shiny. Maybe I should just retire.... Na, have to sell the boat then.
 
quote:
Originally posted by froggy3k

Thx again. I have my hands full just keeping up with what I have. Since 01, the hull has only seen wax once. Doesn't look too bad, but I'd love it to be reeeeel shiny. Maybe I should just retire.... Na, have to sell the boat then.

Click to expand...


Retiring is not the panacea. The list of jobs to do and/or things you want to do just expands to overfill the time available.

George
 
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