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Went down to start working on the my dads Trawler I will be moving into over this year. Had the bottom blasted last year and did some test sanding Sunday just to see what i was in for. Quickly it became apparent "you're going to need a bigger sander"( think the line in Jaws ) my milwaukie 5" just is not going to have enough beans. .....or it will take an eon to get er done. Any suggestions on heavy duty moderately priced ra sanders. Not sure i am up for spending th $$ for a Fein or Festool though maybe i coul be talked into it. Looking for something between areal pro machine like that and my 5" palm model.

All the best
Giff

Giff how about some pics of the trawler

electric or pneumatic? If pneumatic, look at Dynabrade.

Giff-
The purchase pain of my Festool 125 is long forgotten with only the occasional reminder when I buy abrasives. I think I get a better job than my skill set + my old DeWalt DA could achieve in less time and with a cleaner work area as I have it paired with a vac. It's also reasonably quiet which I did not consider before purchase but has become important when working at night while the family is asleep.
If you are working on the bottom and will be holding the unit above you then I think it (and maybe any of the electric models?) might be heavy and the pneumatic ones are the way to go.
You are more than welcome to try mine out if that helps you.
Best,
Stephan

Giff,
If possible put the money towards paying someone else to do it. The reason I say that is because I have done it. I found it far less painful to pay a pro. Down here it cost me about a 900 American dollars to have all the bottom paint removed! They have the right tools and can do it in a day.
Sanding bottom paint is probably one of the projects I hated the most over the past 10 years. I'd rather try and lift an engine out of the boat without a hoist or fork lift.

Giff, the Festool I have is far lighter than the porter cable I also have. After hours of holding it overhead, it makes a huge difference.

Or pay someone, which is much easier for this particular type of work, but tougher on the wallet.

I think it will cost you more than 900, but I get it. Consider the weight difference and that you will be working the sander pretty hard!

Dug

I ended up using a chisel and a stone to keep it sharp. It wasn't a fun job and at first the chisel might seem like too small of a tool, but each pass of the chisel removed all the paint at once. It took it off in chunks so it kept the dust down and the only noise was grunts and groans with a few curse words. A 11/2 chisel can clear a 1sq ft area pretty quickly. It depends on your stamina as to how quickly you can link a few 1sqft areas together and how much ambition you have but I found it to be an efficient method.

Then again that was 15 years ago. Today I would like to think I'd spend the money to have it done but in reality I just paint it and leave it for next year......again!

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Hopefully these non Bertram shots are ok. Computer is dead, but i finally figured out how to do images with the ipad. Thanks all for the inputs. Actully i had the paint blasted off already. Need to do 1 cut, then fill and fair, so 2x time 41 feet. Plus many other projects on the radar screen including recoreing the decks at some point.

I checked the festool out looks like a nice machine. I don"t need much push to go high end on a tool. Stephen is yours the rotex model? May take you up on your offer if i don' get trigger happy. JD has as good a price as anywhere. Now....5"(125) or 6"(150). I am figureing with the size of this boat 6"....but almost the whole job is overhead, so that means 5"? Or just butch up? As far as doing myself vs outsource, i figure the barrier job is critical to get right, so i am incline to do it myself. How about you Dug, which model do you have? Don"t have portable air, so that kind of rules out the air models. I think i might just head down to JD so i can handle each one.

Keep the inputs coming....as always very helpful.

The pictures confirm the advice that it should be a paid job - that's a lot of surface area.

Giff-
Mine is the Rotax model http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... o?pid=3989. PM me for a time/date to come pick it up if you like.
I do know some guys who have gone with the Festool sanders but prefer the Fein vacs thinking they are more durable.
Best,
S

Gif,

My sander is in CT, so I can see the model over the weekend. Not sure what it is...

I'll check!

Dug

+1 for the Festool. I have the RO125. works great for sanding (not grinding). I use the Granat disks from 36 to 80 for general material removal and fiberglass prep. Brilliant disks for finishing work and wood.

I use the Festool hose connected to my cheap Jet dust collector - works great!

All-

Thanks on the inputs...especilly the gracous offer from Stephen for a test drive. Went with the Festool RO 150. Almost done....but i am one sore ass dude. Need lots of vitamin b. ( beer)

After stripping, moistiure readings are fairly dry until imget to keel, then the meter pins. No blisters down there....but seem like lots of water. Am thinking it is on the inside. Should i be worried? Everthing seems solid.

Br
Giff

gplume wrote:After stripping, moistiure readings are fairly dry until imget to keel, then the meter pins. No blisters down there....but seem like lots of water. Am thinking it is on the inside. Should i be worried? Everthing seems solid

How long has she been out of the water?!... Was the bilge dry all that time?!... People think FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) is nonporous... But it isn't... Hence the barrier coats for moored boats... Water WILL "soak" into the FRP... From the outside and/or from the inside... If it's just near the keel I would say you're OK... Probably nothing more then some bilge water... If you would have had a barrier coat on the inside you wouldn't have had that either... But then again, I don't know anybody who does that...

Navatech wrote:
How long has she been out of the water?!... Was the bilge dry all that time?!... People think FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) is nonporous... But it isn't... Hence the barrier coats for moored boats... Water WILL "soak" into the FRP... From the outside and/or from the inside... If it's just near the keel I would say you're OK... Probably nothing more then some bilge water... If you would have had a barrier coat on the inside you wouldn't have had that either... But then again, I don't know anybody who does that...

Nav,

When I repowered, I painted my bilge on the back half with inter protect then bilge coat.