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My 25 has a brand new Coosa deck installed and glassed (polyester) with a spray of white gel coat over the top for curing. No penetrations made yet. It's essentially a 25 foot long, by 9 foot wide rough surface in need of leveling and fairing before final finishes are applied.

What tool(s) should I use for this process? I have an Festool RO125 sander and a 7" sander/polisher, but these are round tools and tend to dish the surface adding to the work load. The 4 1/2" angle grinder will tear everthing apart. I've been looking at the Festool RS2e 1/2 sheet sander http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tools/s ... der-567696" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and for air powered options, the Hutchins line of tools http://www.hutchinsmfg.com/Catalog.aspx?catid=30669" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I can rent an air compressor.

The Festool is short stroke "finish" sander which may work but might take a long time. There are so many choices in the Hutchins catalog that I can't make a decision - straight line? orbital? 2 3/4" wide?

I'd like to use the same tool for removing all the paint from the hull sides, if practical.

Any suggestions? Thanks! Cam

Cam-
I have the Festool RO 125 and the LS 130 (http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tools/s ... der-567852" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) which I guess is the short stroke finish sander you reference.
I used the LS 130 for preparing Mahogany and Oak before varnishing, wanting to sand with the grain. The linear action of that sander was perfect for the job. I do not think of that sander as usefull for removing lots of material. I used the RO 125 for that.
I have had success with the softer baking pads on the RO 125 for finish work though I have not had anywhere near as large and flat a surface as you have.
Lacking the experience and wisom of others here I think I'd be planning on a mess of AwlFair and a 30 inch longboard (http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... nches+long" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) I also anticipate I'd work until my spirit was broken and then tell myself that it was going to be under non-skid and fib to myself that the non-skid would hide it - knowing it won't.
Best,
Stephan

Cam: Random Orbital sander is the only way to go for initial finishing and fairing! Dynabrade if you have a good compressed air supply or Porter Cable if going electric. I like the Porter Cable electric because you hold it around the barrel of the motor which I find dishes the work less. I also have a Bosch, which is a brute, but not as ergonomic as the PC. I am sure others will have different opinions.

Here is what I have:

http://www.dynabrade.com/dyn10/content.php?page=catalog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And an older version of this:

http://www.portercable.com/Products/Pro ... ctID=15053" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I like the hook and loop pads, but if you are going to use it on metal self stick works better. You can buy different pads to go on each sander so you aren't stuck with one type of attachment method.

For final fairing you may want a flexible long board.

Ha! I have a collection of long boards....I'll save those for the final cut! At 48, I'm in pretty good shape, but not good enough to long board this deck by hand!!

Thanks for the suggestions, keep 'em coming! Think of this job as like sanding the wood floor in your living room. Using the small rotary tools might leave a finish like the surface of the moon. I'll be fairing for days/weeks. My festool and that PC are good finishing tools but don't have the speed or mass to cut through the glass/resin efficiently.

I'm actually tempted to rent a 16" floor sander and use some 40 grit for the first cut. Maybe the hand held version. Crazy idea? Wouldn't be my first...after all, I'm restoring an old boat! Ha!

Cam: One of those DA's will remove more material than you would think with a coarse grit especially if you use a vacuum attachment to get the dust out from under the pad.

Cam for the large flat surfaces I started with a big 8" orbital with a soft pad, then I used the hutchins hustler 2" x 24" air board then the final step longboard by hand starting with 80 grit then move on up to 220 or better. Smooth and flat are two different animals. BH

Thanks!

Working through your comments. the Hutchins website and studying the application guide, it seems that the model 3960 might be the one to get for the removal/leveling/flattening process:

http://www.hutchinsmfg.com/View-Product ... _id=101023" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

8" pad (smaller pads will fit), vacuum assist, 10000 rpm, 11cfm@90 psi. It's beast!

Cam,

Be aware of the air required to operate these type of tools.... Air Consumption 11.0 cfm @ 90psi is going to require a big 2 stage compressor and, at the minimum, a 150 gallons of tank capacity to keep up with that 11 cfm. 11 cfm equals 82 gpm.

For example, an Ingersoll Rand 80 Gallon Electric Two Stage Air Compressor - 175 PSI, 5 HP puts out a theoretical 14.7 CFM. I have my system set up for 150 psi and over 170 gallons of tankage and 2 1/2" pvc piping and it barely keeps pace with a 12 cfm air file, with the compressor running at about 80% of the time while the file is in use...

Be careful with the pvc piping. It does nasty things when it bursts.

Ed Curry wrote:Be careful with the pvc piping. It does nasty things when it bursts.

Yup! Ask us how we know...

Air hog, that's for sure. I might gang up all my heavy sanding work into one work package and rent a tow behind, diesel generator for a day or two. They are relatively cheap at ~$100/day.

How high air presure are you running? I though PVC was presured ok up to 200 PSI. My compresser doesn't like over 125 psi. most can't go over 150.