Deck Sander

[mtaylor]

Sanding decks is tedious and tiring and with my fat fingers, problematical.  So.. a tool, preferably power was called for.  After remembering that a floor buffer could be used to sand a wooden floor, I reached for the Dremel.   I'm using the mandrel for the cut-off disks and one of the felt buffing pads.  A chunk of sandpaper is rubber cemented to the pad.   I'm looking around for a rubber disk, the right size to perfect it a tad more.  I turn the Dremel on low and hold it as perpendicular to the deck as I can get and apply next to zero pressure.  It does a nice job, fast.

 

 

[Nirvana]

Just to be careful and be light handed as usual when suing power tools and results can be amazing. Thanks for the tip!

[mtaylor]

Valid points.  Low speed and light hand keeping the sanding head flat or nearly flat to the deck. 

[fabius.b]

Good idea.

I used bottle corks, suitably cutted. 

I tried also gasket for chair legs, they are made with hard rubber and have the right texture.

Edited May 8, 2013 by fabius.b

[JeffT]

Good tip Mark. I used a Rockwell sonicrafter on the deck and hull of my Conny with good results.

[42rocker]

Good Ideas, Thanks for sharing them.

 

Later 42rocker

[Cap'n Rat Fink]

Thanks Mark great idea for the work boat i'm in the middle of building right now. I was just thinking how I could make it a little easier sanding the inside of the boat...

[Modeler12]

Here is another tool. It is called a 'mouse' made by Black and Decker and sells for about $35 at Home Depot.

I have used it to sand the deck and hull and for this kind of work it is a fine little sander. It comes with different size 'feet' for tight corners.

 

[mtaylor]

Jay,

 

I almost bought one of those, but it's still way to big to get into hull.  There's some serious tumblehome to deal with.

 

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. I thought I'd add a bit more....

I'm using 220 grit with a very very light touch.  Too much and I'll get swirl marks which I found out in testing on scrap.   Too large a grit (100 or less) and it shreds and swirls the wood.

 

For finishing, I'll be using my oscillating pencil sander with 320 paper.   The scrapers are great but that deck area is in such a tight spot (between the raised center on oneside and under the tumblehome...  well.. my fat fingers argue the point.

[augie]

You didn't tell us about the oscillating sander....you devil!!!!!!

[lamarvalley]

What is a oscillating pencil sander? I've used spindle sanders and air powered oscillating palm sanders and disc sanders and hell, about 10 more not suited for this hobby but I've never heard of an oscillating pencil sander. Sounds perfect for tight spots. Who sells them?

[mtaylor]

Randy,

 

See here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/341-micro-power-sanders/

I'm using the top one on the deck for finishing. 

 

 

Augie,

Sorry for the oversight.

[lamarvalley]

Thanks Mark... I had no idea... I've not spent much time on micro-mark other than a quick glance... but, what a goldmine.

Great, another place where I could spend a fortune.

[lagrayjr]

Micro-Mark makes a 1 inch diameter  sander mandrel and has both 80 grit disks and 220 grit disk which can be used in any rotary tool. The item number is 80482. Laman

[mtaylor]

Rats... I went to all that trouble and I could have bought one???   Oh well.. it was good experience anyway.

[JPett]

Being a newbie, I am still a danger to my kit with a piece of sandpaper. I could only imagine the havoc I could cause with one of those