which sander?

I have to sand a panelled front door to remove crazed and damaged varnish and get a clean start for new varnish, any particular type of power sander? Or any other better method?

Reply to
Allthumbs
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From reading "

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"it seems a small random orbital is the best thing?

Reply to
Allthumbs

sorry to keep replying to myself (does it make you go blind?)

This Hitachi looks like it might be pretty good? "

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Reply to
Allthumbs

Random orbitals beat everything else, but get a decent one. I like my Makita (80 quid ish), the Bosch PEX 400 is nearly as good, but isn't as cheap as it used to be (a rare Green Bosch that's a better deal than the Blue).

You'll also need something for internal corners. I've a 20 quid Ryobi

1/4 sheet that's underpowered for big jobs, but finishes off corners usefully. "Mouse" and delta sanders are pitiful. You might also find a curved cabinet scraper, or even bits of broken window glass (wrap in gaffer tape!) to be useful for mouldings.

Good abrasives make a big difference too, especially their resistance to clogging when going through thick paint. At the moment I'm using some mesh stuff from Tilgear that works nicely on a pad with suction applied to it. It can be worth attaching a vacuum cleaner just to get better airflow, and thus cooler sanding (less hot, gummy clogging)

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Random orbit sanders are the mutts nuts. Only thing they can't do is corners. You can buy detail sanders that have triangular pads - or something like the Bosch PMF180 multi tool, which sands better than any detail sander I've ever used & is also a wonderful multi purpose tool.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Skarsten they were spelled, and seem to gone out of business.

A "Faithfull Wood Scraper" is a close replacement, google tells me.

Amazon shows it, but it is "currently unavailable"...

Thomas Prufer

Reply to
Thomas Prufer

It's not just me with the spelling then...

:-)

S
Reply to
spamlet

thanks for all the advice, I now realize I have a scraper that I inherited, didn't really know what it was! I now also have a random orbit sander, ohhhh, I love a new tool.

Reply to
Allthumbs

Scrapers are great. Read the Lee Valley or Axminster sites to see what's out there.

They come on three sorts:

  • Card scrapers for shifting old finishes.

  • Card scrapers for fine finishing of bare wood.

  • Hook scrapers.

Hook scrapers are the old Skarsten sort. They're still around, from different makers. Some are tungsten carbide, often with replacable blades. These have a factory-shaped edge and often a big plastic or wooden handle. They leave a poor finsh (relatively), but they're rigid enough to put some real force behind them. Good for stroppy finishes, like bitumen-based floorings or thick old varnish.

Card scrapers are thin sheets of hard steel. They can be made rapidly (in a factory) by guillotining stainless steel, so offcuts from industrial kitchen fitters are often usable as such. Not expensive to buy though. Bought ones are also available with curves and narrow radii, useful for mouldings.

A card scraper's enemy is chatter, as they vibrate back and forth owing to being only thin steel. Using steel that's thick enough, has the right temper, or simply bowing them to a shallow arch can help. You may also need to wear gloves, because of the force needed and heat generated.

Card scrapers need to be sharp, but this isn't widely understood and there are two ways of doing it.

The simplest way is to form a very sharp square (or nearly square) edge. This edge is good for stripping off old finishes, where chip formation isn't an issue. Guillotining makes this edge anyway, otherwise you need a find file and then a stone. I use a file holder originally sold for sharpening skis. Another way is to use edges of freshly broken glass as a scraper, which come sharp from the smashed pane.

For fine finishing of wood, you need to roll a burr onto the edge of the edge, so that it's ultra-sharp, Read Leonard Lee's Sharpening book, or a bunch of US woodworking webbage. This starts with a sharp square-edged scraper and also a burnisher - a hard, smooth steel rod. Burnishers are cheap to buy, and they come with handles that protect your hand. Yes, you can use an old engine valve (great if you put it into a handle) or a screwdriver shaft, or even a round file shank. However slipping with these ersatz tools will damage either you or the scraper, so don't do it. You can even buy the Veritas angle- adjustable burnisher. For the technique of using it, web search for something with pictures.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

The Faithfull version appears to be identical to the Skarsten. I searched for a long time to find replacement blades for my Skarsten until a couple of weeks back, when I stumbled across a local grotty little tool shop which had the Faithfull blades in stock. Fit perfectly.

Reply to
Old Git

will do.

Reply to
Allthumbs

You can keep putting an edge back on the blades (especially frequently on the ends when you are profiling'), and make each blade last for years, simply with a couple of strokes with a file you keep in your back pocket as you go. Only when the blades keep popping out of the groove they fit in do you need to think about replacement (and even then, a few narrowing taps with a hammer can often sort that out for a while longer too!). It's one of those products that are so good you kind of feel you owe it to them to buy some new blades occasionally just to keep them happy. (Rather like those original one blade Bic yellow razors: I think I've still got half my original pack of ten somewhere!)

Actually I forgot to mention a couple of other quick ways with varnish. Depending on the surface profile, you can often simply plane it off and get a lovely smooth finish with a hand plane or spokeshave. I did all my front bay window like that last year (outside). The Skarsen was only really necessary on the bead and in the corners, and on the rather flexy door panels themselves.

S
Reply to
spamlet

Block of wood. Mirka sandpaper. Tap occasionally.

Do not get too carried away or there will be no wood, it is exceptionally fast. Mirka 80 to get the bulk off, then 3M stuff 240 to get perfectly smooth.

You might want to consider a sikkens woodstain over varnish, longer life.

Reply to
js.b1

Block of wood. Mirka sandpaper. Tap occasionally.

Do not get too carried away or there will be no wood, it is exceptionally fast. Mirka 80 to get the bulk off, then 3M stuff 240 to get perfectly smooth.

You might want to consider a sikkens woodstain over varnish, longer life.

You must have a very groovy door; and very strong arms, or very thin varnish.

S
Reply to
spamlet

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