Orbital shaping sander with powerful dust extractor ?

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STATUE

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Boat's in a barn sharing with caravans.
I have at least a months work of sanding paint off a wooden boat.
To avoid building a "shed within a barn", I am looking to buy a sander that either connects to a vavuum cleaner or has a very effective dust capture attachment .
This sander would have to be random orbital type as I have some curved tumblehome to deal with.
Ideas please.
Thanks.
 
STATUE said:
Boat's in a barn sharing with caravans.
I have at least a months work of sanding paint off a wooden boat.
To avoid building a "shed within a barn", I am looking to buy a sander that either connects to a vavuum cleaner or has a very effective dust capture attachment .
This sander would have to be random orbital type as I have some curved tumblehome to deal with.
Ideas please.
Thanks.
Click to expand...


Cover the caravans with some thin polythene sheet if they are not yours!
 
By the way, I wouldn't sand paint off a wooden hull. I would take it off with a heatgun or blowlamp and a good scraper. That would be faster, easier, less dust producing and less environmentally objectionable.
 
Heat gun, scrapers and a really good mask. It’s surprisingly fast and satisfying as well as a lot easier to clean up. That will get 95% off. Then to fair and finish a really good RO sander range is made by Mirka. There are a couple of versions, some are mains voltage, some use a transformer. The new brushless ones are said to be excellent, light weight. They come in various sizes and if you use the right discs the dust collection is very efficient. You can hook up to a Henry vacuum cleaner. Mirka is not cheap but if you’re doing a whole boat it is worth it.
 
I'd really recommend a workshop dust extractor in addition to a sander attached to a suction cleaner.

Sanders with attached suction are 80% effective, and you can buy cheap big workshop dust extractors on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=dust+extractor&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=3000

The advantage of a big unit is that for a small motor, you get a really enormous suction power straight into a big bag. And a big 100mm dia hose you can just attach to a nearby point, and leave.
 
Although Orbital Sanders can cost a lot of money (30 years ago a Stork Orbital Sander cost over 100 pounds)
Screwfix were doing an excellent one for 25 pounds but they have discontinued it.
B&Q are doing a a McAllister one for 30 pounds which is quite good and you can attach a vacuum cleaner.
 
We have some of the Festool dust vacs for use with sanding down stuff and they are almost dust free unless sanding at very fine grit. They are expensive for occasional use but places do rent them.

Normal vacuum cleaners block in not much time, what makes the Festool units (and other dust extractor brands) good is they seem to vibrate or beat the chamber to stop dust build up on the filter elements.
 
Festool extractors are the mutts nuts but way too expensive for most of us DIYers. A reasonable HPLV can be had for <£200 and there are lots of random orbital sanders out there, some with aggressive turbo setting. Suggest you look at the woodworking forums for advice such as - https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/

Although I would be more inclined to use heat gun and scraper initially for thick paint removal, is it a good idea on a wooden hull or would it dry it out too much?
 
Graham376 said:
Although I would be more inclined to use heat gun and scraper initially for thick paint removal, is it a good idea on a wooden hull or would it dry it out too much?
Click to expand...
No, I don't think so because as soon as the paint softens you scrape it off and move on to the next bit.
 
It's a Fein day out.....

I have had good luck with a Bosch quarter-sheet sander with the outlet tube of the dust collector fed into the hose on my small Fein vac. Not cheap, and I did buy the Fein when they sold that version without the power supply wiring down the hose. Two tools to switch on when starting up... not a big deal to me.

Being a bag-type cleaner, we can do a final sanding, tack off, and varnish immediately -- inside the boat. It's as "dustless" as the ads say.
:)
 
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