Random Orbital Sanders - AGAIN ! Sorry

Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson

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Need to do a good job before antifouling, so want to prep as well as a novice amateur can, having had no experience of any of the work involved.
Also need to repair hull damage on a double-skinned grp dinghy.
And next winter may attempt a topsides repaint.

Can any of the wise-ones recommend a reliable, effective R.O.S. for somewhere under £120. Or do I have to spend the earth?

P.S. I am scraping-off all the old antifouling before attempting to sand to a good, sound finish.

TIA
 
I've had a Bosch one for the best part of 20 years, but I've no idea what they cost now. Lidl & Aldi them from time to time and my experience of their other tools suggests that it's decent DIY stuff, cheap enough to buy for one job and good enough to last for several.

A word of warning re antifoul, it's nasty stuff. Conventional wisdom is that it has to be sanded wet so as not to spread toxic dust around. If you use a sander to finish the hull, wear a good dust mask - not one of those cheap paper ones that hardly stop anything.
 
I have two a 6 inch Metabo which is above your budget and a Clarke 5 inch £30 jobbie from Machine Mart.

The Metabo is refined and controllable with fine and coarse settings, but expensive and heavy, no fun for long periods above your head.

The Clarke (Clarke CROS1) is savage, but light and efficient. You need to buy Hercules sanding or equivalent (I get them from Brighton Tools and Fixings), because the Machine Mart ones fly off too readily. The thing to be careful with is applying the sander to the surface to be sanded, if it's running at full rip it'll leave curved gouges in the gel coat that you'll have to fill. However it is as effective as the Metabo on coarse setting at removing stuff, but a sixth of the price and much lighter.

I did try a £30 sander from B&Q it was utterly useless, so the comments you get in the boat yard about using cheap sanders, along the lines of 'why don't you go and buy a proper sander', are largely correct.
 
I have been through two bosch and now on a Ryobi. I would suggest not going for the cheapest as vibration can be more but then really expensive can be heavy and not suited to sanding a hull. Cost of discs is the big factor. Also I would not dream of sanding a hull without a vacuum attached and then mix the dust with PVA to set it before disposing of. Also good mask and cushioned gloves.

Good luck with it and have done it three times and it does feel good when the bottom is lovely and smooth!
 
Stemar said:
If you use a sander to finish the hull, wear a good dust mask - not one of those cheap paper ones that hardly stop anything.
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And provide best quality dust masks for people on neighbouring boats and take measures to keep the dust off their boats. Or, better still, wet sand it.

A few years ago my boat was laid up in Hayling Yacht Company's shed and one day a cretin arrived, fully kitted up in protective clothing, and began dry sanding the antifoul off the boat next door. He wasn't very bright and seemed to have some difficulty understanding why I didn't want to inhale blue toxic dust or have it spread all over my boat. Eventually I had to get the yard M/D to stop the moron continuing.
 
stav said:
I have been through two bosch and now on a Ryobi. I would suggest not going for the cheapest as vibration can be more but then really expensive can be heavy and not suited to sanding a hull. Cost of discs is the big factor. Also I would not dream of sanding a hull without a vacuum attached and then mix the dust with PVA to set it before disposing of. Also good mask and cushioned gloves.

Good luck with it and have done it three times and it does feel good when the bottom is lovely and smooth!
Click to expand...

Now that's something I can look forward to - and the boat's!!

Thanks one and all for the above adice(s). One thing for sure is that I'm not assuming it'll be asy - proper protective gear will be used and I know I'll get fed-up at times. BUT, up here there's no-one else to do it but myself.

It's good to hear the various pointers - and that it'll only take me a week! I wish:rolleyes:
 
I have used a porter cable for years 5 inch works good with 80 grit disks no need for the variable speed dust collection is a must !! I keep my 33 formula in hi & dry I'm to lazy to bottom paint anymore been there done that
 
Glisferox said:
I have two a 6 inch Metabo which is above your budget and a Clarke 5 inch £30 jobbie from Machine Mart.

The Metabo is refined and controllable with fine and coarse settings, but expensive and heavy, no fun for long periods above your head.
Click to expand...

I am happy buying cheap tools if they work just as well but might have a shorter life but orbital and DA sanders are different. Professionals use certain ones as they work. I learnt this lesson on my first orbital sander purchase for car respraying. I was recommended a Stork (made in USA IIRC) and it was expensive but having tried many it justified the price in lack of effort and speed of doing the job.

Boat owner next to me lent me two Metabo DAs 150 mm last week and they were good but are 2200g. He borrowed them from his company and he insisted that they had tried many over the years but found the Metabo best for results and reliability with very heavy use. He also said that metebo spares are available but he had problems with spares for other well known makes.

The Metabo 450 has an extra feature of adjustable orbital offset 2.8mm or 6.2mm.

Never sorted why some sanders work so effectively but concluded it a combination of speed/orbital offset/ power and balance.

After last weekend I bought 2 for myself at £149 prices varied from £149 to £290 for same machine (some with case and spare discs etc).

A 125mm disc machine might be lighter but holding a lighter machine up for 3x or 4x the time may be easier to use a bigger and heavier machine.

Posted on what sanding disc thread about another recommendation but £380!!

We did a 43 yacht last weekend which is a fair amount of hull sanding!
 
Having owned a woodworking business for 20+ years I will attest to Festo Quality but they are EXPENSIVE. Now that I am no longer in the trade it is hard to justify the £££'s for professional tools but equally difficult to endure the compromise often associated with the B&Q type rubbish. I have found reasonably priced Makita tools good and my son just completed a thorough back to hull sanding of many years of untouched antifoul with the Makita and I am very pleased with the results. Just under £90 at Axminster tools http://www.axminster.co.uk/makita-bo5031-random-orbit-palm-sander.
 
I have an AEG. Nothing spectacular but a good performer. However, after 2 1/2 years it developed a switch problem. It has a three year warranty so I phoned them not expecting a lot. They sent a courier the same day to collect and returned it via courier a week later! It's AEG for me all the time since then.
 
PCUK said:
I have an AEG. Nothing spectacular but a good performer. However, after 2 1/2 years it developed a switch problem. It has a three year warranty so I phoned them not expecting a lot. They sent a courier the same day to collect and returned it via courier a week later! It's AEG for me all the time since then.
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Sounds good. Well done them.
I shall investigate.

The Makita BO5031 at Wickes looks promising.
 
My Bosch PEX 270 did well for 10 years looking after my wooden boat, so this week I replaced it with a new Bosch PEX 400 for £75 from Amazon. its bloody rubbish, the dust box fall off and leaks blowing dust everywhere. Its going back this week. Poor show Bosch.
 
Thanks guys(and gals). After reading all the above, searching, thinking and procastinating, I have just ordered a Makita 5041, 125mm R.O.S 1.4kg.
I have been scraping off the old (8+years??) antifoul with a very useful scraper from Amazon which is a bal*-aching job but it's looking succesful. Horrible noise, like fingernails on a blackboard :nightmare: I reckon another 20+hours to finish the scraping, then attack with the new R.O.S.
Then the repairing 'n' fairing, should be ready for end of the month................................ Ha!
Then, after the priming and a/f-ing, I'll start the "winter jobs list" of several pages.
I hope to get Khamsin back in the water before the end of April. BIG hope, I fear.

I'll post a report on the success of the above, particularly the Makita. Don't hold your breath :rolleyes:
 
Well. Just picked up a JCB brand ROS from B&Q, for under £40 and it was adequate for the task of preparing our topsides for painting. I am sure it won't last as long as say a Makita but for occasional lightish use it is fine.
 
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