: Can anyone offer a link or two for discount tools on-line. I don't have many
: options locally and I'm in the market for an Random Orbital Sander.

: Thanks,

: Craig

The ideal ROS for strip building is light-weight, variable speed, and dustless, 5” disc with hook and loop paper. If I had to choose one from the current crop I’d go for the Makita BO5020, Porter Cable 333VS or DeWalt DW423Kat about $85 at Tools on Sale - 800-328-0457 (free shipping). If you really want cheap, Grizzly makes one for $25 - see www.grizzly.com

Pick up a "Fine Woodworking" or "Fine Homebuilding" magazine to see ads for all the big dicount tool companies with current prices on NAME BRAND professional tools.

Most novice woodworkers don’t have any experience using ROS so they won’t know how crummy sanding can be with the wrong sander or a cheap one.

The heavy more powerful, 6” ROS are intended for large mostly flat surfaces. More weight and power are important when you are working on large flat surfaces because the weight will help in material removal as will the power. This is the intent behind belt sanders which are designed for flat surfacing. The combination of heavy weight and high power remove material fast.

For the mostly curved surfaces of stripper boats, especially the interiors, a light-weight sander is much easier to handle for long periods of time and more control is available because material removal is more dependent on disk speed and grit size than weight and power.

Variable speed is important because it allows you more control. Fast speeds for large open flat sanding and slower speeds for small close quarters.

Dustless is important because it removes debris from the paper so the paper works longer and better. And if you hook it to a real vac, you'll have almost no dust in your lungs.

Sanding the interior is easiest if the ROS is set to a slower speed and a short rapid/continuous stroke moves perpendicular to the strip/ keel line. This stroke length may be only 2-3” in length using the wrist only. This stroke direction is in the same direction as the random orbit action so a smooth surface will be created. If you sand parallel to the strip/ keel line you must angle the sander to use the curved edge of the disk to follow the shape of the hull interior and this will allow the random disk action to create a rippled surface. On large more flatten interior surfaces it may be possible to sand parallel to the strip/keel line if you use a longer very fast stroke to reduce the ripple creating effect of the random action.

SX E 400 Metabo 3” disk ROS is a delight to use for interior sanding. It has a right angle body to allow sanding in tight spaces. It is dustless and variable speed also which is important. It sands in close curves and tight spaces with ease. It’s not cheap at $125 so I don’t recommend you buy one unless you have more money than time.

Sanding and a lot of other tasks can be difficult on the strip boat because the boat is so light-weight it wants to move away from you like a slippery fish. I have a 30 pound hunk of steel wrapped in carpet that I leave in my boat most of the time. This weight allows me to position the boat in different ways and the boat will stay in place because of the weight.

I don’t care for the small diameter hoses most tool suppliers sell for their dustless sanders to connect with a vac. My vac came with a stepped reducer on the end of the hose and I just duct tape this into the dust outlet on my sanders. It is certainly heavier to drag the larger hose but I have no dust left on the work or in my nose. I do wear a dust mask too.

I do most of my rough sanding on strip/epoxy with 60 grit paper. Many people like to use 80 grit because they’re worried about cutting too aggressively. Also a real factor is that the course grit and leave deep cuts in the wood if you are not careful to sand thoroughly enough to ensure they have been removed.

I use 60 grit because it will remove material quickly and not clog. It will take the surface down without my having to focus excessively on one spot to remove a tough bit of glue or a low spot. This means my overall surface will be more regular.

With a finer grit material removal is slower and in areas that need more work it is easy to make a dip if you do not purposely sand the surrounding area to smooth out the spot you focused on.

You can experience this for yourself quite easily by practice sanding on a test strip panel. Try sanding a section with 120 grit paper. Any ridges or low spots require you to ride the disk on edge to get enough cutting power. This will make a low spot/irregular surface.
Now go over another section of the panel with 80 grit, and another with 60 grit.

Your goal is to level the surface quickly and as regularly as possible and to use the sander disk flatly on the surface. I think you will understand why I use the 60 grit. Now to reduce the sanding cuts left by the 60 grit I wet down the wood surface with a WET sponge. Don’t leave pools of water, but you do want to wet the surface well. This will raise the grain/ reducing the sanding cuts, Bring up the color of the wood, showing any deep cuts or missed areas of glue. It will also raise dents and close staple holes. Let dry until it feels dry to the touch. I do this only on exterior surfaces. Interior surfaces are only sanded with 60 grit.

Then sand with 120 grit. The cedar we use for boats is very soft so you can start with 120 grit after wetting and drying to raise the grain. Finish exterior surfaces to 220 grit. Go over the surface with a hand sanding block with 120/220 to touch up any sanding marks you can see. Look closely because any marks will turn dark once the surface is wet-out with resin.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com