Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Value of expensive sanders
By:Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks
Date: 9/8/2015, 4:17 pm
In Response To: Re: Strip: Work in basement? *PIC* (Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K)

The BEST sander I now use and worth every penny is the Mirka Ceros 5" sander. Is it worth $500, YES

A $400 to $500 sander is almost always worth cost, the question is, will a hobbyist make a boat that is that much better than with a cheaper sander? Will they save several hundred dollars worth of time while building one boat? Or 3 boats? Does the cost/benefit calculation add up?

The quality of the finished boat depends far more on the hands holding the tool than the quality of the tool. Beautiful work can be done with a disk chucked into a drill, but for the novice builder a cheap ROS will likely produce better results than the even cheaper drill mounted sanding disk. So $50 to $100 for a low-end ROS is worth it. It will save time, be easier to use, collect dust better and result are probably better.

Making the next step up to $450 or more will save some time, may produce slightly better results, and will be a bit easier to use, but probably not in proportion to the cost of the tool. The cost/benefit ratio probably doesn't justify it for most people. Quality pays for itself in the long run, but you need a long run to make it pay.

Nobody interested in building kayaks should be dissuaded from doing so just because they can't afford the "best" tools. When I was in high school I assisted my brother building strip canoe before RO sanders were even available. We may have well used our teeth for the quality of tools we had. It came out great. The fact that I can do better now with better tools is not relevant.

If you are on a budget, get a decent $100 ROS and use the money saved to buy plenty of good quality sanding disks. Sharp sandpaper will do more for to save time and improve quality than a top shelf sander if you can't afford enough disks.

Anyone planning on building a lot of boats, or doing a lot of sanding for other projects would not go wrong paying a premium for a quality tool. I've been coveting the Mirka Ceros sanders since I discovered it, but can not rationalize the added cost… Yet. I am sure it is worth it

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Work in basement?
Rob -- 9/7/2015, 8:43 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Joe -- 9/7/2015, 10:17 am
Varnishing outside
Jaybabina -- 1/29/2016, 1:35 pm
Re: Varnishing outside
Marc Upchurch -- 1/29/2016, 4:46 pm
Re: Varnishing outside
scottbaxter -- 1/29/2016, 4:56 pm
Re: Varnishing outside
Etienne Muller -- 1/29/2016, 6:22 pm
Re: Varnishing outside
Bill Hamm -- 1/29/2016, 8:29 pm
Re: Varnishing outside
Brian Nystrom -- 1/30/2016, 12:09 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/7/2015, 10:31 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Rob -- 9/7/2015, 11:56 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Jeff Horton -- 9/7/2015, 5:07 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Shawn Jones -- 9/7/2015, 8:12 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Etienne Muller -- 1/30/2016, 5:12 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Bill Hamm -- 1/30/2016, 7:30 am
Re: RO Sanders and Dust Collection
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/7/2015, 9:05 pm
Re: RO Sanders and Dust Collection *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/8/2015, 4:23 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Paul Sylvester -- 9/8/2015, 7:09 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Nick Riccardi -- 9/7/2015, 12:00 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Dan Thaler -- 9/7/2015, 7:19 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Bill Hamm -- 9/8/2015, 2:58 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Jay Babina -- 9/8/2015, 8:03 am
Re: Strip: Work in basement? *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/8/2015, 8:37 am
Value of expensive sanders
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/8/2015, 4:17 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/8/2015, 5:00 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/8/2015, 5:20 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/8/2015, 7:46 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Bill Hamm -- 9/9/2015, 12:54 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/9/2015, 8:59 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/9/2015, 9:36 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Etienne Muller -- 1/30/2016, 5:22 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Bill Hamm -- 1/30/2016, 7:27 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/9/2015, 8:46 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/9/2015, 8:49 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/9/2015, 9:18 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Daniel Thaler -- 9/9/2015, 3:15 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/26/2016, 8:23 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
JohnAbercrombie -- 1/27/2016, 2:13 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/27/2016, 8:10 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 1/27/2016, 9:28 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/27/2016, 9:30 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Bill Hamm -- 1/28/2016, 2:03 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/28/2016, 8:42 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 1/28/2016, 8:59 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Bill Hamm -- 1/28/2016, 9:07 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
scottbaxter -- 1/28/2016, 11:34 am
Sanding Video
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/28/2016, 9:03 pm
Re: Sanding Video
Marc Donnelly -- 1/29/2016, 11:48 am
Re: Sanding Video
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/29/2016, 12:25 pm
Re: Sanding Video
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 1/29/2016, 11:06 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
JohnAbercrombie -- 1/27/2016, 12:25 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 1/27/2016, 4:03 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 1/27/2016, 6:48 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Marc Donnelly -- 1/27/2016, 7:04 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders *PIC*
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 1/27/2016, 9:40 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Bill Hamm -- 1/28/2016, 2:12 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 1/27/2016, 11:50 am
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Etienne Muller -- 1/27/2016, 3:51 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Marc Donnelly -- 1/27/2016, 6:46 pm
Re: Value of expensive sanders
Bill Hamm -- 1/28/2016, 2:22 am
Hateful tools
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/9/2015, 11:32 am
Re: Hateful tools
Paul Sylvester -- 9/9/2015, 11:56 am
Re: Hateful tools
Jay Babina -- 9/9/2015, 2:40 pm
Re: Hateful tools
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/9/2015, 3:15 pm
Re: Hateful tools
Bill Hamm -- 9/9/2015, 3:42 pm
Re: Hateful tools
Jay Babina -- 9/9/2015, 6:22 pm
Air Tools
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 9/10/2015, 9:12 am
Re: Air Tools
Bill Hamm -- 9/10/2015, 2:10 pm
Re: Hateful tools
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/9/2015, 1:24 pm
Re: Hateful tools
Bill Hamm -- 9/9/2015, 3:59 pm
Hand sanding... (pic) *PIC*
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 9/10/2015, 9:18 am
Re: Hand sanding... (pic)
Bill Hamm -- 9/10/2015, 2:13 pm
Re: Hateful tools
JohnAbercrombie -- 9/9/2015, 2:04 pm
Re: Hateful tools
Bill Hamm -- 9/9/2015, 4:00 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Paul Sylvester -- 9/8/2015, 7:55 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Rob -- 9/8/2015, 8:07 pm
Re: Strip: Work in basement?
Bill Hamm -- 9/9/2015, 3:48 pm