The one on the boat I mean. Have a bilge cover at home, sanded and varnished. But I started with my mouse sander and it left swirls which I then tried to sand out by hand. On the boat would a belt sander work? Or do I have to hand sand?
Best way to sand the sole.
- Thread starter Ed Schenck
- Start date
Unfortunately the best pointed type sander is a German made Fein that costs about $300 and is worth every penny if you have enough uses for it - it also becomes a small vibrating saw for flush-cutting up against a finished surface. I've not had good experience with the Mouse sander. The B&D block type sander vibrates and swirls for a smoother finish and is faster. Use heavy duct tape on adjacent vertical surfaces to avoid damage and you can get right up to most edges. A very sharp chisel as a scraper helps hand-sanding the corners go faster. Scraping is also a very good way to remove the bulk of the finish - cabinet scrapers are available at a good woodworking store. Your belt sander will sand through the teak veneer quicker than you think and there's no practical way to fix that. Getting as much of the finish off as possible - scraping or chemical strippers - before you start sanding is a big plus. Try not to have to use anything coarser than 120 or 180 - helps preserve the teak and yields fewer sander marks. Go slow, use a progression of at least 3 different grits (ex. 120/180, 220, 400) and it'll look like new. Good luck.
Tim
Tim
I am a huge fan of cabinet scrapers. A good cabinet scraper, accurately file-jointed and suitably burnished for a good hook edge, is an awesome weapon. You can use it in conjunction with a chemical stripper to get through thick layers and by itself it will produce a surface equivalent to preliminary sanding with 100 - 120 grit. Its my go-to refinishing aid.
So true! You may have to go online to find them. A Milwaukee random orbital is useful too.
Hello Ed:
What is your project? You will have done just about everything on a boat. So if you are asking, then you've got something unusual. Be real careful with a belt sander. Careful in this case is don't use! Can take finish and then wood off in a flash -- and your project is ruined. If your cabin sole is hardwood veneer, then any type of sanding must be done very carefully so as not to expose the plywood underneath. If veneer, I would start off with paint stripper/remover to take off the old finish rather than sanding it off. Once down to bare wood, then sanding with an orbital or vibrating sander at say 220 grit, followed by 220 grit by hand and with the grain will prepare nicely for staining and finishing.
What is your project? You will have done just about everything on a boat. So if you are asking, then you've got something unusual. Be real careful with a belt sander. Careful in this case is don't use! Can take finish and then wood off in a flash -- and your project is ruined. If your cabin sole is hardwood veneer, then any type of sanding must be done very carefully so as not to expose the plywood underneath. If veneer, I would start off with paint stripper/remover to take off the old finish rather than sanding it off. Once down to bare wood, then sanding with an orbital or vibrating sander at say 220 grit, followed by 220 grit by hand and with the grain will prepare nicely for staining and finishing.
You may well be right. After cabinet scraping, I usually just buff it off with some 220 grit and put on the the first (thinned) coat of varnish. Then 220 grit and a tack rag between coats. I am not a varnish purist, just a pragmatist. YMMV.I would say finer than that.
With most cabin soles on most production boats you DO NOT sand it off because the veneer is about the thickness of 32 pound paper.... You use a heat gun and high quality scraper. Yes it takes time but it saves time and money for when you sand through the veneer. Once the sole is clear of 100% of the varnish you then do a very, very light sanding with 150 - 220 very, very lightly so you don't go through the veneer. With an RO or belt sander you will be through the veneer and into the mahogany is short order.
You wouldn't be afraid on an orbital leaving swirl marks? I have a good Dewalt. The teak and holly veneer is very thin. I just want to clean it up enough for a couple of coats of varnish.
We are in the process of doing ours bit by bit. Her is an example of what it looked like
My son used these tools for his work Porter Cable random orbital palm sander, and Harbor Freight (Fein type machine)
The holly had already been sanded through in spots by a previous owners repairs
The little Harbor Freight (Fein type machine) actually worked quite well.
Ready for Varnish (notice the missing holly stripes on the ends
After 3 coats of varnish. Not perfect, but a lot better than before.
My son used these tools for his work Porter Cable random orbital palm sander, and Harbor Freight (Fein type machine)
The holly had already been sanded through in spots by a previous owners repairs
The little Harbor Freight (Fein type machine) actually worked quite well.
Ready for Varnish (notice the missing holly stripes on the ends
After 3 coats of varnish. Not perfect, but a lot better than before.
You can see from this photo maybe why I don't think I need to remove the varnish. There is a very worn spot to the right of the ladder. I thought some sanding and a little stain before the varnish would be satisfactory. The second photo shows where I am installing new flooring.
Nope, not going to strip. Our work time, i.e. warm weather, before the May launch is too short. I would rather be sailing. Those of you who can work in the winter or are in warmer climates are fortunate to have much more time to do boat work. Those years of winter projects while trying to warm the interior are over for me.
What Jim Legere and Maine Sail said. No true furniture-refinisher uses sandpaper before making a noble attempt with a scraper. My scraper of choice is a slighty-dull carpenter-knife blade (the trapezoid) with the corners having gone round from previous use in the knife. I use this for coarse work and fine varnish, going to sandpaper only when there are gouges too deep for the knife blade. That said-- there won't be gouges too deep for the knife blade if that's all you ever used.
I am by no means the world's best furniture-finisher (I say if you come on my boat examining the finish work, it doesn't flatter either one of us), but I'll put my varnish jobs up against about 75% of the rest. I even have ladder steps and bunk fiddles made of Honduras mahogany, and ash hatch thresholds, done in about 6-8 coats of Captain's or Flagship, that have taken plenty of their share of sneakers and yacht-shoe soles and still protect the wood and look great. I stopped sanding each of these after the 150 grit after the first two coats.
I haven't made new boards for the cabin sole yet; but they'll be varnished mahogany too; so I'll let you all know how those turn out.
I am by no means the world's best furniture-finisher (I say if you come on my boat examining the finish work, it doesn't flatter either one of us), but I'll put my varnish jobs up against about 75% of the rest. I even have ladder steps and bunk fiddles made of Honduras mahogany, and ash hatch thresholds, done in about 6-8 coats of Captain's or Flagship, that have taken plenty of their share of sneakers and yacht-shoe soles and still protect the wood and look great. I stopped sanding each of these after the 150 grit after the first two coats.
I haven't made new boards for the cabin sole yet; but they'll be varnished mahogany too; so I'll let you all know how those turn out.