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Thread: Detail Sanders

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    Detail Sanders

    Hi all, in my never-ending home improvement project, I'm now looking at sorting out some of the paintwork in my house. It's an old building, so there's lots of wood, most of it with a century's worth of gloss paint layered on.

    I've sanded the old skirting boards in one room, but it was a long and knackering task. I'm looking to do even more skirting boards (just enough to gloss over, not down to bare wood) and 2 full flights of wooden bannisters/intricate spindles (that I'd like to strip back to bare wood so it can be oiled/stained - most but not all of the original green gloss paint has gone, just years of hand grease and cheap woodstain remains.

    What I'm looking for is a decent power tool that'll make this job easier/faster for me, I've bought a "detail" sander before - just a generic thing that takes the triangular sanding pads, but it's still no good for the tricky curves and ridges in this old wood, even the points are just too big.

    Any recommendation for what I should be looking for (power tool, chemical solution or something else?), or am I just going to resign to the fact I'm going to have arms like Popeye from all the manual sanding?

    Would a Dremel be good for this kind of thing? Been looking for a reason to get one of those..


    Thanks!

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    Re: Detail Sanders

    Either some kind of paint stripper (disgusting, messy, stinks for days) or a heatgun & one of those triangular scrapers (messy, hot, stinks, burns your fingers). Neither are fun, but either will be easier than trying to sand it all off.

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    Re: Detail Sanders

    I have used a heatgun and scraper on the front door, but even once all the paint was gone it still needed sanding so I could paint it. Left some horrible gluey residue behind - I'm guessing from the ancient paint.

    I just want to scuff the paint on the skirting enough to put some undercoat and fresh gloss on.

    I guess for the tricky stair spindles and bannisters I'm going to have to just take my time and do it all by hand to get to the bare wood, wouldn't want to burn it with a heatgun like I did a little bit on the front door..! Hopefully it'll be worth it in the end.

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    Treasure Hunter extraordinaire herulach's Avatar
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    Re: Detail Sanders

    A dremel is unlikely to be much use, potentially it might work with a small flap wheel, but you could just as easily attach one to a cordless (or corded) drill.

    I used one of these when we did my parents stairs a while ago, we were fortunate that the angles matched. http://www.screwfix.com/p/purdy-6-in...ion-tool/67975 We did that with a heatgun, nitromors on the really fiddly bits, then hand sanded anything else. Took two of us the best part of 10 hours. Its one of those jobs that after we started it, we wished we'd just bought a new set of spindles & banister. Unless you want something super fancy they aren't that expensive.

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    Re: Detail Sanders

    Be careful using a heat gun on old paint. Prior to around 1960-65, a lot of paint (particularly undercoat) was lead based, using various lead compounds. It is an excellent preservative, but it is toxic if ingested. If you overheat the paint, it gives off fumes containing lead, and while small amounts are unlikely to be too harmful, it is something to avoid. Wear a proper filtered mask or respirator (not just a simple dust mask) and make sure you don't overheat the paint. Ideally you should just soften it, but it is a tricky skill that needs some time to master. I find I get impatient and hold the heat gunn on for too long, the paint then chars and is harder to remove.

    For a mask something like this would be the minimum protection



    here

    http://www.screwfix.com/p/3m-4251-ma...rator-p2/13038

    The same risks apply to sanding - although the requirement for a mask are slightly less stringent as the particles are bigger. The mask above would be fine for that, but there is a range here from Screwfix.

    Some are disposable, others have replaceable (disposable) filters.

    http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh...h_view_size=20 - you need to read the specs carefully to see what protection they give and the intended application. The main thing is to ensure a good seal round your nose and mouth to minimise the risk of breathing in air that is unfiltered. Anyone in the room with you should have similar protection, and you should ventilate the room afterwards. I may be erring too much on the side of caution, but lead compounds can have long term effects on the central nervous system, and while the risk might be small, why take it if you don't have to.

    Paint stopper removes the dust risk, and is very effective, but messy and can be expensive.

    This product might be a less messy alternative, but it isn't something I have used myself.



    from

    http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/products.htm They have other products too that might be useful (but I haven't researched them in depth)

    If you are doing intricate work, the only real way to get into the fine detail is by hand, either sandpaper, emery paper or steel wool.
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    Re: Detail Sanders

    Quote Originally Posted by peterb View Post
    Be careful using a heat gun on old paint. Prior to around 1960-65, a lot of paint (particularly undercoat) was lead based, using various lead compounds. It is an excellent preservative, but it is toxic if ingested. If you overheat the paint, it gives off fumes containing lead, and while small amounts are unlikely to be too harmful, it is something to avoid. Wear a proper filtered mask or respirator (not just a simple dust mask) and make sure you don't overheat the paint. Ideally you should just soften it, but it is a tricky skill that needs some time to master. I find I get impatient and hold the heat gunn on for too long, the paint then chars and is harder to remove.

    For a mask something like this would be the minimum protection



    here

    http://www.screwfix.com/p/3m-4251-ma...rator-p2/13038

    The same risks apply to sanding - although the requirement for a mask are slightly less stringent as the particles are bigger. The mask above would be fine for that, but there is a range here from Screwfix.

    Some are disposable, others have replaceable (disposable) filters.

    http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh...h_view_size=20 - you need to read the specs carefully to see what protection they give and the intended application. The main thing is to ensure a good seal round your nose and mouth to minimise the risk of breathing in air that is unfiltered. Anyone in the room with you should have similar protection, and you should ventilate the room afterwards. I may be erring too much on the side of caution, but lead compounds can have long term effects on the central nervous system, and while the risk might be small, why take it if you don't have to.

    Paint stopper removes the dust risk, and is very effective, but messy and can be expensive.

    This product might be a less messy alternative, but it isn't something I have used myself.



    from

    http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/products.htm They have other products too that might be useful (but I haven't researched them in depth)

    If you are doing intricate work, the only real way to get into the fine detail is by hand, either sandpaper, emery paper or steel wool.
    Thanks for all the info. Yes I'd say this paint is well over 50 years old, and if not, the layers underneath definitely are. I have been using a respirator with the heat gun, less so when sanding as it's far too hot. My method on less intricate areas has been to use the heat gun on a low setting and wait for the paint to start bubbling from underneath, then whip it off with a scraper. Worked well so far - apart from the residue!

    The paint stripper idea might work for me, but I can't view the site because the work proxy disagrees with the word "strippers" in a URL. Will have a read when I get home.

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    Re: Detail Sanders

    Quote Originally Posted by virtuo View Post

    The paint stripper idea might work for me, but I can't view the site because the work proxy disagrees with the word "strippers" in a URL. Will have a read when I get home.
    Residents of Scunthorpe used to have a similar problem.

    Decorating preparation is time consuming and tedious - but never wasted! good luck with it and hope you find something on that site that does make it a bit easier.
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    Re: Detail Sanders

    For the skirting boards, do you need a sander? It's not a huge job to just score them enough to be able ot gloss over, I've only ever given them a bit of a rub with some sandpaper and never had any trouble *turns round, sees all paint fall off skirting boards*

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    Re: Detail Sanders

    Quote Originally Posted by Baratheon View Post
    For the skirting boards, do you need a sander? It's not a huge job to just score them enough to be able ot gloss over, I've only ever given them a bit of a rub with some sandpaper and never had any trouble *turns round, sees all paint fall off skirting boards*
    I think I will be taking the lazy approach to the skirting boards, even if the paint isn't perfect, nobody looks at them enough to notice..

    The 3 main reasons I was considering a sander for them are that:

    1. I've got 12 rooms and 3 staircases still to do
    2. The existing skirting is old and very detailed. I've replaced a couple of rooms with shallow "plain" skirting but don't want to rip out the good condition old stuff more than is necessary.
    3. I have back/shoulder problems so I don't want to be on my knees doing too much sanding close to the floor. Also don't want to take all the boards off as they don't like going back on!

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    Re: Detail Sanders

    Ah right, I can see why you need a sander now!
    Good luck

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