Sanders? Sanding benches and fence

[Ban Bot]

I have a number of sanding projects to do over the summer, including sanding three 12' long wood benches as well as our prep our very beat up fence that has very little of the red-brown solid stain the previous owners must have put on 10+ years ago. Next year I plan to paint the house and certain parts (I have the roof trim in mind) will require sanding.

I haven't sanded anything since shop in middle school so bare with me. My thought was to get 2 sanders, a fairly aggressive Random Orbit Sander and then a Square palm sander. Orbit sander to aggressively smooth down and cover large areas, the palm sander to get into corners and to finish down. My thought it a belt sander is too big, too overkill for my projects. I will have the 11 and 9 year old help with the fence--probably task them with the palm sander.

A quick browsing of Amazon popped up some models that may meet my needs. These two are DeWalts but I am not married to the brand (the reciprocating saw I got was Makita--but wish I had got the DeWalt as it does flush cuts and have already found jobs where I could use that feature).

Random Orbit VS Disc Sander $82

1/4 Sheet Palm Sander (Square) $41

As you can see from my recent post history, yes, all my spare time is being spent repairing the house we bought.

 

[NutBucket]

Sanding fences can be tough. I thought about sanding mine but the boards are too uneven and the paint was so loose most of it came off easily with a scraper.

 

[ArtShapiro]

Have you considered a belt sander? I'd think that would make quick work of the 12' benches. I don't use mine (a Makita) very often, but it is a real pleasure for tasks where it's an appropriate tool.

Art

 

[Ban Bot]

Sanding fences can be tough. I thought about sanding mine but the boards are too uneven and the paint was so loose most of it came off easily with a scraper.

I know it is going to be a tough, loooong job. We don't have the $ right now to replace the fence. Unfortunately it is quite worn. Faded, moss, some bad rotten boards, etc. The first step was I am planning to clean it with TSP and Bleach and scrub it down and with dryer weather coming let it dry out to see what boards require replacement.

I don't want to throw paint or stain on wood that won't take paint (plan is for the ubiquitous red-brown dark solid stain as the wood is so shot a clear stain would look horrible). The best I can come up with is clean it well, sand it to get off surface debris and "rough" it evenly so it takes the stain--and hope for the best.

 

[Ban Bot]

Have you considered a belt sander? I'd think that would make quick work of the 12' benches. I don't use mine (a Makita) very often, but it is a real pleasure for tasks where it's an appropriate tool.

That would be great--and fast work for the benches. Probably too heavy and cumbersome for the fences though. Some reading around show that Makita makes a disc sander that is 2.4lbs (light compared to those DeWalts I linked to) that the reviews indicate people used with good success on their houses (my other use). It is in a "pistol" shape which could be a little more ergonomic for long uses??

 

[highland145]

How about a pressure wash 1st and see where you stand?

 

[Ban Bot]

How about a pressure wash 1st and see where you stand?

See, that is why I ask the smart people here before I do stuff A rental will run about $60 locally and Amazon has simple units that would meet my needs (fence, house next year, drive and patio a couple times a year, etc.) for not even 50% more.

 

[NutBucket]

Or something like this: http://amzn.com/B000FFYLJQ

 

[highland145]

See, that is why I ask the smart people here before I do stuff A rental will run about $60 locally and Amazon has simple units that would meet my needs (fence, house next year, drive and patio a couple times a year, etc.) for not even 50% more.

Ask around. You can probably borrow one for free.

Start off easy. You don't want to tear up the wood fiber any more than you have to.

Or something like this: http://amzn.com/B000FFYLJQ

That looks like some tasty lead paint. Paper mask, ftl.

 

[edro]

Palm sanders are almost worthless.
They are made for very delicate and fine sanding of furniture and craft projects.
It will not put a dent in the projects you describe.

You want an orbital or random-orbital sander.
They are much more suited to your tasks (more aggressive).
They can be delicate by using high grit paper.

 

[highland145]

Looking at Lowes and some of the stains are "oil finish with soap and water clean up". How can they do that and would it last as well as regular oil?

 

[NutBucket]

Just Flex-Seal the whole thing! Either that or plasti-dip!

 

[Greenman]

Skip the finishing sander and get the random orbit. DeWalt is what I have, and I've beat the tar out of it for years, still works very well.