Wet Sanding

[bluey]

Hi,
I posted this on another forum and thought I might put it up on this one as well.


I recently completed the sanding of my F/Glass boat hull after completely removing all the old paint with paint stripper.

Using a random orbital sander I was getting really cheesed off with the dust I was creating and having to wear a dust mask. (Because of poor eyesight I wear glasses all the time and with a dust mask on the glasses kept fogging up every time I exhaled.)

To solve the problem I decided to wet sand with my electric orbital sander! Now, I know that water and electricity don't mix well, and I wasn't silly enough to dunk my sander in a bucket of water, but I found I never had a problem by just using a garden hose to spray water on the hull and sand while the area was wet. I made sure of course that the powerlead plug was kept up off the wet ground.When the sanding pad clogged up it was just a matter of ripping it off and hosing the gunk off it. I was able to do the entire bottom of my boat with no dust problem and therefore no dust mask.

Am I alone in using this sanding method or is it in common use by others?

bluey.

 

[JSmitty]

Re: Wet Sanding

I hook my DA sander directly to my $26 Hangup Mini Shop-Vac, but any shop vac will do. No dust, and the Mini Shop-Vac is so light it's no bother.

Home Depot sells a "Universal Power Tool Adapter" to attach tools to the vac. I think I paid $8 for it.

Don't forget to buy sandpaper with a hole pattern that matches your sander.

 

[oops!]

Re: Wet Sanding

they sell wet sand paper for finishing sanders......i regularly use 2000 grit on my sander with water......i either use the hose and a "mist" setting on the sprayer.....or a plant mister. and sand with an electric sander

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Wet Sanding

If you LIKE your electric sander then I would strongly recommend not doing this. If it is a Junk sander and you don't care about it's longevity then go for it.

 

[bluey]

Re: Wet Sanding

If you LIKE your electric sander then I would strongly recommend not doing this. If it is a Junk sander and you don't care about it's longevity then go for it.

Well, I do like my electric sander, even though it is only a cheap Chinese one. But really the only trouble I had was when I'd done a few hours wet sanding, I made the mistake of laying the machine down on it's side on my workbench. Next day when I tried to use it the bearings had pretty well seized up because the sanding slurry inside the machine had dried. This was easily fixed by pulling it apart, blowing it out with compressed air and adding a couple of drops of oil to the bearings. After that I made sure I never left it lying on it's side and had no more problems.

When I first started sanding the boat I was dry sanding and tried using my workshop dust extractor hooked up to the ROS but it didn't do a good job, there was still too much dust for my liking and it was a pain in the but dragging it out of my shed to reach the boat. That's why I started wet sanding and I'm now glad I did. I also think that by wet sanding I got a better cutting action from my sanding discs compared to dry sanding.

bluey

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Wet Sanding

R/O sanders have suction as you have discovered. Sucking water into an electrical appliance is NEVER a good idea unless it is specifically made for that. I doubt that yours is. If you're willing to take the chance of a serious electrical shock then continue to use it in this manner. I would strongly recommend blocking the suction holes to minimize the water being sucked into the sander. I would never do what you are doing, but that's just me. It's your boat, your sander and your project. I'm just stating what my 60yrs of experience have taught me.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Wet Sanding

Edited Woodies quote for Bold truth..

Sucking water into an electrical appliance is NEVER a good idea unless it is specifically made for that. If you're willing to take the chance of a serious electrical shock then continue to use it in this manner.

**** I would never do what you are doing, but that's just me. ****

Ditto that Woody !!

Its not only just you.. this is boarderline crazy.

There is not just ONE style of sand paper .. there is Crapolla HD paper .. then there is 3m or Mirka etc papers that cost more that do more ..

Suggesting Water And Electric used at the same time is .. um .. well .. ( Remember folks .. Iboats is HUGE .. its just not in your backyard socket .. your talking and suggesting things to friends across the Globe ! ) .

YD.

PS. Dont do this water sanding unless your sander is AIR driven !!