700 sq foot deck sanding/finishing project

Brice Burrell said:
suds said:
Been sanding with my RO 150 FEQ and it's been taking quite a bit of time because or my work schedule and lousy weather.  Unfortunately my plug to RO failed and now I have to send it in to get it fixed.  Evidently this is a common problem if the plug does not "click" in place. 
Wondered if the Ras 115 would be a good substitute for this job?  I've been using Granat and going through lots of it to get to bare wood so maybe the Ras is a better choice or a good substitute?  I've been thinking of getting one since i have a number of wood sanding projects.

I like the Granat but it might not tough enough for this kind of heavy sanding.  Id love to see Granat with a thicker more durable backing material.  You could try Cristal if you're finding the Granat to be falling apart on you.  You'd need to be careful because Cristal can leave a deep scratch pattern behind that can take a lot of work to remove. 

The Ras would work but you'd need to get through the learning curve to sanding without doing damage on the softwood.   
I hearby second that request... For a heavier backing, on Granat... Not asking for much, just a bit... [embarassed]
Maybe we'll get it with Granat2.... [wink]
 
Here's an update on my deck:
1)  first of all thanks for all of the advice from Scott, Eric, and everyone else in this thread--it gave me the knowledge and confidence to tackle this job.
2)  a major overhaul of our irrigation system interfered with my plans for the deck, but I finally got the major portion finished with a first coat of Marine Oil.  I plan to do a second coat in 2-4 weeks, before the weather turns.
3)  I ended up sanding with my RS2E.  Pluses = this sander did a good job of leveling across boards and overall worked well for hours on end with minimum vibration.  Minuses = much slower than a RO-150 would have been, but budget issues dictated that I use what I had.  My boards weren't cupped too much--but the RS2E certainly let me know which ones needed flattening!  The vacuum channels in the base got clogged a few times with debris from between the boards.  It would become obvious when sawdust started being left behind on the boards and was easily remedied by removing, cleaning, and reinstalling the sander base (including vacuuming the dust ports).
4)  I really appreciated the CT22 and ClearVue Mini CV06--there ended up being a lot of dust that I was much happier to have end up in the collection bin rather than in the filter bags or everywhere else.
4)  I used Granat 80 followed by Brilliant 150.  I echo Brice's comment that Granat would benefit from stronger backing paper, but overall was very impressed as I didn't have to go through all that many sheets.

Thanks again to everyone--especially the professionals who offered advice without anything other than psychic/karmic compensation!

Fred

[attachthumb=#]
 
That is an image that Festool should scoop up and use!  Gotta say that posts like yours make this place a GREATER place to hang.

Peter
 
Just a ongoing update on my deck using Penofin.  Got it done last Aug, had a light winter but didn't get a chance to put 2nd coat on in Oct so sat all winter.  Faded out so figured I would strip it with a deck wash/stripper.  Didn't use the Penofin brand and was dissatified with results so decided to hit it with 100 Granat this spring.  Came out great and now doing the Penofin again and it's going fast and the deck is nice and smooth.  I will definitely use the 2nd application this fall.  Used Penofin on railings but will lightly sand and use the Epifanes to see how that compares.
 
Just an update on my deck . . . and an endorsement of Rotex sanders!

Finally got around to tackling the second half of the deck.  Had picked up both a Rotex RO 90 and RO 125 during the reconditioned tool sale.  Tackled the stairs this weekend and can only say WOW what a difference the Rotex sanders made in stripping the old finish (used Granat 60 and 80, depending on whether it was the RO 125 for the flat sections or the RO90 with the triangular pad to get into the corners).  I would guess it was 3x faster than using the RS2E alone (which is what I had done last summer on the main section of the deck--when I was a bit tight on funds and couldn't afford a Rotex).

After the first stripping run, I did still use the RS2E to make sure everything was good and flat, and then finished using the RS2E and the RO 90 with Brilliant 150.

At any rate, if you assign any value at all to your time, I heartily endorse everyone's suggestion to use the Rotex for this job.
 
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