Cristal paper

[Lou Miller]

I recently had an opportunity to try out the new Cristal paper. We were stripping linoleum from a floor and ran into some spots where the linoleum just would not budge. I tried all the usual scrapers and so forth that we normally have on hand (and they almost always get the job done). However, nothing would work on this stuff.

I threw a piece of 40 grit Cristal on my Rotex and went at it in rotary mode. Not only did it remove the linoleum very quickly, it also went right through a couple plies on the plywood that was under the linoleum. Pretty cool stuff if you ask me, the Cristal works as advertised.

 

[Bob Marino]

Hey Lou,

It sure does work as advertised and doesn't clog too fast either. The paper is really staring to sell well and as a bonus, is offered in 5 packs in all the grits.

Bob

 

[Mirko]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

 

[Greg Pavlov]

Is it true that a lot of older linoleum has asbestos in it?

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Is it true that a lot of older linoleum has asbestos in it?

I believe this is true.  In my previous house, we had Linoleum in the kitchen.  We hired someone to tear out the Linoleum and replace with tile, but when he checked it out he said he had to leave it down because there was asbestos in it.  Instead, he did something to prepare the Linoleum for tile.  I can't vouch for how well the tile adhered, since I sold the house the following year.

Matthew

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Let me add my 2 cents here. It is my understanding that it's not the linoleum itself that contains asbestos but the adhesive. So if you take up an old floor and you see the a black, almost tar-like or it can be hardened substance, that is likely old adhesive with asbestos in it. So be careful.

 

[Lou Miller]

  Let me add my 2 cents here. It is my understanding that it's not the linoleum itself that contains asbestos but the adhesive. So if you take up an old floor and you see the a black, almost tar-like or it can be hardened substance, that is likely old adhesive with asbestos in it. So be careful.

All of the above is true. However, some linoleums definitely contain asbestos. Its the really old, and really thick stuff that usually has the asbestos. Its very brittle when removing it, so that's usually the first thing to look for.

The stuff I removed wasn't asbestos. It was an Armstrong floor and I looked up the product numbers before I even touched it. I was putting tile down like Matt's floor. I put my tile on Fiberock (same thing as hardiboard basically), and I also want the thinset to help bond the board to the floor. I use a special latex modified thinset that bonds exceptionally well to luan and other smooth plywood surfaces. Anyway, that's why I was removing the linoleum...

 

[Lou Miller]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

Mirko, scribing is the main thing I use my rotex for. I use to use rubin in 50 grit and it worked fairly well. I did heat up one pad too much and ruined it though. The Cristal in 40 grit cuts much much faster and cooler than the 50 grit rubin does. You actually have to be very careful you don't go too far with it, its very easy to do. I'll be using the Cristal on some wainscoting caps in the next week or so. The walls in this particular house look like the ocean. Hell, they might be even more wavy than the ocean is. Its a mess (old plaster and wood lathe). I plan on scribing everything in with the rotex and the cristal. It should make fairly quick work of it.

Some days I really miss working on new construction, these old houses can be a royal PITA.

 

[RayS]

  Let me add my 2 cents here. It is my understanding that it's not the linoleum itself that contains asbestos but the adhesive. So if you take up an old floor and you see the a black, almost tar-like or it can be hardened substance, that is likely old adhesive with asbestos in it. So be careful.

Correct. Older tile mastic does contain asbestos.  The older VCT (vinyl composition tile), which may also be called linoleum, does contain asbestos also. Do NOT grind/sand it. To remove tile, wet it thoroughly (to loosen the mastic AND contain any asbestos fibers) and scrape/pry them up.  Double wrap them in plastic bags for normal disposal.  Important to keep them wet so asbestos fibers do not become airborne and breathable.

 

[rodwolfy]

What about the thickness and durability of Cristal? I was reading Jerry Works review and a couple of others and they said that Rubin was about twice as thick as Brilliant, so it did not work as well on soft pads and it had a tendency to tear. What have you guys found?

Rod

 

[Lou Miller]

Cristal is just as thick as Rubin, if not thicker. Its very durable and, so far anyway, clogging hasn't been an issue at all for me with it. I really really like the stuff a lot.

 

[Bill in seattle]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

hello mirko
what, no ras? if you really want to get down to business and be a scriben maniac, you really should get a ras 115. throw on the hard pad ,36 or 50 grit sapphire and hold on. the ras 115 gets down and dirty fast. mine is hardwired to the festool octodusterator. (a new tool in the works). if their was cristal for the ras it would blast hands down.
Bill

 

[Tom Wales]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

What all do you scribe?
Curious Gearge, I mean Tom

 

[Dan Clark]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

Mirko,

I'm extremely happy with my Rotex, but I bought my belt sander after pretty much shredding a Rotex sanding pad while trimming some high spots in joists.  I found it difficult to control the Rotex for scribing and flattening board edges.  I found my belt sander much easier to control.  What am I missing?  How do you use your Rotex so that it doesn't bounce off the board edge?

Regards,

Dan.

p.s., after watching Gary Katz use an electric planer to scribe a face frame at JLC Live, I tried it myself last week.  Gary gets the board fairly close cutting the board square and then back bevels a little bit.  Then he rocks the planer slightly (square and off square) as he moves it to take off material more aggressively to get close to the wavy scribe line. 

When I tried it last week with my HL850 on a 3/4 ply edge, I found it fairly easy.  I got a nice cut at the scribe line.  Not perfect, but good enough for what I was doing.    Considering that I'd never used the 850 that way before, I was very happy with the results. 

 

[Mirko]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

hello mirko
what, no ras? if you really want to get down to business and be a scriben maniac, you really should get a ras 115. throw on the hard pad ,36 or 50 grit sapphire and hold on. the ras 115 gets down and dirty fast. mine is hardwired to the festool octodusterator. (a new tool in the works). if their was cristal for the ras it would blast hands down.
Bill

Bill,
I like the RAS 115... but no plug-it! :-\  I will wait for the new version, BTW do you know if Festool is making one?

Mirko

 

[Bill in seattle]

I recently discovered how well the Rotex works for scribing, (been using a belt-sander for years) But I do not have paper courser than 80 grit, I thought about trying the crystal in 60 & 40 go alot faster.
The Ruben heats up fast, so i'm scared to melt the velcro hooks, I was hoping the crystal will work faster and cooler.
Thanks Lou.

Mirko

hello mirko
what, no ras? if you really want to get down to business and be a scriben maniac, you really should get a ras 115. throw on the hard pad ,36 or 50 grit sapphire and hold on. the ras 115 gets down and dirty fast. mine is hardwired to the festool octodusterator. (a new tool in the works). if their was cristal for the ras it would blast hands down.
Bill

Bill,
I like the RAS 115... but no plug-it! :-\  I will wait for the new version, BTW do you know if Festool is making one?

Mirko

no not at this time that I know of. maybe the lucky ones overseas have it.

 

[justinh]

Not to long ago I had a chance to play with some of the NAINA tools and I believe one of them was a new version of the RAS.  I was more excited by the small one handed planer.  For scribing I use the little Porter Cable one hand belt sander.  I cut a stepped adapter to fit the vac attachment that came with the tool and get about 80% dust collection with the CT22.