Which Festool sander?

[greg mann]

Figures. I have the Ro150 and the 90. Got everything covered, right? Not so, according to Scott. No way am I using the 90 to do 1K sq.ft. of Ipe. I need the 125, he says.  :

Well that's another batch of paper too. Might as well get the ETS125 while I am at it. Of course there is always the 5 inch Mirka.  [unsure]

That's why it's pronounced "eeeePAY"!

You can probably get a nice cushy soft pad for your 150 and work through it just fine.

Exactly! Most everything I wrote was tongue-in-cheek. I don't expect an issue using my RO150. FWIW, I used the RO90 with the cushy interface pad for the contoured railings and it was without question the way to go. I seem to remember you making a recommendation sometime back on the best finish to put on the Ipe railings. If I do remember correctly would you care to reiterate on your preferred method for railings?

 

[dlaut]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your thoughtful replies....I am reading them all!  Please carry on!  ;D

Two additional questions to throw into the mix:

Which sanding paper/grit?

What finish?....I had originally been planning on Super Shield Fluoropolymer.  Does anyone have any experience with this product?

 

[AlexThePalex]

Which sanding paper/grit?

You can't really go wrong with Brilliant 2 or Granat, Festool's all-purpose papers.

For paint removal I mostly use 40, 60, 80, 120 and 180. Of course I can buy them in 10 packs or even per sheet. If you can only buy 50 or 100 packs it's less attractive to have all those grits lying around, and then I'd choose 60 and 120. 60 for fast material removal and 120 to feather it out for paint prep.

 

[Scott B.]

Figures. I have the Ro150 and the 90. Got everything covered, right? Not so, according to Scott. No way am I using the 90 to do 1K sq.ft. of Ipe. I need the 125, he says.  :

Well that's another batch of paper too. Might as well get the ETS125 while I am at it. Of course there is always the 5 inch Mirka.  [unsure]

That's why it's pronounced "eeeePAY"!

You can probably get a nice cushy soft pad for your 150 and work through it just fine.

Exactly! Most everything I wrote was tongue-in-cheek. I don't expect an issue using my RO150. FWIW, I used the RO90 with the cushy interface pad for the contoured railings and it was without question the way to go. I seem to remember you making a recommendation sometime back on the best finish to put on the Ipe railings. If I do remember correctly would you care to reiterate on your preferred method for railings?

Greg

We give railings a boat quality experience. Several coats of Epifanes or equivalent, with appropriate scuffs in between. While we keep the decks in penetrating oil, the rails get the royal treatment.

 

[Scott B.]

In an unrelated story, Granat has been beating the snot out of Brilliant 2 at 60 and 80 G in 6" sanders on exterior acrylic stain stripping...about 3.5:1.

 

[suds]

Last summer I redid my large deck using the Ras 115 and RO 150.  I have redwood and cedar so I'm not working with Ipe.  I borrowed the Ras but was so impressed with its ability to remove material I ended up buying one for work on my front deck.  Using the Rubin 36 on the Ras and Granat 40 on the RO there was no comparison, the Ras won hands down.  I used Penofin Marine grade and it came out great. 
This spring I wanted to get that just sanded/finished look again so I tried a deck wash/refresher.  Waste of time, so I decided to "freshen" up the deck and have been attacking it with the 120 grit that came with the Ras (I believe it is Rubin), and it's working well.  I was a bit disappointed that the Penofin didn't hold up as well as I thought but I didn't recoat it in the fall as they suggest.  However, we didn't have much of a winter in Spokane Wa so I'll give it another chance this year.