which sander for doors and door frames

[KGB pilot125]

Hey guys,

I have a RO125 and an ETS125 They will work great on the big flat surfaces of the metal doors after using the stripper.  My hang up is trying to get into the and around the metal frames.  Sanding by hand is taking forever, the 125's are hard to handle on the frames and I have lots to get done on this and no time to do it with my travel schedule.  Thinking the LS130 might work I can even get a scraper attachment for it, although scraping by hand and with a hackzall attachment is pretty easy.  But the RO90 with a delta head might be a bit better in the long run as its not so specialized and I can do more with it.

I have 6 doors (both sides) to do plus frames and really after this I might get assigned the rest of the doors in the company if the boss likes how it turns out.

for reference these are the doors.  I was experimenting with what was going to be the best, heat and scraping, sanding everything, and the "green" stripper that the guys at the paint shop recommended.  The brown is poop brown latex that seems to come off ok, let the stripper sit for 30 minutes then peel, then let re-apply to the blue and let sit for 7 hours and it falls right off.  If you let the stripper sit on the brown for a long time it all peels but its a lot more work.  Seems to leave the "grey" coat which I assume is from the factory in decent shape.

They are getting repainted with a satin black frame (match the windows) and a satin white to match the counters.  Might also try a grey frame and white doors and that might be a better match to the counters.







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[TheTrooper]

I would go Ro90.

 

[vteknical]

RO90 is a great suggestion. May I ask why you are choosing stripper if you already own the RO125? Personally from a cost and time perspective your boss may be wow'ed if you can prep a door in 45 minutes instead of 7 hours.

 

[Cheese]

Have you ever considered a stiff wire brush on a right angle grinder followed up with a sander to smooth out the surface?

 

[Holmz]

I have used a putty knife and paint striper on metal, and it seemed to work pretty well from what I recall.

 

[KGB pilot125]

RO90 is a great suggestion. May I ask why you are choosing stripper if you already own the RO125? Personally from a cost and time perspective your boss may be wow'ed if you can prep a door in 45 minutes instead of 7 hours.

The stripper was moving along pretty good, I slap it on and move onto another item on the ever growing list!  I tried using the RO125 and in all honesty it really wasnt that much faster than the stripper once it had soaked in. 

Have you ever considered a stiff wire brush on a right angle grinder followed up with a sander to smooth out the surface?

Yeah I did consider it, but it would just throw stuff all over the show room and it would have also meant another trip to the hardware store! 

I have used a putty knife and paint striper on metal, and it seemed to work pretty well from what I recall.

That is proving to be pretty efficient so far, once it bubbles up you can peel huge sheets off it (4x4 and even 6x6) even tried a heat gun and knife and it works pretty well.  The sander is just for the jambs and edges.  One thing I did notice is how out of square the jambs are, very convex around the outside.

I am going to order the RO90 and i will keep you guys updated and try and remember to take more pictures.

 

[bkharman]

I love my 90, but also love my RTS 400

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[Holmz]

Yeah I see now that I reread your post.

An LS130 is not a good general purpose sander, but for doing lots of these sorts of job it might make sense?

I like putty knives, scrapers and planes.

 

[Locks14]

I bought an RO90 for this task but wasn't all that impressed with it.

I used a heat gun to get most of the paint off with a stripping knife. Non drip paint stripping gel for the stubborn bits too thin for the knife and the RO90 with  delta pad to get into the corners, etc.

I personally would have been better off getting the DX 93 as it is easier for this sort of vertical work than the more bulky RO90 is in delta mode. I ended up just using my Bosch multitool with a delta head attached and the RO90 was redundant for that project!

 

[Holmz]

...

I personally would have been better off getting the DX 93 as it is easier for this sort of vertical work than the more bulky RO90 is in delta mode.
...

I got a dx93 used on FOG, and I like it. I use a 1/2 sheet mostly, but the DX makes a perfect sidekick.

 

[rst]

I just finished up filling the hinge pocket holes in a commercial steel frame that was decided to be unneccessary on a job where I replaced a door with a continuous hinge.  I'm going to use this door on another job with continuous hinging so I put in pocket fillers and used auto body filler to smooth the surface prior to painting.  I used my RTS and LS for the sanding of the filler, primer and subsequent coats of paint.  Fantastic results and no dust!