Bulkhead tabbing and frp cutting
Ovations for the innovations posted here for cutting out those pesky bulkheads.
STILL, imco the Fein MultiMaster is probably the most versatile renovation tool for our historic fiberglass boats. Not to say that it is as efficient or even compares to what can be accomplished with a smart airtool. And an innovator behind that tool.
The MultMaster is an excessively EXPENSIVE corded tool.
The 'accessory' blades are even more excessively OVER-PRICED.
E-Cut Universal Narrow and Wide 'bi-metal' blades - the dog-leg flush cutting ones - are about $50 for three.
Fein has no specific blade for working FRP. I've been using E-Cuts for fiberglass. The bi-metal aspect is for cutting thin metal and nails along with wood. Heat build up on the blades imco kills them. The E-Cuts are quite thin and that with eccessive heat may take the temper out of the teeth. Have been cutting thick glass that requires the tool to work hard. However the thin blades do surgical quality work for as long as they last.
Also, they probably aren't made by Lenox.
There is animated discussion on the net (type in Fein on google) about MM.Other cheaper competitors are appearing, Couldn't be too hard to come in cheaper - and 20 year old patents are running out. Craftsman and Bosch are two. If you think you want an oscillating cutting tool check with these first. The blades will not be interchangable. Aftermarket blade makers have been threatened by Fein with patent suits. These guys have disappeared. Those that still sell non-Fein blades for the MM sell at prices not much under the real gouge. And no Aftermarket E-Cuts have appeared anyway.
Guys in the remodel trade want $15 blades for $2 to $5. That is what they should be sold for by Fein. If the tool wasn't so good at straight IN CUTTING nearly everybody would have bailed for a cheaper tool by now. This tool started life as a get-in-the-corner triangle sanding tool, but there are better shorter triangle sanders now, its main claim these days is its ability to plunge cut straight in. At a wallet plunging price.
That's what it's good at on the boat. The E-Cut Universal Narrow is my favorite - even if they dull too rapidly.
Other useful blades are the brutal triangle handyman rasp and the ($45!)* smaller finger rasp for rough shaping of frp.
Fein could do no better than develop a few more blades for boatworkers.
Blades that will happily cut fiberglass all day (carbide?), cut aluminum and s.s. tube, and cut the ends off s.s.bolts.
A set of smaller less aggressive diamond rasps as flats and 1/2 rounds for detail work in corners.
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($45)* .....Bill won't stand for OBSCENITIES on this Forum.
But that right there is a real bad one!
In the tools that work category...
I've started using these sanding disks on my random orbital sanders and they work better than any others I've tried.
For hook and loop try these. The 80 grit 5" dia. is part # 4195A11 at this link
http://www.mcmaster.com/#4195a11/=2a65ub
For adhesive backed version try these. The 80 grit 5" dia. part number is # 4675A53 at this link
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/115/2624/=2a67rq
Sunglasses for glass wearers
Practical Sailor July'09 looks at and rates $100 to $200 sunglasses.
Cover photo shows a guy wearing correctives closely inspecting a pair of Harken's with a doodah scope.
This article has a good deal of general knowledge about protecting the eyes with the use of these tools. I'd recommend it for everybody to read. It is. imco, very hard to excuse some of the prices that fashionable glass get. I'm sure there is a perfect pair if you can afford it.
Despite the tech on the P.S. cover wearing corrective glasses, there is not one pair of 'fit-over' sunglasses tested. I wear glasses - and I would think many consumers do. This omission is myopic of P.S. And while not typical certainly typifies the personality of the magazine.
So I got edjucated but I got no help.
All on my own I discovered SOLAR SHIELD. Wearing them for years.
They are sunglasses that are sculpted to stand off from your face enough for your regular glasses and still keep the sun out of the eyes. Imco they are really nice looking, even stylish. Fairly comfortable considering there are double frames on your nose. They come grey and amber/copper and clear.
You must make sure you get the polarized ones.
I like the amber and find them clear enough to wear even at night in oncoming traffic.
They don't fold small.
The earpieces get very skinny in section and can break. My last pair did but then they live on the UV dash of the truck.
They have kept their natty new appearance for years despite the high heat and knocking around with other pairs on the dash.
Found some recently on the net for $18.95.
They come in two or three widths, which gives them some custom. They supposedly are available in drugstores, but I haven't noticed.
Worn them while sailing, and had them stay on without using Croakies.
Can see having these aboard like you do extra lifevests, for your guests. (Put some tape or mark on them because they might leave with them too!)
For what they are I'd rate them one to five with a :cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
which vac and sander combo?
Was born with a metal can Shop Vac. Hated it. Hated it for YEARS. Nothing stayed together.
Pulled on the hose the plug would pull out of the wall. Try vacuuming with hose extensions and everything would pull out of everything else. Use just the hose and it would drop out of the vac.
Worked recently with a giant Rigid for years on the boat. It ate a lot of glass. Kept sucking until you had to empty the enormous bucket. Most of the stuff was impacted in the pleated filter. Couldn't replace the filter because a new one cost too much - so it got a lot banging and whacking to clean it. When I did, the vac acted new for awhile.
I ran a hose from the exhaust side out of the boat. Didn't phase it.
But it was too big any more and had to go.
Now I have a smaller 'cannister' type Rigid, the type with two cart wheels that you pull around with the hose. It does not have enough power to have hose attached to the exhaust side. Can't lock the wheels so the damn thing moves all the time like grease.
It was fairly cheap but it really is a PITA.
And it's loud. The on/off switch works OK in one direction but not the other. Halfass.
Looking forward
I really wanted a vac that would do well with an oscillating 5" 8hole sander for seasonal bottom work - but also anything else around the boat requiring dustless - which is absolutely everything around the boat. I have used the Festool right angle 5" oscillating sander with the matched vac. ( I don't like working with palm or vertical sanders.)
That's about $1200 right there, before the special hook and loop deutsch disks you have to buy to fit the import platen..
So far here in this thread the Porter Cable 5"RO gets good marks.
I don't know if I can just jump back to a ShopVac I guess the PC Vac is axed by a poster here....... I'm at a loss for a good small vac.
So what is a good combo?
Need a well designed, light, easy to hold oscillator with an inexpensive source for 60grit.
Would be great if common 5" 8-hole papers could be used.
Need a small, powerful, QUIET, easy to maintain, light weight vac (washable cloth filters rather than paper) maybe wetvac feature as well. One that likes the sander it is attached to.
When I get hauled for a DIY bottom job I want to at least appear to know what I'm doing -
and I don't want to switch on a loud vac and an annoying whining sander. Do I want to attract that kind of attention? And want to avoid draping the boat with blue plastic to keep dust contained. Ideas?
Seriously.:confused: