Fein Multimaster & Teal decks

[d.kriegel]

I'm looking for some advice on the correct width of the teak deck blade for the MultiMaster, and any tricks that may be out there, as I have about 900 feet of seams to start reefing. I have experimented with the 3mm tool, which is slightly under the seam width, and find that: a) it takes two passes to clean the side of the seam, and b)it tends to wander a bit, following the grain if it's not perfectly parallel to the seam edge, resulting in a lousy looking seam. Will the size slightly over the seam width follow the seam without a guide? I'm am, of course trying to avoid the old method of battens and a router or circular saw. Also, will this gizmo effectivley cut the seam deeper (or at least cut the cotton deeper) or am I exceeding the intent of this tool.

I'd be happy to hear from anyone who has spent time using this method.

[JormaS]

In my experience the best way is to use a blade that is clearly narrower than the seam. One would think that a blade which matches the seam width would do the job in one go. It could work if you watch carefully how the grain goes in the planks, but sooner or later you´ll lose concentration and the blade will find some end grain and wander into the wood on either side.

Actually, what you want is clean edges with all of the old seam compund removed. In a 4 mm seam, this means you should use a 5 mm blade. Although the Fein has the power to do it, I don´t think it is possible to guide the blade to make straight edges. There fore I think you have to go the "router way" in the end.

I recently did a deck job of a similar magnitude as yours. A normal router is way too slow, so I used a machine intended for making grooved joints, a Bosch GUF 4-22 A. It´s like a circular saw with a rather small diameter blade. It´s quite small so you can maneuver it in tighter places than with a normal circular saw, I think. I had a blade made for it in order to work the seam into a 6 mm width in one go (the old seams had a width that varied between 4 and 5 mm).

I made a new bottom plate of nylon and installed two guiding pins made from 8 mm machine screws that would follow the seam, one in front of the blade and another behind the blade. The plate naturally had a slot for the blade. The pins were tapered and the height could be adjusted to accommodate the old seam. Enough of the old seam compound had to be removed to enable the pins to follow the seam, and here the Fein was needed. I used mostly a 3 mm blade so I could concentrate on one plank edge at a time, in order to avoid costly errors.

My seams were straight which made it easy for the
Bosch. If you have a laid deck with curved seams this system could be questionable, but maybe not impossible with a small (short) machine like the Bosch. Depends on the curvature. If you have good nerves and a steady hand you could do it even freehand with a router...

Summing it up, I think a big job like your´s cannot be done with the Fein only, even if it´s a great tool. You´ll need something to get the right width and the desired depth of the seam at the same time. Otherwise your buddies will be sailing next spring when you´re still at your seams!

[Jamie Hascall]

I've just watched the reefing of the seams of a 32"Cheoy Lee using a pair of Fein Multimasters. I was pretty impressed with the speed of the progress and felt that the result was a pretty useable seam. They were then going back with the sanding head and sanding the sides of the seam to get to new wood. We're all keeping fingers crossed that they can shoot the compound before the rain starts to fall in earnest.

If you have straight laid decks, I'd definitely go with a small circular saw. I free handed mine with a Porter Cable 4 1/2" worm drive saw. I then finished off the ends with a straightedge, Olfa knife, and a very narrow chisel. You will get a few wows with any method but unless this is a total show boat you'll find you won't notice them very much. Just make sure you use the right compounds to pay the seams so you don't have to do it again like I did. :(

For sprung decks, I think the Fein will do well but I wouldn't expect it to deepen the rabbett. What's your project? Maybe we can give you a little better feedback.

Jamie

[Donn]

I've never done a teak deck with one, but it sounds like a perfect job for a dremel. The right bit, and a good fence, and it sounds like a dremel would fly through it.

[Bob Cleek]

I'd use the Fein to get the worst of it. Haven't tried mine for that, but the darn things will do just about everything... if you can afford the hugely overpriced attachments. (When, oh when, will somebody come out with a bunch of aftermarket Fein attachments...!) Forget the Dremel except for small amounts of seam. I've used the Dremel for touch up on bad spots and it works very well freehand. However, on teak, it is essential that you get the carbide bits. The HSS bits dull to uselessness in about six inches of seam if you put them up against teak. Teak is like that. This is why the Fein seam knife is so much better. It isn't dulling itself so much on the teak. Teak is like that.

[fisherman]

I agree on Bob. I have tried the Dremel with the routerattachment and some pretty expensive routerbits, but setting up a good fence is terrible and all bits were in a matter of a few feet totally burned.

You've got to take out the seems anyway and I keep thinking the Fein is the best tool for that kind of work. I've done over the last years more than 1,500 ft of seems with the little orange wondermachine and it amazes me all the time. The 1,500 ft of seems coasted me 5 knives and saved me hours of work. If you value your own time, the knives are really not that expensive!


Originally posted by LOON:
I've never done a teak deck with one, but it sounds like a perfect job for a dremel. The right bit, and a good fence, and it sounds like a dremel would fly through it.

[ 10-03-2002, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: fisherman ]