a "FEIN" search

[gregleeber]

I have a lot of work to do starting with reefing the caulk out of my deck seams. Then:

sanding, lots of sanding

the entire interior which includes

unvarnished and unpainted

teak, mahogany, black walnut, butternut

also painted wood from the ceiling to the bulkheads and lots of areas that has chipped, cracked, flaked and peeled


Milky Way is the project and she is 40 LOA. So I gotta lotta sanding. Generally, I like to disassemble as much as I can before I prepare for coatings. I'm a real perfectionist when it comes to coatings. However, I wont be able to disassemble everything so I need the best tools for the job.

Clearly, a Fein is in my immediate budget. But which one? what attachments? From where do I purchase it? I know the sandpaper and all the parts and accessories that go with it are very expensive so I want to make sure I get what I need and as much of the supplies that I need for my projects this winter.

All the advice on the above would be greatly appreciated. I hate to part with this kinda dough but if I do it I dont want to make a mistate that I'll regret...

thanks

[JFH]

Buy the basic package and make your own blades from cheap cross-cut saws.
I think there is a thread here somewhere on making your own blades. It might have a Fein Rant as a title.

Cheers,

[Jay Greer]

Some guys like to use the Fein for removing seam compound. My own choice is
an air hammer and a body and fender tool called a panel spliter. It is basicly a chisel that extends through a flat plate that rides on the surface of the planking. The chisel or rather spur is ground to match the seam. It is then a simple matter to use this mini jack hammer to remove yards of rubber in minutes. An additional tool is a Japanese package hook. This consists of a forged steel hook that is attached to a wooden handle that is shaped like a deer's hoof. The handle is very comfortable to hold for long periods of time. Again, the hook is ground to fit the seams. It is one step further than the old, blister producing, bent file tang.
Jay

[Captain Blight]

Some guys like to use the Fein for removing seam compound. My own choice is
an air hammer and a body and fender tool called a panel spliter. It is basicly a chisel that extends through a flat plate that rides on the surface of the planking. The chisel or rather spur is ground to match the seam. It is then a simple matter to use this mini jack hammer to remove yards of rubber in minutes. An additional tool is a Japanese package hook. This consists of a forged steel hook that is attached to a wooden handle that is shaped like a deer's hoof. The handle is very comfortable to hold for long periods of time. Again, the hook is ground to fit the seams. It is one step further than the old, blister producing, bent file tang.
Jay
C&P'd to my "incisive thoughts from the Intertubes" folder on my computer. Damned good idea and I wish I'd had it when I was reefing out seams a few years ago.

[gregleeber]

Jay - I like your advice. Do you have pictures or drawing you could post here. I do have a hand held pneumatic chisel set and I could certainly grind the chisels to fit.

Most of the caulking on the deck is so bad that it wont take much to get out but a consistent and clean line is what I am after.

[Sterling Bryson]

I reefed out 5520' of deck seams this past winter and we found a Festool plunge saw a much more efficient method for extracting the seam goop. The Fein tool did have its uses in the butts and other places the Festool couldnt cut though. But the $500 for the Festool is the best investment youll make for this project. Our seams were deep, 1" but you can accurately control the saw's depth to any degree. You also need to cut back to raw wood and the Fein tool didnt do that very efficiently. We doubled up the thickness of blades on the Festool so as to make one pass down the seam and get bare wood on both sides. We basically removed 4' of seam every minute.

If you are not familiar with a Festool, it is a circular saw that runs along an aluminum track so you simply set the track at the edge of the seam, plunge it and drive it down the track. The attached vacuum system sucks away all your mess, too! Use blades with the fewest teeth as you are ripping the board.

Any questions I can further explain our techniques but the Festool saved thousands of man hours for us.

[gregleeber]

Festool, Festool,

please more, more...

[Scott Rosen]

If you are not familiar with a Festool, it is a circular saw that runs along an aluminum track so you simply set the track at the edge of the seam, plunge it and drive it down the track.

Do you have a sprung deck?

I don't see how this could work on curved seams.

[Boatsmith]

we use a small circular saw from
Makita with doubled blades and a steel pin behind the blade and a pointer in front and can follow sprung caulk seams very nicely. We then rout some seams where the saw won't fit, and finish with knifes and chisles where the router won't fit.Lie Nielson makes some side rabbit planes tha work well for fairing the sides of caulk seams as well. David

[Sven Heesterman]

After I bought my fein a new one came out with quick change of tools, I wish I had the option! I do end up changeing quite a lot, quick change would be very enjoyable.