Surface conditioning tools?

[MushCreek]

I'm seeing ads for these things all over. They have a wide drum of abrasive, and are touted for jobs like stripping paint. Has anyone used one? In restoring my old pick-up, I'm finding that paint removal is the biggest problem. Chemical paint removers don't work like they used to. The truck is a '72 Ford, and has multiple layers of paint. I'd really like to remove most of it. Are these things any good for that?

 

[txvwnut]

I have the Eastwood version and it is very effective at removing paint, rust or whatever gets in its way.

 

[zmotorsports]

I too have the Eastwood version and it works well for its intended purpose. Like any abrasive tool on sheet metal, just don't focus on one area too long and be mindful of heat input to the panel. Otherwise they work great for paint removal and prep work.

 

[WildBill]

I have the harbor freight one, it works great for stripping paint off cars. Super fast and easy. By far the best thing I've used for doing that.

 

[mike93lx]

Anyone using them to get consistent brushed finishes on steel and/or aluminum parts?

 

[jmdirk]

I have one with a paint/rust removal drum and a wire brush.

They work as well as a paint stripping disc on a grinder does, just with more surface area.

Like any paint stripping method, how well it works all depends on what kind of paint and how many layers you're stripping. I used it in spots where it felt like it works quite well. Others, where I've had multiple layers of paint, it's slower and still a struggle.

 

[jmdirk]

Anyone using them to get consistent brushed finishes on steel and/or aluminum parts?

I think for that a DA sander is a better option

 

[mike93lx]

I think for that a DA sander is a better option

When I think of a brushed finish, it's lines, not swirls.

 

[rlitman]

Anyone using them to get consistent brushed finishes on steel and/or aluminum parts?

I have a Walter Linemate (an originator of these), and with the right spools, you can erase scratches in brushed stainless and do some amazing touchup work. It's very difficult to get a large area consistent brush though. A belt sander would do better for that.

edit: I've seen people use these with loop attachments and do the brushing on handrails. Those come out great. But I'd be wary about trying to do something as large, flat and featureless as a dishwasher or refrigerator door. The reflections are going to make it obvious it was sanded by hand.

 

[MushCreek]

What grit are you guys using for removing paint from body parts?

 

[signcrafter]

Do these work for removing paint from wood also? Like a cabinet door? Or being a roller would it leave it with grooves? I have the wagner paint eater that works decent. Would think a roller would work better, more like a belt sander then a DA. As long as it isn't going to leave grooves if I keep it moving. Have some cabinet doors to do and would be a good excuse for a new tools. I made some fake pine wood beams a few years ago and almost bought one because I was using a wire wheel to eat away the wood between the grain to antique it.

 

[WildBill]

Anyone using them to get consistent brushed finishes on steel and/or aluminum parts?

I have used mine for that, worked well. Just went back and forth across keeping it as straight as possible. Used the 240 grit drum. Did a scratched up stainless fridge and misc aluminum panels. Also my entire 1967 cougar that someone else had sanded badly.

 

[rlitman]

Do these work for removing paint from wood also? Like a cabinet door? Or being a roller would it leave it with grooves? I have the wagner paint eater that works decent. Would think a roller would work better, more like a belt sander then a DA. As long as it isn't going to leave grooves if I keep it moving. Have some cabinet doors to do and would be a good excuse for a new tools. I made some fake pine wood beams a few years ago and almost bought one because I was using a wire wheel to eat away the wood between the grain to antique it.

I can't see how it would be better than a belt sander. Smaller rollers on belt sanders give you closer access to the corner than these large drums, and the belt sander platen will do a better job at keeping things flat (with the same grit track issues). Maybe a wire brush will excavate grain, but I've had good luck doing that in my sandblaster.

 

[mike93lx]

I have used mine for that, worked well. Just went back and forth across keeping it as straight as possible. Used the 240 grit drum. Did a scratched up stainless fridge and misc aluminum panels. Also my entire 1967 cougar that someone else had sanded badly.

What grit worked well?

 

[MushCreek]

Second question- are the drums 'standard' or does every manufacturer have their own system?

 

[WildBill]

Second question- are the drums 'standard' or does every manufacturer have their own system?

There is a thread on here about how some of the drums are slightly wider, there were some on sale cheap a couple of months ago and a lot of us modified our harbor freight ones to use the bigger drums. Maybe search for it, I am horrible at finding things on here.

 

[WildBill]

What grit worked well?

Pretty sure the 240 grit was the best for what I was doing. Its made out of a scotchbrite pad type material.

 

[WildBill]

What grit are you guys using for removing paint from body parts?

If its old stuff I'm taking down to metal I use the 40 grit stripping drum. That's what I use on cars. Its really fast and leaves a good consistent finish, stripped a whole truck in less than a day and that was at puttering around speed with lots of breaks.

 

[WWheeler]

I'm just posting so I don't lose this thread for everyone who has used it's opinions.

I snagged HF's Braun version w/ 3 hubs a few months back when it was on closeout for $60, less than half of what the new Hercules version (specs seem to be pretty much identical except for color/name) is going for. Perhaps not a coincidence the model/price change coincided with the their undisclosed settlement of the lawsuit brought by Eastman over it. I haven't had the occasion to use it yet though.

 

[dnschmidt]

On the subject of chemical strippers there has been a new development. The NEW version of Aircraft Stripper actually works. Barr company apparently has found a replacement for methylene chloride. For about 7 years after the banning of methylene chloride chemical strippers simply didn't work. With this new development we're back to where we once were.

On the drum sander front the coarse Scotchbrite drum, which is of course the most expensive drum available, works the best for paint stripping as the open weave gives the stripped paint a place to go.

 

[oldmachinenut]

Anyone using them to get consistent brushed finishes on steel and/or aluminum parts?

My son teaches machine shop and made trophies for the college golf tournament. He cut them out with an EDM then used the Hercules surface conditioner and finally laser engraved them.

 

[tyyost]

I bought a HF Bauer on clearance a few months ago. I was interested in the Eastwood one but never pulled the trigger. I’ve always used a wire wheel or similar on a grinder, or a RO sander to do prep. Large flat surfaces are a piece of cake, wish I had one years ago. Only thing easier than this thing would be a blaster.

 

[Ditchdigger]

Anyone using them to get consistent brushed finishes on steel and/or aluminum parts?

the first time I saw one of these tools was back in 1992 or so. I was working at a fast food restaurant and some contractors came in to resurface all the stainless steel surfaces. They used one of these to "re-grain" the table tops.

fast forward five years or so and I watched a Delorean specialist use his "proprietary tool" to do the same on a car. I went "Hey! one of those things again!"

So when Eastwood introduced their amazing new invention, the SCT in the 2000's I recognized it instantly.

 

[Squankum]

There is a thread on here about how some of the drums are slightly wider, there were some on sale cheap a couple of months ago and a lot of us modified our harbor freight ones to use the bigger drums. Maybe search for it, I am horrible at finding things on here.

Easy and fast way to search GJ is a google search starting with "garagejournal.com", then your search terms.

 

[Steve_P]

I can't see how it would be better than a belt sander. Smaller rollers on belt sanders give you closer access to the corner than these large drums, and the belt sander platen will do a better job at keeping things flat (with the same grit track issues). Maybe a wire brush will excavate grain, but I've had good luck doing that in my sandblaster.

The issue with a belt sander is that this assumes that sheet metal is flat- and it's almost never flat; especially on appliances, weldments.... I worked for a company that designed large stainless weldments, and our fabricators used a similar tool to a SCT- and not a belt sander. And they still had issues meeting the finish standard in the fab spec, which wasn't excessive.

 

[neophyte]

the first time I saw one of these tools was back in 1992 or so. I was working at a fast food restaurant and some contractors came in to resurface all the stainless steel surfaces. They used one of these to "re-grain" the table tops.

fast forward five years or so and I watched a Delorean specialist use his "proprietary tool" to do the same on a car. I went "Hey! one of those things again!"

So when Eastwood introduced their amazing new invention, the SCT in the 2000's I recognized it instantly.

I’m not certain, but the oldest versions I’m aware of of this tool were either the German made FLEX version, or a version made by Makita.
I believe the two used different sized drums.
Fein made adapters for one of their angle polisher motors so the same type of drums could be used as on the FLEX version.
Walter Abrasives if I recall correctly, also made a version, but theirs used a different size of drum that might have been larger.
Festool’s “Protool” brand also I believe made a version, posibly using the same size of drums as the Walter version.
Suhner likely also sold a version.
The Makita version was mostly sold in the USA as a finishing version for brushing and stripping lumber, so I’m not sure whether you could get the same selection of drums for metal finishing.
All of the units were fairly expensive, with the Makira likely being the most affordable, although it still cost two or three times what the average common “professional” Makita power tool might cost.
The FLEX version was around $700+ for just the motor unit.
The German tool brand drums were usually $100-$200 each depending on the type.
This was back when a USA made Skil saw or Milwaukee top of the line USA made angle grinder might run $140.
Even a Festool track saw was half the price of the original burnishing tools, and that was before buying a selection of the drums.

 

[oldmachinenut]

I just picked up one of these, it’s the same one my Son was using in my previous post.

 

[Sumboodie]

On the subject of chemical strippers there has been a new development. The NEW version of Aircraft Stripper actually works. Barr company apparently has found a replacement for methylene chloride. For about 7 years after the banning of methylene chloride chemical strippers simply didn't work. With this new development we're back to where we once were.

On the drum sander front the coarse Scotchbrite drum, which is of course the most expensive drum available, works the best for paint stripping as the open weave gives the stripped paint a place to go.

Did you know they use methylene chloride for decaffing coffee?

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

 

[neophyte]

Did you know they use methylene chloride for decaffing coffee?

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

Did you know that the FDA allows up to 10% insect quantity in green coffee, and that pre ground coffee is much more likely to still contain a quantity of those insects after roasting ?

 

[mike93lx]

Did you know that the FDA allows up to 10% insect quantity in green coffee,

No, that's not right.

Up to 10% of the beans can have insect damage. Not 10% of the content be insects

 

[Firebrick43]

I posted this last night on the other SCT thread.

They work very well to strip headliner foam with the plastic abrasive bristle brush on the slowest speed.

No, that's not right.

Up to 10% of the beans can have insect damage. Not 10% of the content be insects

I don’t care either way as long as it wasn’t eaten and crapped out by a civet cat.

Did you know they use methylene chloride for decaffing coffee?

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

Who would drink coffee without caffeine?

 

[neophyte]

I posted this last night on the other SCT thread.

They work very well to strip headliner foam with the plastic abrasive bristle brush on the slowest speed.





I don’t care either way as long as it wasn’t eaten and crapped out by a civet cat.

Who would drink code without caffeine?

Did you think there was just “Civet Poop” coffee?
There are two separate types of Civet Poop Coffee.
And Elephant Poop coffee.
And Bird Poop Coffee.
And Bat Poop Coffee.
And Coati Poop coffee
And at least two types of Primate Poop coffee.

I’m sure the Australians are trying to find a Marsupial they can feed coffee cherries to.

 

[Beerhippie]

Did you know they use methylene chloride for decaffing coffee?

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

Whoever "they" are "they" have many different ways of decaffeinating coffee. Some process use benzene (!), some use water, some use superfluidic CO2....

 

[Beerhippie]

Did you think there was just “Civet Poop” coffee?
There are two separate types of Civet Poop Coffee.
And Elephant Poop coffee.
And Bird Poop Coffee.
And Bat Poop Coffee.
And Coati Poop coffee
And at least two types of Primate Poop coffee.

I’m sure the Australians are trying to find a Marsupial they can feed coffee cherries to.

Matter of fact, I've landed a great side-gig lately! Did you know that coffee cherries actually taste pretty good?

 

[Sumboodie]

Whoever "they" are "they" have many different ways of decaffeinating coffee. Some process use benzene (!), some use water, some use superfluidic CO2....

Apparently I'm the only one that didn't know paint stripper makes decaf coffee.
Either way I don't drink the stuff.

 

[Firebrick43]

Matter of fact, I've landed a great side-gig lately! Did you know that coffee cherries actually taste pretty good?

What kind of “flavor” does your “processing” impute

 

[rlitman]

Apparently I'm the only one that didn't know paint stripper makes decaf coffee.
Either way I don't drink the stuff.

Yeah, I wouldn't drink decaf either.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Matter of fact, I've landed a great side-gig lately! Did you know that coffee cherries actually taste pretty good?

This is one of the better ones I've seen lately. Bravo sir.

 

[Beerhippie]

What kind of “flavor” does your “processing” impute

Pretty ******, in my opinion.

 

[Firebrick43]

Pretty ******, in my opinion.

So its IPA coffee?