Okay, foamez, and fiberglasssupply both list the same model of milwaukee grinder as THE tool to use. Like most, I’m on a budget and dont want to spend a few hundred dollars on a power tool at the moment, but I have two I picked up at a garage sale for $5 a piece, believe it or not! If they wont work, I will just give them to my Dad who would use them. Anyway they are as follows, and I’ll attatch an image. I want to get that nice candy gloss finish and have a more effecient way to sand out my boards. Will either of these do the trick?
Okay great, so the milwaukee will work? I didnt know if it would be too big or not. So now all I have to do is buy some attatchments for sanding and buff/polishing? I’ve only done such work by hand… new to the powertool thing, but ready to get on board, thats for sure.
Sanding pads come in three grades: hard, medium and soft. Use hard or medium for flats, soft for curves (rails). The coarser the grit, the lower the RPMs. Keep it FLAT or you will do swirls that will be hard to erase…
I have the same 4” 9514B Makita angle grinder that I use to take down leash plugs and fin boxes. I prefer to use a metal cutting wheel as opposed to either a metal grinding wheel, masonry grinding wheel or a masonry cutting wheel although ymmv. As Soulstice said be very, very careful as one slip could spell disaster. The 9” Milwaukee should be fine as long as you use the right pad rated for the appropriate rpm. Originalsin, if you ever get the chance to purchase the 5540, do it. Trust me, you won’t regret it, you’ll love it. Reverb I have the super soft Flexpad™ pad and it is quite nice although it is only rated for 750 rpm. I have the Milwaukee 5540 and have the ability to adjust the rpm. Now I know it is just a manufacturer’s recommendation and I often deviate from manufacturer’s recommendations myself, but I thought I would just throw it out there for anybody reading this thread. I also have a soft Flexpad™ and medium Power Pad™ and use the soft pad for the majority of my work. I am a little hesitant to take the medium pad on the rails and to crank up the rpm for the super soft pad on the flats. I have no problem taking the soft Flexpad™ on the rails or cranking up the rpm for the flats. For what its worth it should be mentioned that the density varies greatly between what I believe are the two most commonly used brand of pads in the industry, a Power Pad™ brand pad and a Flexpad™ brand pad. Both brands are rather nice.
