Boat Sander- uni project

[maj029]

How d doodly folks,

My name’s Mark Byrne, but you can call me burnsie, and I’ve just recently signed up to the forum…hi hi hi hello….Now I have very little experience with sailing and boats in general, apart from a brief trip in a lazer or something as a scout, oh and my jet-ski - which isn’t really a boat - technically speaking….Anyway, I am currently a student at Coventry University, England, studying Industrial Product Design. For my final year group project we have been set the task of designing a boat sander. In general : ‘To provide an effective and viable solution in the form of a handheld, power assisted product which can provide a fair surface on both wood and GRP boats to the same or better standard than that achieved by existing products’.

We have been told that the current methods in boat sanding are very laborious and tiring, having to use numerous tools for different stages and parts of the process. Fundamentally, it is the function of the longboard that we are trying to duplicate, whilst also incorporating other sanding tools and techniques, and perhaps including functions like dust extraction, speed control, etc. into the design to create a ‘tool for all jobs’. Due to the group’s lack of knowledge on this subject, we are currently trying to get in contact with some boat builders/ yards locally to gain some first hand information of the task in hand and identify problem areas and techniques. And this is where I thought I may be able to annoy some of you forum members.

I have been trawling through your very informative and useful website to gain a better insight into the task at hand, which has been quite inspiring and opened my eyes that little bit wider. As very keen and passionate yachtsmen, could you outline any problem factors you have experienced in using a longboard, or just in the general topic of sanding? And any points you feel would be worth our investigating?

All help would be much appreciated on this topic, and thanks for taking the time to look at my post. I hope to hear back from some of you soon. All the best......

Thanks again

burnsie

[camaraderie]

Burnsie...
It occurs to me that most fairing of hulls these days is preperatory to a paint job. You might try the US Paint or Interlux websites for contacts in their technical departments that should have a lot of the experience you are looking for.
Welcome!

[NOLAsailing]

The best sanders that I know of are the Porter Cable 7336 (or 7335, which has a 5" pad). The are an electric version of a pneumatic DA sander. I would suggest starting there.

[resdog]

Sanding anything sucks. I'd say the closest thing to a longboard is a pneumatic file sander. They are usually heavy, noisy and can eat a lot of material up in a hurry if you are not paying attention. Their best use is in fairing large areas.

[Faster]

What your project needs to do is design something like that shown in the previous post but with the flexibility of a longboard to avoid creating low spots on the long convex/compound curves of a typical hull. Also minimize the weight as most of this work is typically down overhead (unless it is part of the construction process where many hulls are upside down at that point)
Interesting project but with a relatively limited market potential, I would think.

[sailingdog]

Part of the problem is that any powered sander is likely to take off more material, faster than is good for fine control necessary to get a good hull shape. Sometimes caveman technology is the right thing.

[maj029]

....heh folks,
many thanks for your input so far.

Originally Posted by resdog

........ I'd say the closest thing to a longboard is a pneumatic file sander. They are usually heavy, noisy and can eat a lot of material up in a hurry if you are not paying attention. Their best use is in fairing large areas.

The group has considered pneumatics as a possible concept due to the problems that might arise with electrical equipment in the conditions. But at the minute I think it is our lack of knowledge in this department holding us back.....

Originally Posted by Faster

.......Also minimize the weight as most of this work is typically down overhead (unless it is part of the construction process where many hulls are upside down at that point)
Interesting project but with a relatively limited market potential, I would think.

...We are thinking of including a backpack or separate transportable unit that would assist in the weight distribution and also allow for long periods of sanding without breaks. On this point, what would be a average span of time you would spend on sanding at any one time?...... We have also set the brief to include the concept to be as versatile as possible, used accross many industries, i.e automotive, etc...What are your thoughts?

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Sometimes caveman technology is the right thing.

yep yep, I fully agree

Again, thanks a lot for your input guys, it is extremely helpful to get first hand knowledge and experience. Also, I am in the process of preparing an online questionnaire, which I'll pop a link up for......

Best Regards

burnsie

[Sailormon6]

I've found that wetsanding removes material much faster than a power sander, and it prevents the sandpaper from loading up with paint material. But, I've never seen a power wet sander. Why don't you figure out some way to make a power wet-sanding tool that has a water supply via a small, flexible, plastic water line (not a heavy, stiff garden hose.). It might have to be air powered, rather than electrically powered, unless you can figure out a way to isolate the wet tool from the electric source. A high speed rotary sander would throw too much material and water, but a "jitterbug" type of sander would be much less likely to throw the material.

[resdog]

Originally Posted by Sailormon6

I've found that wetsanding removes material much faster than a power sander, and it prevents the sandpaper from loading up with paint material. But, I've never seen a power wet sander. Why don't you figure out some way to make a power wet-sanding tool that has a water supply via a small, flexible, plastic water line (not a heavy, stiff garden hose.). It might have to be air powered, rather than electrically powered, unless you can figure out a way to isolate the wet tool from the electric source. A high speed rotary sander would throw too much material and water, but a "jitterbug" type of sander would be much less likely to throw the material.

There are quite a few companies that mfg wet orbital sanders. All of them are air powered.