Refinishing a log cabin with the help of my 3 Festool sanders

[Frank Pellow]

This entry is divided into two parts because we are limited to 5 pictures in a single posting.

Here is Part 1:

The main building at Pellow’s camp is a Pan Abode western red cedar “log cabin” that I built in 1976. It is partly constructed on the rock foundation of the original log cabin that my dad and his friends built in the early 1930s. That cabin burned down in 1961.

I used Solignum Woodland Natural stain on the walls and that looked quite good for about 5 years on the walls exposed to lots of sun and about 10 on the walls with little exposure to sun. So, periodically I have sanded down, then re-stained different sides of the cabin. This year it was the north wall’s turn. I last stained this wall 16 years ago so the turn was long overdue as you can see from photo 1 and photo 2.
I used all three of my new Festool sanders to do the job:


• First, the Rotex RO 150 E random orbital sander in aggressive mode to remove the majority of old stain and decayed wood (with Saphire P50 paper). I also used this sander with Saphire P24 paper on the log ends. See photo 3.

• Next the Deltex DX 93 E extended triangular pad sander (with Saphire P60 paper) to remove gunk from corners and groves. Note that, when the extended pad is used, it is not possible to connect the sander to the vacuum but I was willing to the sacrifice the benefits of the vacuum for the extra reach provided by the extended pad. See photo 4.

• Finally the Duplex LS 130 EQ linear sander (with Rubin P80 paper) to smooth wood before re-staining. See photo 5.

In the past I used a combination of a Makita belt sander and a Makita palm sander. They were much harder to use than my Festool sanders, the sanding job took about twice as long, and the results were not nearly as good. Although my Festool sanders make the whole job faster, easier, and better, it still takes quite a bit of time (19 hours to be precise).

Photo attachment summary:


photo 1: The north wall with just a small section sanded

photo 2: A close up view of part of photo 1

photo 3: Frank sanding with the Festool Rotex RO 150

photo 4: Frank sanding with the Festool Deltex DX 93 E

photo 5: Frank sanding with the Festool Duplex LS 130 EQ E

[Frank Pellow]

Here is part 2.

Photo 6 and photo 7 show the two segments of the north wall after the sanding was completed.

Photo 8 and photo 9 show the two segments of the north wall after the staining it was completed. The wood really soaked up the stain. This time, I used semi-gloss whereas I used gloss the last time. I put two coats of stain on the walls (with a brush) and the total time to do this part of the job was only a bit more than 3 hours. I am very happy with the result and I am optimistic that the gloss reduction plus the fact that I sanded the logs much better will result in a longer lasting finish. The finish on the very top logs had not deteriorated, so I left it. Those logs (see the top at the far right of photo 9) are glossier and do not look as good as the others.

[Jim Becker]

Wow! Quite a transformation, Frank!! Looks like you just built it!!

[Peter Pedisich]

Frank,

Looks like your hard work paid off! Great color, Jim is right - it looks like new.
My CT22 has changed the way I work in ways I just could not see before owning it.

Thanks for sharing!

Pete

[Bruce Page]

You must have the arms of a prize fighter!
Looks great!

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,

Looks like your hard work paid off! Great color, Jim is right - it looks like new.
My CT22 has changed the way I work in ways I just could not see before owning it.

Thanks for sharing!

Pete
Thanks Peter (and Jim). Folks that have seen the cabin in person also say that the north wall looks like new (and that the other walls don't :( -more work for next year) .

For those not steeped in Festool part numbers :D, the CT22 that Peter is talking about is the the model of the vacuum cleaner that you see me using in some of the pictures.

[Per Swenson]

Nice Job Frank!

Looks great.

Per

P.S.

Nice legs.

[Frank Pellow]

Nice Job Frank!

Looks great.

Per

P.S.

Nice legs.
Per, that's the second compliment on my legs that I have had here in the last week. :confused: I am going to be getting a complex.

[Bart Leetch]

Nice job Frank the walls look great.

Who is the Guy with the bird legs?

[Bob Noles]

Frank,

That had to be a whale of a job and require the patience of Job. I am not sure I could have handle 19 hours of sanding no matter how good the tool.

The end result looks fantastic and made the effort worth while. Nice job.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Frank, that's an incredible job! It turned out great. Who would have thought that three FESTOOL sanders could have refinished a house! I think you get the award for the largest woodoworking project!

[Chris Padilla]

Purty, purty...oh, the cabin looks good, too....

[Jim Marshall]

Wow Frank, that is a beautiful job!!! Lots of hard work paid off big time. It does look like a new home. That is some beautiful wood also.

[Vaughn McMillan]

That's quite a transformation, Frank. I don't know that I've got the endurance to tackle that big of sanding job, but the end result sure is nice.

So...what happened to the rest of your shorts? :D (Better legs than mine, though.)

- Vaughn

[Chris Giles]

Frank,

A really great looking result on that cabin! How did you manage to get such a beautiful sanding job while apparently never looking at what you were doing?:D

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Frank, that is a heck of a transformation! You wouldn't know that cabin is 25 years old, you would think it is BRAND SPANKING new! :)

[Christian Aufreiter]

P.S.

Nice legs.

I was thinking exactly the same but would never have posted it. :rolleyes:

@Frank: What a great job. The house looks as if it were new.

Regards,

Christian

[John Stevens]

I was thinking exactly the same but would never have posted it. :rolleyes:

That makes four of us. Frank, what's your secret: running? cycling? weight training? Oh yeah, the info on the Festool sanders is great, too.

[Frank Pellow]

You must have the arms of a prize fighter!
...



… Frank, what's your secret: running? cycling? weight training?
…


I expect that all you guys commenting on my arms and legs are joking :D but, just in case someone is not, I will answer.

I am fortunate to be both strong and in excellent health. For a period of about 20 years, I swam at least a kilometre a day 7 days a week, then for another 7 years I biked the Seattle hills to and from work (about 15 K a day), then for the last 3 years I have simply done a LOT of physical labour.

[Nicole Banville]

Dear Mr Pellow,

I have just registered on Sawmill Creek forum and I would like to know what are the products you have used on your log cabin. I would also like to know why you have used semi-gloss instead of gloss ?

Thank you very much and please, excuse my English.

Nicole Banville
Montreal, QC

[Marty Walsh]

Frank,

I have to quit reading your posts. You make me tired just reading about all the work you do!!!

But your efforts sure paid off! The place looks GREAT!!!!

- Marty -

[Rick Schubert]

Nicole,

I'm not Frank Pellow, but I'd like to welcome you to Sawmill Creek.

If you check the date of the original posting (above each name) you will see it was September 21, 2005, so Frank might not be following it anymore. I suggest you send him a private email to ask your question. Click on his name which will give you some options including sending him an email.

I hope this helps. Rick

[Chris Padilla]

Dear Mr Pellow,

I have just registered on Sawmill Creek forum and I would like to know what are the products you have used on your log cabin. I would also like to know why you have used semi-gloss instead of gloss ?

Thank you very much and please, excuse my English.

Nicole Banville
Montreal, QC

Nicole,

Try using the PM feature here and send Frank a PM (private message).

[Jerry Olexa]

Nice work, Frank and a beautiful cabin....I love red cedar Its perfect for a cabin like yours. You did a grat job AND about those legs....:D

[Frank Pellow]

Dear Mr Pellow,

I have just registered on Sawmill Creek forum and I would like to know what are the products you have used on your log cabin. I would also like to know why you have used semi-gloss instead of gloss ?

Thank you very much and please, excuse my English.

Nicole Banville
Montreal, QC
Nicole, first of all let me welcome you to Saw Mill Creek.

I used Solignum Woodland Natural stain on my cabin. Previously I used their gloss version but this time I used their semi-gloss version. The first reason for doing this is that I think that the cabin looks more natural with the reduced gloss. The second is that I hope the semi gloss stain will last longer. No one has told me that it will last longer, but I have a feeling that it will.

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,

I have to quit reading your posts. You make me tired just reading about all the work you do!!!

But your efforts sure paid off! The place looks GREAT!!!!

- Marty -
Thanks Marty.

But, it sure seems to me that you do at least as much work as I do.

[Frank Pellow]

Nice work, Frank and a beautiful cabin....I love red cedar Its perfect for a cabin like yours. You did a grat job AND about those legs....:D
Thanks Jerry :) (except for the leg comment:p )

[Howard Rosenberg]

Hi Frank -

Thanks for sharing your photos.

19 hours?
I hope those earmuffs have a radio in them!

Howard

[Brett Baldwin]

Well nobody can accuse you of babying your Festools. 19 hours, wow. Well the result certainly show the effort.

[Jerry Olexa]

Just realized the workout you put those Festools through...My respect for them grows....

[Frank Pellow]

I am back in Toronto :( after spending most of the summer either in Newfoundland or at Pellow's Camp in Northern Ontario. :) But, I can look forward to one more stay at Pellow's Camp in early autumn. :)

I am approaching the task of sanding then restaining the main cabin at camp as a 4 year project. Last year I did the north wall, this year it was the west wall's turn.

Here, the sanding task is underway:

46580

Here, part of the first coat of stain has been applied:

46581

Here, the job is finished:

46583

Here, the cabin is shown in perspective from the lake:

46582

[Tim Morton]

just watching you on that ladder makes me nervous....glad to see that canada has universal healthcare!!!;)

[Tyler Howell]

just watching you on that ladder makes me nervous....glad to see that canada has universal healthcare!!!;)
Yeah Tim, I tried to get his attention when he was building his shop.
A least those cute grand kids will have a great inheritance.:rolleyes:
Nice job Frank.
It's good you protect the earth by collecting all the finish dust.:cool:

[Jerry Olexa]

Beautiful setting on the lake. Nice work and looks good but be careful on that precarious ladder!!

[Marty Walsh]

Frank,

You never cease to amaze me! Great job on the cabin.

Hopefully you took that last picture while sitting comfortably in a boat...a drink in hand, and a fishing rod nearby with some tasty bait in the water...

Keep up the great work! ;)

- Marty -

[Kevin Blunt]

Nice work Frank. It's always great to stand back after the job is done and see how it looks. When it turns out well that is.

[Frank Pellow]

Tyler, Jerry, Marty, and Kevin, thanks for the compliments.

Tim, Tyler, and Jerry, now that you point it out, I see that my perch on the stepladder is somewhat precarious. :o In fact, now the picture kind of scares me. :eek: I will take more care in the future.

[Art Mulder]

Frank, I admit, that the perch looks a bit precarious. But really, we can't tell from the photo how sturdily the ladder is situated. I've had a ladder that wobbled with me on the 2nd or 3rd step, since it wasn't solidly place, and I've had others where I had them rock solid and I could stand way up and feel secure. Hopefully yours was solid.

And admit it, fellow SMC folks, how many of us at one time or another have done like Frank and stood on the "Not A Step" step of the stepladder.

Gorgeous scenery, Frank, but I looked up your address, and I have to wonder just how chilly the water in that lake is!

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, I admit, that the perch looks a bit precarious. But really, we can't tell from the photo how sturdily the ladder is situated. I've had a ladder that wobbled with me on the 2nd or 3rd step, since it wasn't solidly place, and I've had others where I had them rock solid and I could stand way up and feel secure. Hopefully yours was solid.
!
Yes Art, it was solid.



And admit it, fellow SMC folks, how many of us at one time or another have done like Frank and stood on the "Not A Step" step of the stepladder.

Hey, I admit that I have at times stood on the "Not A Step" step, but in the photo we are talking about, I am standing on a "Real Step" step.



Gorgeous scenery, Frank, but I looked up your address, and I have to wonder just how chilly the water in that lake is!
Thanks Art. The answer to your question about temperature is that last Friday I measuered the temperature of the lake and it was warmer than you might think, that is 21 degrees Celcius (I think that's a little over 70 degrees Farenheit).

[Art Mulder]

Hey, I admit that I have at times stood on the "Not A Step" step, but in the photo we are talking about, I am standing on a "Real Step" step.

I'm pretty sure that my step ladder has a label of some kind on the 2nd step from the top -- the one that you were standing on -- advising the user to NOT stand on it.

[Frank Pellow]

I'm pretty sure that my step ladder has a label of some kind on the 2nd step from the top -- the one that you were standing on -- advising the user to NOT stand on it.
I have two step ladders, one aluminum one fibberglass, and they both have that warning on the top "step", but not on the step that is second from the top.

[Rich Konopka]

I have two step ladders, one aluminum one fibberglass, and they both have that warning on the top "step", but not on the step that is second from the top.

Frank,

In looking at the photo it is amazing you did not get hurt. I had two incidents yesterday with ladders. The first was when I was carrying some tools down from a roofing job I was helping my BIL with. The third from the last bottom rung gave away. Completely snapped off. The second time I was on the 6 foot step ladder on level ground and I leaned a little bit to much and it started to tip. Thank god I was only on the 4th step. After having two stikes on the ladders I pretty much gave up for the day. The whole point to the story is that you don't have to be on or near the top of the ladder for an accident to happen. I am glad to hear that the project ended successfully without an incident.

Cheers

[Jerry Olexa]

In our last home, I was trying to quickly clean my back gutters before leaving for the cabin. I took a chance and fell,just missing the bay window and fracturing my wrist in 6 places. Required surgery and having steel pin in my wrist for 6 weeks. MD said my wrist was like shrapnel inside but he patched it together. As Norm says, let's talk about shop safety and be careful...

[Steve Clardy]

Nice job Frank the walls look great.

Who is the Guy with the bird legs?


Hehe. Frank. You haven't answered Bart yet:confused: :rolleyes: ;) :D

[Art Mulder]

I have two step ladders, one aluminum one fibberglass, and they both have that warning on the top "step", but not on the step that is second from the top.

Frank, this is hardly important, but I had to check, as you had me doubting myself... :rolleyes:

Here is a photo of the top of my basic 6' aluminum stepladder. I'd say it must be 12 years old, so there is nothing recent about these warnings. I circled the three warnings that are at the top. Two of them are the "Not a Step" warnings that are stamped right into the metal. The third is on the same step you were standing on, and for my ladder is a sticker.

Curious as to why it is a sticker. Now, I bought this back when I lived in Edmonton. Perhaps there are different regulations in different provinces?


As to using that step? I think it must be one of those things like how we always need "just a bit" more room in the trunk to fit something in our car, or "just a bit" more reach with the extension cord. With the ladder wne need to reach "just a bit" higher than the ladder really wants us to reach. :eek:

best,
...art

[Steve Clardy]

All this ladder talk got me curious.
I bought a couple new 6' and a 8' Werner alum. ladders 2 years ago when I did my 1000 ft. shop addition.

They both have that sticker on the last step.
Never noticed them before:confused: :)

[Frank Pellow]

My 6 foot + fiberglass and aluminum ladder purchased three three years ago does not have such a warning in the penulitimate step. I will check the longer aluminum ladder which started this conversation when I next visit Pellow's camp (a couple of weeks from now).

[Gary Dean Jenkins]

Wow, very nice. I have just started investigating a refinish on my cabin. These results look just as good, if not better than some of the professional services I have seen. Including the sanders, what was your total project cost?

I am little worried about the noise, as I am in a residential neighborhood. How loud are the sanders?

[Chris Padilla]

Gary,

First, welcome to Saw Mill Creek...glad to have you aboard. Second, take a look at the date of this thread and you'll see it about 18 months old! Third, Frank doesn't tend to hang around much here any more so you may not get your answers; I suggest sending him a PM (private message).

[Josiah Bartlett]

I hope I'm not harshing your mellow, but I think you can expect to have to do that every 5 years or so. Based on my experience, there isn't anything even partially translucent on the market that will last longer than that, no matter what it claims.

[Jamie Baalmann]

Those poor poor sanders... If I ever could afford them I would be scared to use them let alone that many hours straight

[Chris Padilla]

Those poor poor sanders... If I ever could afford them I would be scared to use them let alone that many hours straight

Those sanders take a beating and ask for more! Once you have them and you start using them, you'l get over your fear! :D

[Rob Russell]

Gary,

First, welcome to Saw Mill Creek...glad to have you aboard. Second, take a look at the date of this thread and you'll see it about 18 months old! Third, Frank doesn't tend to hang around much here any more so you may not get your answers; I suggest sending him a PM (private message).

Actually, I'd suggest sending him an email, assuming Frank has that enabled in his profile.

[Larry Nall]

I was wondering why he sanded. I live in a crpress log home. Most log cabin folks pressure wash. I love the logs, but If I had to sand this house every few years, I'd be thinking Hardiplank in a hurry.