Porter Cable/Craftsman "Restorer" Experience for Molding?

[Dave Sabo]

Perhaps the size may be an issue depending of the size of the moulding, but Makita makes nylon brush wheels down to the equivalent of 240 grit making it quite applicable for woodworking.

Look at the pic of Andrew’s molding , then take a look at the Makita wire brush and tell us how you think you would control that big and powerful a machine in that position ? How are up you going to get close to the floor ? How are you gonna tackle the corners - which will leave about a foot of untouched due to the size of the machine + cord.

It’s a great tool for what it’s designed for - which ain’t sanding moldings in situ.

[Rob Sack]

Look at the pic of Andrew’s molding , then take a look at the Makita wire brush and tell us how you think you would control that big and powerful a machine in that position ? How are up you going to get close to the floor ? How are you gonna tackle the corners - which will leave about a foot of untouched due to the size of the machine + cord.

It’s a great tool for what it’s designed for - which ain’t sanding moldings in situ.

Dave, relax. Perhaps it is not the best solution for this particular application but it is a good solution when access is better and it is definitely applicable to woodworking whether or not it was originally designed for metal working as you claim. My only reason for mentioning it was that the OP mentioned the Porter Cable/Craftsman Restorer and having recently seen the Restorer, I think the Makita might be a better alternative.

[Dave Sabo]

Dave, relax. Perhaps it is not the best solution for this particular application but it is a good solution when access is better and it is definitely applicable to woodworking whether or not it was originally designed for metal working as you claim. My only reason for mentioning it was that the OP mentioned the Porter Cable/Craftsman Restorer and having recently seen the Restorer, I think the Makita might be a better alternative.

I'm totally chill.

And while I agree with you that the Makita is a more better alternative to the DIY grade Restorer- I don't think either is a very good choice for Andrew's particular need. And by extension the Makita would be a worse choice in this instance because it's bigger, heavier and more powerful - not attributes when it comes to preserving molding profiles or working in tight spaces at akward positions.

[John Kananis]

Why have we moved so far away from hand tools? A cabinet scraper would take so much less effort to operate than anything else than can be plugged in (in this case).

File off a quick profile for the top, a rounder point for the detail in between and if you'd like to waste some electrons (nothing against it), go ahead and do so with a random orbit on the flat face. You'd be done with the entire room by the time you read and pondered all the posts in this thread. If you had an entire house to do, my advice would be different.

[Dave Sabo]

Why have we moved so far away from hand tools? A cabinet scraper would take so much less effort to operate than anything else than can be plugged in (in this case).

Because a scraper(s) will not be less effort ! It may, or may not take less time to use them. And may be more satisfying, or not, but less effort than a power tool is a fallacy. And for someone new to scrapers the the potential for frustration or damage is quite high. Practicing enough to get comfortable and/or proficient before starting seems like an impediment too.

Mastering the scraper is something that many woodworkers today seem to forego or just plain ignore. Perhaps because it's not very sexy, they don't cost much and watching someone use them doesn't make for exciting YT content ?

[John Kananis]

Dave, I didn't consider the lack of skill but again, kind of part of the issue, no? And if you're lacking a skill to do work in your own field of work, why wouldn't you learn it?

So true on the second paragraph. Gave a good chuckle at that.

[Cameron Wood]

I tried the wheel sander on some trim- primed FJ pine with just the (soft) factory primer.
Each one minute or less.


IMG_3736.jpeg

coarser wheel:

IMG_3737.jpeg


finer wheel:

IMG_3738.jpeg


scrapers- card, gooseneck, gouge

IMG_3739.jpeg

foam drywall sanding block

IMG_3740.jpeg

Conclusions:
- coarse wheel: digs out grain
- fine wheel: doesn't do much
- scrapers: slow, digs in, flat profile is not very flat so card scraper doesn't work well.
- sanding block: works pretty good, probably what would be recommended if this question had been posted on the painter's forum.

[John Kananis]

Surprising. Thanks for praying your results.

[Andrew More]

Very interesting Cameron, thanks for taking the time to do some testing.

[Dave Sabo]

Perhaps Rob S will come round again and show you the secret of how it works......

[Tom M King]

A cabinet scraper is not the right kind of scraper for removing finish or paint. This is what floor finishers use in corners. I've worn out more blades used in these than I can remember. They get worn away by sharpening every few minutes with a file.

https://www.floorsupplies.net/produc...xoC4E8QAvD_BwE

These doors had 166 years of paint on them. Each one took a whole day under a supplied air hood to get it down to bare wood.

[Rob Sack]

Perhaps Rob S will come round again and show you the secret of how it works......

I would, but then I would have to kill you.

[Cameron Wood]

A cabinet scraper is not the right kind of scraper for removing finish or paint. This is what floor finishers use in corners. I've worn out more blades used in these than I can remember. They get worn away by sharpening every few minutes with a file.

https://www.floorsupplies.net/produc...xoC4E8QAvD_BwE

These doors had 166 years of paint on them. Each one took a whole day under a supplied air hood to get it down to bare wood.

That's true, and I have also worn down several of those. Could be good for a first pass to take down bumps and runs in the finish, at least on the flat parts.

[Andrew More]

A cabinet scraper is not the right kind of scraper for removing finish or paint. This is what floor finishers use in corners. I've worn out more blades used in these than I can remember. They get worn away by sharpening every few minutes with a file.

Interesting suggestion, but I feel I've got a number of solutions for the flat part, how well would this work in the curved part of the molding? Looks like it's going to struggle.

[Tom M King]

It wouldn't be so good on the curved parts. It will take all the finish off, right down to the bare wood on the flat part. It has to be sharp, requires a lot of the right amount of force, and should not require any more sanding. It would do the top edge, and if there's a little flat at an angle to the top, it would do that too. The little LV scraper that I linked earlier would do the curved, and inside corner parts.

For the curved part on pieces that can be taken off, a Sand-O-Flex is the fastest tool for the job. If you can slide a piece of sheet metal behind the top in place, the Sand-O-Flex would work there too. Some experimenting will have to be done to find the right sandpaper grit to use. I have a separate toolbox named Sand-O-Flex, and another one named Scrape. It's not like this is a new type of job for me.

Some of the spots that look like imperfections in these doors are just reflections. Once I got them down to bare wood, I gave my clients a few choices. They are original entry doors on an 1850 museum house. This finish is nothing like authentic, but it's what they wanted. No one wanted to paint them.