Author Topic: HEPA Sanders  (Read 18999 times)

Offline HelpingHand

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HEPA Sanders
« on: April 27, 2009, 10:31:29 AM »
Hello,

I've been working with lead paint for a while in New Orleans, and have been using wet scraping.  Recently, we've been looking into using power sanders with HEPA attachment.  So far I've only seen Festool and Novatek, and Novatek says that it cannot sand wood. 

Does anyone know a decent HEPA sanding system?  I've been told that most of the brands carried by big box stores aren't adequate, and the only recommendation I've had is Festool.  I'dlike to hear more if anyone knows!
Thanks
D. Adrian Manriquez
« Last Edit: April 30, 2009, 08:10:07 AM by HelpingHand »

Offline Crestwood

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2009, 11:38:20 AM »
I've used the Paint Shaver http://www.paintshaver.com/ system with good success. Both the removal tool and the sander are attached to a vacuum (shop vac w/ HEPA filter). Very little dust or debris escapes. Sanding disks only available from the Paint Shaver people, far as I know and I don't know how the effectiveness of what I used compares with their own HEPA vac system, but I was satisfied.

Jared

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2009, 05:53:51 PM »
You can build your own system.  It can be even more effective than the average system out there, too!

BrushJockey seems to have a nice self-built system.  I'm sure he'll jump in here shortly with info, but he has posted info about it before, so you might want to search a bit.

Personally, I like the Ridgid 5HP + vacs with the HEPA filter.  I know a guy who bought a foot or 2 of extra vac hose, and he siliconed one end of the hose into the inside of the intake port.  Then he dropped the end of the hose into the bottom of the vac, and he filled about 1 gal of water in the bottom of the vac.  This makes the dust "bubble" through the water as it enters the vac, and the water does a great job catching all the dust.

But there's many ways to do this.  If you are going to try to design your own system, start out with a good sander with a vac port, and design the vac system around the tool.

And FYI, the one system I've heard great things about is the Porter Cable drywall sander.  But their vac is expensive...

Offline BrushJockey

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2009, 06:50:20 PM »
My use has been with sanding mud, not so much with a hepa setup. But besides the filter which is it's own expense I don't know why it wouldn't work.
 I have a hand or pole sander that has a hose that goes to a fiver with a paper filter and then through another hose to the vac, also with a paper filter. The first filter gets most of it, the second ( could be the hepa ) gets the rest without clogging your vac.
 I use this with the porter cable sander too, it just doesn't turn on/ off with the trigger like the PC one does. But much cheaper .
"It would be ludicrous to think I'm new to this, I know this, this is what I do"  ( Prince and Geo Clinton..)

Offline LJ

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2009, 07:12:49 PM »
Hello,

I've been working with lead paint for a while in New Orleans, and have been using dry scraping.  Recently, we've been looking into using power sanders with HEPA attachment.  So far I've only seen Festool and Novatek, and Novatek says that it cannot sand wood. 

Does anyone know a decent HEPA sanding system?  I've been told that most of the brands carried by big box stores aren't adequate, and the only recommendation I've had is Festool.  I'dlike to hear more if anyone knows!
Thanks
D. Adrian Manriquez
Festool and paintshaver are the only two that I know of.  A friend of mine who restores old homes Portland, OR uses Festool with good success.  He really likes his tools and vacs.  He has more than 3 grand invested in them; four tools and two vacs... and lots of hose.

Offline Roadog

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2009, 06:45:10 PM »
I adapted my Porter Cable to my "Fein" vac. You plug your sander into an outlet on the vac and when you turn the sander on, the vac automatically turns on. Sanding lead paint though isnt the best thing to be doing. Encapsulate would be a better way.

Vin

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2009, 01:16:20 AM »
Probably the same procedures for mold remediation goes for lead removal better check on that Adrian , let me just say one error could cost you one heck of a lot of money.

Offline HelpingHand

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2009, 09:34:15 AM »
Hi all,

Thanks for all your help.  We're doing air monitoring to make sure that the sanders we use are not going to release lots of dust. 

I've been looking at the PaintShaver and the Festool Rotex and trying to compare the two, and I had a few questions.  As a painter, I've never mechanically sanded houses, only scraped or hand-sanded them. 

My question is: how much paint should I expect to collect on an old house, around 100 yrs.  I know that some houses have layers upon layers and some only have a little bit, however I've never sanded either so I'm looking for a ballpark.  The HEPA vac capacities range from 8-16 gallons, and I'd like to know how far that goes.

Also, for those of you who have used the paint shaver, how does it compare to a sander?  It looks something akin to a planer from the pictures.  How often do you change the blades?  And how often does one change the sandpaper on a house anyway?

The house we are working on usually are about 2500-3000sq ft exterior surface area.
Thanks!
D. Adrian Manriquez

Offline Fred

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2009, 01:02:05 PM »
Which ever way you chose, it pays to send someone ahead of the sander to set nails.
We don't pick the color, we just put them on......

Offline Nicggdepo

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Re: HEPA Sanders
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2015, 06:49:18 AM »
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