Tools - Fiberglass and Wood

chevymaher

Commander
Joined
Mar 29, 2017
Messages
2,914
For the shop vac, I use an old pillow case clamped onto the hose connector, inside the vac. . Does the same thing as the $15 for 2 disposable fine dust filters, but it's reusable, and you won't tear it in half taking it out of the vac.

Drop a couple rocks into the pillow case before attaching it, so it stays at the bottom of the vac, and doesn't get completely sucked up into the filter.

Wow that is a good idea where were you when I was doing this?
 

Mad Props

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
1,766
That is a good idea! I never invested in the dust bags because I normally have it hooked up to a cyclone separator when its in my wood shop so its not needed there. But fiberglass dust really clogs the normal filters fast. I'll have to give this a shot next time.

And as far as the HF grinder discussion goes. I've had 2 harbor freight grinders and they have both lasted quite a long time. I finally killed my first one while grinding the boat but I had it for over 10 years. I think its just a fact that fiberglass dust is horribly abrasive and will kill just about any brand grinder. Probably the best thing you can do is wrap the grinder body in a t-shirt to filter the air that goes through it for cooling.

Maybe someone will invent a TEFC (totally enclosed fan cooled) version of a grinder lol
 

76SeaRay

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Messages
1,047
Great idea on the pillow case. Right now I have dust going everywhere. I got rid of the dust mask and went to the 3M half mask for now with vented goggles and no glasses. Still have some goggle fogging so maybe need to leave the heat down in the shop. I have gone through flap disks like crazy so now trying one of those hard steel grinding disks to see how that works.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
I too like chevymaehr's idea about the pillow case. I wonder if the wife will miss her's?

If you really want to save your vacuum cleaner, get a Dust Deputy cyclone setup and you will never have your shop vacuum clog up again.

It allows all the dust to go into the Dust Deputy bucket and not the shop vacuum. Check it out. It is well worth the setup to save your shop vacuum motor... JMHO
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
For some reason I don’t think that vac will work to well in the bottom of a boat hull .. Now if it’s strong enough to keep the shop clean then your getting somewhere ! :D
 

Fraserking

Cadet
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
6
Gm280 has the right idea, these little cycones work great and really save the shop vac filter. If you have a shop of any size, I recommend a cyclone over a vac for dust collection and control.
 

Mad Props

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 8, 2016
Messages
1,766
The one WOG mentions works good.
I made one for my wood shop like the one in the link below and works absolutely fantastic... I used a sump basin for the container cuz it already has threaded holes for a lid and it's very sturdy and will hold up to a strong vacuum. It's probably a 25 gallon capacity and when it's full, my shop vac will only have an inch of dust in it.

http://www.jpthien.com/cy.htm
 

sms986

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
334
I'm mid-resto right now and I have one bit of advice on power tools. This comes mainly from general experience, but a little bit from my boat project. DON'T USE YOUR NICE POWER TOOLS. Some say do, some say don't, but I can tell you that I will never buy an expensive grinder for this kind of work again. I had a really nice Milwaukee grinder that I bought new and used once to cut an exhaust tailpipe off. Used it on my boat to grind glass, knowing it would be bad but also not wanting to buy more tools. Trashed it before I even got the transom prepped. I got a $15 grinder from HF and I'm currently sitting here taking a break with one stringer left to go. If this grinder dies, I'll spend 10 minutes fitting before I realize I paid less for the grinder than I did the flap cups.

I also had a drill that I used during the teardown that got ruined by fiberglass dust. On top of that, every power tool I've used for a dirty job still smells of that job when I use it, to this day.

My recommendation is to buy cheap tools for this project and if they survive, use them for other dirty projects. In the scheme of a $1-3K repair, what's $15?
 

Fraserking

Cadet
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
6
I use the (grease monkey) 5mil nitrile gloves for glassing and the 8mil when I am wiping down with acetone. The 5mil are easier to get on and off as well as cheaper, but won’t stand up to the acetone.
The other “makes life easier” for me things are a cutting station and tipping stand for the resin. The table is a piece of melamine with 6” Scribed lines, then waxed. No resin will not stick to it so it’s handy to work over as well, when glassing smaller pieces.
 

Attachments

  • photo307696.jpg
    photo307696.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 0
  • photo307697.jpg
    photo307697.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 0

76SeaRay

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Messages
1,047
Well, got tired of the dust in the boat and was behind the power curve on vacuuming it up.. Pulled the boat out of the shop this weekend and used a hose to wash it out from one end to the other.. Learned my lesson. Going to get out several drop cloths to localize the dust with curtains and dig out my mega squirrel cage blower with 10 inch diameter hose.. That should help pull it out.. I will be a bit delayed though.. Used my tractor to pull the boat out and ran into a problem with it; flat tire and a loose hub axle nut..... Got to fix that first before going back to work on the boat...
 

Ciera2450

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
1,049
I too am in the wonderful world of grinding fiberglass in my project. The drops cloths will help but do still count on dust everywhere.
what Scottdanforth mentions about the shop vac filter bags is dead on, if you have a shop vac. They help tremendously! What I do when they are full is cut open one end, dump in the trash can, then staple the end shut to reuse. Them things ain’t cheap!

also, for grinders, I’ve usd my $35-$40 black n Decker for one boat rebuild and midway through another. I keep waiting for it to die but it hasn’t.
 
Top