Let's talk tools!

[muddywater]

The masonry bit on the Rotozip for cutting sounds like a great idea. I had used a circular saw which dulled the blades immediately and the flying shards of fiberglass hurt like heck! I don't think the Rotozips are made all that well though as mine broke pretty quickly but I can still rig it up and make it work.

The air chisel for the transom is an interesting idea, but when I started my transom job the core was so far gone that I was able to literally vacuum out 80% of it and just hit it lightly with the angle grinder/flap disc. I have heard of other people's nightmares getting this out. I think someone even used a chainsaw?

Those bags db3155 mentioned for the Shop vac would be super useful. I saw Will had one on his Vac when he was working on his Seacraft, but I never was able to find one anywhere. The filters get choked up with gel-coat and fiberglass in no time.

The crowbar as others mentioned was unexpectedly very useful. That baitwell in the back of the 72' was built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. After everything else had been completely cut free, I attached a hoist to the baitwell trying to pull it free and literally picked the entire boat off the trailer and hung it there for a while with the glass that was attaching the bottom of the baitwell to the boat. A couple of crowbars and a sledgehammer combined with the pressure from the hoist eventually got it loose.

Hermco mentioned air tools which would be really sweet, but I don't have an industrial sized compressor. My compressor is only like 7 CFM at 100 psi. Air tools use crazy amounts of air otherwise I would get a Dynabrade air sander. Just out of curiosity Hermco, do you use an inline/straightline air sander instead of a (manual) longboard?

Thanks for the sander rec's. I am going to get some 7" fiber discs for the polisher and try that for knocking down repairs before I invest in another sander, but will definitely consider the recommendations when I do.