On Thu, 8 Nov 2018 17:44:25 +0000
The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I am faced with masking filling and sanding plater/filler between
oak beams that have shrink

Its proving a monumental task, esp. the sanding

Mt orbital sander tears the masking tape and its prone to grind the
ends off the sheet of abrasive if it gets too close to a wall.

I bought a 'palm' sander from Wickes for £15 his morning,. It lasted
20 mins before the sanding pad fell off and the Velcro underneath got
buggered. I took it back and got a refund.


The job is as you can see here..

http://www.larksrise.com/Project%20P...4064881918.jpg
http://www.larksrise.com/Project%20P...n/DSC_0003.JPG

Any advice welcomed.

Don't sand and don't mask. Hack off any unevenness before filling,
fill deep and scrape the filler back flush with the existing good
surface, then fill it smooth with a second coat once the first coat
is firm enough. Ordinary Polyfilla or one-coat plaster works fine
for me - if the edges open up after a while use decorator's caulk,
which will allow a bit of movement.
And cut the edge in properly with a bit of brush skill, ferchrissakes.