On 08/11/2018 17:44, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

I am faced with masking filling and sanding plater/filler betweenÂ* 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.

If I were doing it I would sand the open areas with my posh Mirka RoS
(light and easy to use overhead and very effective dust collection),
then do the edges either with my multimaster (the oscillating action -
is rotary rather than orbital - so it will sand right up to an edge
without hitting against it all the time like an orbital does).

Alternatively I would use my Mirka hand sand block with vacuum extraction:

https://www.axminster.co.uk/mirka-ha...x-230mm-502673
https://www.axminster.co.uk/mirka-sa...ction-ax851921

With an Abranet sanding sheet and a vacuum hook up there is very little
dust which is nice when sanding overhead.

Rather than worry about sanding right up to the edge, I would be
inclined to caulk the final interface between ceiling and beam, so that
you have something flexible at the join. You can tool that with a fugi
type tool. The acrylic caulk will take a few days to dry out fully if
you use a heavy bead - but it shrinks back slightly as it does which
leaves a quite need slightly concave finish.

If you look at:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/images/9/9...werCeiling.jpg

The interface between tile and ply suspended ceiling is caulked and then
painted along with the ceiling - it makes for a neat (IMHO) finish at
the join.

--
Cheers,

John.

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