In message , Marland
writes
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 08/11/2018 20:56, Rob Morley wrote:
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...p?picture=Kitc
hen/scv_15410864578302304584964064881918.jpg

http://www.larksrise.com/Project%20P...p?picture=Kitc
hen/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.


If I dont mask the beams get full of filler.

And it takes three times as long to get THAT off.


I have serious eye issues. And joint issues. 'brush skill' is
nonexistent. As is plastering skill. I can sand though.

It takes long enough to actually apply the masking, but at least I can
do it time and again till its right without it being irrevocable

In you airplane hobby have you ever come across Humbrol Maskol which is a
liquid applied mask that dries to a thin rubbery finish and later is
peeled off.
Using it in quantity would be prohibitively expensive but perhaps someone
on here knows of something similar
available that is more economical, Copydex perhaps. More expensive than
tape but if it saves muscle pain.
We have *decorative* beams. When it came to decorating the rest of the
ceiling we used pre-cut newspaper and masking tape to protect the beams.

Much easier attaching the tape to the paper at ground level and the
paper stops the tape curling into an annoying mares nest.

--
Tim Lamb