Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This machine works but is heavy, like other reviewers said. Myself and my coworker are each 6 foot tall men in good condition. We can barely put in 6 hours a day with the tool and that includes two half hour breaks to allow for muscles to stop spasming.
BUT--if used correctly, this tool does remove paint. It is slow, paint dust goes everywhere, and you must wear a respirator mask and a face shield.
Contrary to the instructions included with the tool...--read this carefully--There are little adjustable rails on the left and right side of the disc. The rails can be lowered and raised to adjust the angle of attack of the disc. I found that the "cutting" side (leading edge rail) of the grinder needs to be set to about 1/16 inch lower than the grinding disc and the back side (trailing edge rail) needs to be about 1/16 of an inch TALLER than the total depth of the paint you are removing. In my case I am removing approximately 1/8 inch of paint (typical for an 80 year old house). Therefore the trailing edge of the grinder needs to be set at about 3/16 higher than the disc surface. The measurements are made by laying a straight edge (I use a square) across the disc and raising and lowering the black rails to the appropriate height.
Plan on using an inconspicuous place on your house and practicing for about 2 or 3 hours until you get it right. Don't give up. My first day was very frustrating. Lots of clogging. At first I could only use the tool for about 10 seconds before it totally gummed up. Uggh. But with practice, clogging (gumming) is actually quite minimal when you find the right "angle of attack" for your application. Gumming usually occurs when you hold the grinder in one place too long or try to cut too deeply in one pass. You can't expect to realistically remove more than about 1/64 of an inch per pass, maybe even as little as 1/128 of an inch per pass. This equates to about 4-6 passes, sometimes up to 10 passes for severely cupped and warped wood. But this type of use allows for almost constant grinding with very little gumming. When the tool does gum up use a small, wooden-handled ice-pick to "pop" the gum chunks off of the grinding disc. A cleaning session takes about 1-2 minutes or even less. An occasional brushing with a wire brush helps prevent re-gumming on paint covered, problem spots on the disc. This technique works so well that I only change the disc when the teeth wear down and stop cutting effectively (4-8 hours of use, depending). I have only soaked the discs in mineral spirits one time and generally find it unnecessary.
Beware--this tool pulverizes the paint into a fine powder that goes everywhere. You will need ridiculous amounts of plastic drop cloths and bricks to hold them in place. Then you must sweep the powder at the end of each day. The amount that you collect is astounding. You can expect to collect about 10-20 gallons of paint powder from an average, 3BR/2Bath, one level home. This must be done for both legal and ethical reasons. Would you actually dump 10-20 gallons of lead and enamel paint into your yard?
In closing--this tool works great. It is a bear to use. You must use scaffolding. It is slow. Expect about three weeks of all day work to get your old house scraped and ready to prime. Buy lots of discs, about 10 for an average size house. Use only the 24 grit as the discs wear out and you need all the cutting power you can get. But beware as a new 24 grit disc cuts viciously and leaves severe swirl marks. But after about 10 minutes of use it wears down to a manageable level.
If you can afford it--replace your siding. New poplar siding is about 15 cents a foot (in 2005. Prices fluctuate) in the US. Materials for an average home would cost about $4,000. Plus lots of labor. Vinyl siding is usually a poor choice. It costs $5,000, looks fake, and causes weird moisture issues between the vinyl and the old siding.
But if you, like me, have little money and lots of time--this is the tool for you.
(note: I post my reviews because I take them seriously and I take other people's seriously as well. Please take the time to rate my review so I can do a better job in the future. Thanks :) ).
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