How To Finish Sanding Moulding Of Door?

[gaia]

Hi,
I'm sanding my doors down, I used a heat gun and shave hook to scrape the paint and gunk off. I then used a sander using 40 grit paper then will work through finer paper before finishing with wax. Sanding the doors down with the sander was more or less straightforward.

I'm finding the moulding ( assume that is what it is called? ) around the panels quite tricky. I attach some photos of progress I've made so far. Looking at the moulding you can see there are flat faces at 90 degrees. The methods I've been using are, fine wire wool with paint stripper. Not really tried this one yet, using various dowel sizes with sanding paper wrapped around. I think this method is more suited to concave rather than convex moulding. I've used strips of glass to clean up the flat edges. I also got a pack of sanding foam blocks of several grit types. I'm worried using these will take the edges off the flat parts?

Any help on this much appreciated.
Thanks,
Peter.

[Bob38S]

G'day Peter,

I gather that the doors have had lots of paint on them and now the problem is the mouldings still not clean - for cleaning the mouldings I would have a look at a product called "Citristrip" http://www.citristrip.com/ - it works slowly but very well on almost all finishes - I do believe that milk paint can be a problem.

Just a comment re your sanding - 40 grit - if it is the same as we have here is very aggressive and will leave deep scratches - which will need to be removed before you can refinish - any "bumps" from the machine when close to the mouldings will almost certainly leave scratches and dings on the moulding. Dowels are good for cleaning up concave as you say but not suited to convex - if you can find it try a dense form of polystyrene - often found in electronic goods packaging, get a piece of moulding and attach sandpaper to it, rub the polystyrene over it to get the profile, when happy attach the sandpaper to the polystyrene and sand the mouldings. Another way, if you have the stuff on hand is to use a fibreglass filler - cover a piece of moulding, mix up the filler, press over the cover, remove when cured.

Not sure if it helps but some thoughts, regards,
Bob

[gaia]

G'day Peter,

I gather that the doors have had lots of paint on them and now the problem is the mouldings still not clean - for cleaning the mouldings I would have a look at a product called "Citristrip" Welcome to CitriStrip.com (http://www.citristrip.com/) - it works slowly but very well on almost all finishes - I do believe that milk paint can be a problem.

Just a comment re your sanding - 40 grit - if it is the same as we have here is very aggressive and will leave deep scratches - which will need to be removed before you can refinish - any "bumps" from the machine when close to the mouldings will almost certainly leave scratches and dings on the moulding. Dowels are good for cleaning up concave as you say but not suited to convex - if you can find it try a dense form of polystyrene - often found in electronic goods packaging, get a piece of moulding and attach sandpaper to it, rub the polystyrene over it to get the profile, when happy attach the sandpaper to the polystyrene and sand the mouldings. Another way, if you have the stuff on hand is to use a fibreglass filler - cover a piece of moulding, mix up the filler, press over the cover, remove when cured.

Not sure if it helps but some thoughts, regards,
Bob
G'day Bob,
Thanks for the tips, The polystyrene idea is clever, though the door moulding is intrinsic to the door and can't be removed. Fibreglass filler, would I use thin carboard to glue to moulding, if use glue what type? If not glue how do I attach to moulding as a base for the fibreglass filler cast, please elaborate on the actual technique?
Cheers.

[Bob38S]

G'day Peter,

On a section of moulding on the door tape and smooth down a couple of layers of heavy clingwrap - I say heavy by which I mean the good quality stuff not the el-cheapo stuff - select how long eg 100mm/4", you want your mould to be and dam the ends with plasticine or similar - mix up the fibreglass filler [we have Plastibond, builder's bog as it is known] and place into mould - pushing it into the edges to form a good copy - make it thick enough to give it some strength as you will be "leaning on it a little". Depending on how thick you make your sander you can insert a couple of small bolts [head first] held in place vertically using a piece of cardboard so that you can attach a small handle - otherwise you will end up with very sore fingers. Allow it all to harden [approx 20-30minutes] and you should be in business. Should your mould not be 100% to your liking eg air bubble - don't toss it but mix up a little and smooth it over etc you can now still place some fine grit wet/dry paper on you actual door moulding and fine tune your sander by rubbing it over the sandpaper.

With regards the fibreglass filler - the commercial stuff is quite thick but will work if you work quickly - it goes off quickly especially if it is warm - should you not be happy with the thick stuff - I believe you can get a so called thinner which will make it more liquid and allow more of a pour - failing that the boat places sell fibreglass resin + hardener to which you can add some talcum powder to mix your own consistency.

Hope this is what you wanted. Let us know how you get on.

Regards,
Bob

[gaia]

G'day Peter,

On a section of moulding on the door tape and smooth down a couple of layers of heavy clingwrap - I say heavy by which I mean the good quality stuff not the el-cheapo stuff - select how long eg 100mm/4", you want your mould to be and dam the ends with plasticine or similar - mix up the fibreglass filler [we have Plastibond, builder's bog as it is known] and place into mould - pushing it into the edges to form a good copy - make it thick enough to give it some strength as you will be "leaning on it a little". Depending on how thick you make your sander you can insert a couple of small bolts [head first] held in place vertically using a piece of cardboard so that you can attach a small handle - otherwise you will end up with very sore fingers. Allow it all to harden [approx 20-30minutes] and you should be in business. Should your mould not be 100% to your liking eg air bubble - don't toss it but mix up a little and smooth it over etc you can now still place some fine grit wet/dry paper on you actual door moulding and fine tune your sander by rubbing it over the sandpaper.

With regards the fibreglass filler - the commercial stuff is quite thick but will work if you work quickly - it goes off quickly especially if it is warm - should you not be happy with the thick stuff - I believe you can get a so called thinner which will make it more liquid and allow more of a pour - failing that the boat places sell fibreglass resin + hardener to which you can add some talcum powder to mix your own consistency.

Hope this is what you wanted. Let us know how you get on.

Regards,
Bob
G'day Bob,
Very clever, thanks very much! Should make my life a lot easier mate! :)
Clingwarp, clingfilm, you must be talking the thick guage stuff they use to wrap pallets? Not the domestic kitchen stuff. I will get the filler and clingwrap quite soon and will post a couple of pictures letting people know how I got on. Would this filler be ok?
Isopon P40 Fibre Glass Body Filler 100ml
Item number: 300510600003
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Isopon-P40-Fibre-Glass-Body-Filler-100ml-/300510600003?pt=UK_Body_Shop_Supplies_Paint&hash=item45f7d3db43

Cheers again,
Peter.

[Bob38S]

Hi Peter,

The link you sent [eBay] is not going to work very well for your purpose as it contains actual chopped fibre glass matting from what I can gather
Davids Isopon P40 is a bridging compond reinforced for great strength with glass fibre.. The stuff I'm referring to is only resin and hardener - the eBay price also seems a little extreme for the amount you get - 100mL. I have an old [2009] Screwfix catalog a mate from Scotland sent me, on p74 in the Sealants and Adhesives section there is a product called "Unibond Wood Repair" in a tin and a tube of hardener - the prices based on tin sizes ranges from 8.51 UK pounds - this looks to be the same as our Plastibond or Builder's Bog. If you go to your hardware store and tell them what you want they should be able to help you out. Failing that, a boat repair place or a car panel beater shop should also be able to help you out - [they use "bog" as it is referred to as a skim coat and this does not usually contain chopped mat]

Re the clingwrap - not familiar with the pallet wrap stuff - I was referring to the good quality kitchen/cooking clingwrap - you need it thin enough to seat into the grooves where the moulding contacts the door panel but strong enough not to tear - the really poor quality stuff just doesn't smooth down easily. There is a little heat generated when the resin and hardener are mixed and it goes off - the good wrap doesn't seem to be affected by this - I'm not that confident with regards the el-cheapo stuff.

Regards,
Bob

[gaia]

Hi Peter,

The link you sent [eBay] is not going to work very well for your purpose as it contains actual chopped fibre glass matting from what I can gather. The stuff I'm referring to is only resin and hardener - the eBay price also seems a little extreme for the amount you get - 100mL. I have an old [2009] Screwfix catalog a mate from Scotland sent me, on p74 in the Sealants and Adhesives section there is a product called "Unibond Wood Repair" in a tin and a tube of hardener - the prices based on tin sizes ranges from 8.51 UK pounds - this looks to be the same as our Plastibond or Builder's Bog. If you go to your hardware store and tell them what you want they should be able to help you out. Failing that, a boat repair place or a car panel beater shop should also be able to help you out - [they use "bog" as it is referred to as a skim coat and this does not usually contain chopped mat]

Re the clingwrap - not familiar with the pallet wrap stuff - I was referring to the good quality kitchen/cooking clingwrap - you need it thin enough to seat into the grooves where the moulding contacts the door panel but strong enough not to tear - the really poor quality stuff just doesn't smooth down easily. There is a little heat generated when the resin and hardener are mixed and it goes off - the good wrap doesn't seem to be affected by this - I'm not that confident with regards the el-cheapo stuff.

Regards,
Bob
G'day Bob :)
Thanks again, for all the tips, much appreciated!
Peter.

[Master Splinter]

Aluminium foil is a better barrier than clingwrap - conforms better and you don't have to worry about heat/solvents affecting it.

[gaia]

Aluminium foil is a better barrier than clingwrap - conforms better and you don't have to worry about heat/solvents affecting it.
OK, thanks for that.

[Bob38S]

Aluminium foil is a better barrier than clingwrap - conforms better and you don't have to worry about heat/solvents affecting it.

Thanks MS, didn't even think of foil but will try it next time.