I have rather a lot of this (AKA rust) to deal with. This is the worst, I've got "many" sq m to deal with including a lot of strengthening fiddly bits. I don't need bare metal perfection, I do need it smooth-ish and treated so I can bond some insulation to it. I can get a fair result with a scraper (flat ended putty knife) followed by wire brush. Hard work and the roof won't be fun. Rotating power tools are going to cause a fog in here that I'm not up for even with a mask. I'm now thinking - powered scraper is generally what I'm after. A tool I don't have is a multi tool, they always seemed a bit desperado DIY to me but in the light of this problem I'm having another look at them. Does the team think this a good idea? Any recommendations? A 240V one would be fine for me. They seem to jump from £40 for a cheapy to £120 for Bosch/whatever better one. By better I expect I mean "last longer". Would one even work for this? I just can't to all this by hand it'll kill me and I can't find anyone mug enough to do it for £££s. lol
I got a cheap one from Argos. My favourite tool, had it several years, but not really had constant use….although they’ll swop within guarantee period with no hassle.
I know you don’t want to but a polystrip disc on a grinder is going to be the least labour intensive way to clean that up. Those multi tools have their use but they just oscillate rapidly from side to side so won’t scrape well. A needle descaling tool would work but I’m not sure if you can get 240 volt ones
I had a mains Draper one that was brilliant and still would be if I could get new attachments. If you have a battery drill etc e.g. Ryobi or Matika, I'd say buy the bare tool for that battery set - I now have a Makita, cost around £80 but had the batteries/charger and its easy to get attachments for it - its a couple of steps up in quality over the Draper. They do some good carbide/sandpaper sanding attachments that might be a good option for you on that job - though I'm with @paradox tbh on approach.
Multi tools are great but they will still create dust. A sander with dust extraction is your best bet
Just borrowed one for a test - good as the scraper but less effort. Can you imagine the racket with a needle descaler? EEK If it was outside I'd blast away with a poly disc and I do... down the canal. This is a place where the noise is ducks quacking. Resonating ones entire boat with hectic power tools... someone will complain and I'd have to stop + I really, really do not want a fog of rust dust. A friend has offered up £1400's worth of sander extractor, but there's going to be masses of places it won't fit and all those beams on the roof will need a different approach. I'm still thinking I should give it a go but the large flat bits are the easier bits however I do it. Best news, I've found a young fit fool to give me a hand. He's seen it so he knows what he's letting himself in for. Think I'll get a multi tool anyway, I have some panels that will need cutting flush to a bulkhead and it would do that at least. Cheap and cheerful here we come...
The dust situation is more me not wanting to work in those conditions even with a dust mask. It most certainly will be dusty however I do it I know that, I've been experimenting. I don't want to be one of those folks who dismantle something (like a late bay) making it worthless then give up! It looks worse than it is. It's lack of vapour barrier + gluing it all together with pink grip which of course fell apart letting the air circulate behind has caused this. All the steelwork for screwing battens to is there, they just ignored it on the sides! If I take up any floor I find perfect grey painted steel so it's not all bad and the layout is great, never seen another one like it.
It's a pity you cant hire things like these... https://jnlasermachine.com/200w-portable-laser-cleaner/ Or maybe you can. Also look quite good for bare metalling vehicles...
Thanks for all the advice folks, I'm away to screwfix to get a cheapy multi-tool then my new bessy mate Daveand I will smash it next week on the only mooring we're allowed to make a bit of a mess/noise.
I found similar items on eBay at £17000-£25000. OK if you were restoring a long line of 1950's Splitties, or cleaning up other valuable metalwork I suppose, but out of reach for more mortals as a cool toy.
Note to self: clip down the poptop when it's windy. That was embarrassing. Gust blew in the divers window, front shot up and it took me a couple of miles at 50mph wondering what the noise was to realise. No damage apart from feeling dumb. That's been unclipped for years, so lazy an I. It's never done that before!
Your not the first and you won’t be the last At least you didn’t drive through a height barrier like a certain member
Wondered why the car behind drifted back 100 yards...the windy noises...it took me far too long to put the clues together.lol
Friend of mine had a Dutton kit car with a four point solid clip on roof. He was going along a long straight and a couple rattled loose, turned the roof into a sail and span the car right through the hedge. You just reminded me of that.
I’ve drove mine at 40mph fully erected….took about 2 miles for penny to drop….. obviously I was testing if it could be left up on site in high winds.
A bit late to the conversation, but the Von Haus range has been incredible value, having done an enormous amount of work. Compared to my Bosch drill it’s much smaller, lighter and so easily gets in to places I can’t with the Bosch (which I now only use for bits larger than 10mm). The multi-tool is extremely useful…but extremely useless for rust (just velcro pads). For that the best attachment has been this plastic pad thingy (i’ve a couple of sizes). It’s very effective and unlike sandpaper it lasts and lasts (and unlike wire brush attachment it’s less scratchy). Still a huge amount of dust, but I use my trusty Von Haus hoover at the same time to suck it up. I’m not on commission. Maybe I should be. https://www.vonhaus.com/vh_en/diy/power-tools
My clips gave up the ghost doing about 60mph into a gale on the M4 overtaking trucks in lane 1 and lane 2 .. The bang was very noticeable and it was hard to hold speed back to the hard shoulder. For the rest of the trip the poptop was tied down to a buddy seat seatbelt..it almost ripped loose .. That was the run to the Dubfreeze where we all entered an unused exhibition hall and moved tables into a hallway and had a party..
