Looking to sand between 4" aluminum deck railing balusters

[sailor55330]

Thanks again to all for the suggestions. I ended up using a variation on the "bumper" suggestion. I found that rubber band abraded to quickly, so a couple of strategic pieces of duct tape and no more abrasion on the aluminum, so while still tedious, it's much better and goes reasonably quickly.

Now for a trivia question----I'm removing the top layer on upright posts (think 4x4 or 2x4). I had a choice of 3 sanders to do the trick.

a) 3x18 belt sander
b) 5"ROS
c) HF Multi tool with sanding pad.

All used 60 grit. Much to my surprise, the HF multi tool removed the material in about 1/2 the time of the other sanders. As a follow up, I hit it with the ROS to remove any sanding marks. I was pretty surprised at the results and how quickly it went. Also, fwiw, I ran the sander for about 2 hrs straight and no thermal issues (hands needed a break though)

[leehljp]

Thanks again to all for the suggestions. I ended up using a variation on the "bumper" suggestion. I found that rubber band abraded to quickly, so a couple of strategic pieces of duct tape and no more abrasion on the aluminum, so while still tedious, it's much better and goes reasonably quickly.

Now for a trivia question----I'm removing the top layer on upright posts (think 4x4 or 2x4). I had a choice of 3 sanders to do the trick.

a) 3x18 belt sander
b) 5"ROS
c) HF Multi tool with sanding pad.

All used 60 grit. Much to my surprise, the HF multi tool removed the material in about 1/2 the time of the other sanders. As a follow up, I hit it with the ROS to remove any sanding marks. I was pretty surprised at the results and how quickly it went. Also, fwiw, I ran the sander for about 2 hrs straight and no thermal issues (hands needed a break though)

I am glad to hear that the HF will do that well. I learned a long time ago before Fein's patent ran out, that the multi-tool principle was very good at sanding, and for its size, it outperformed other sanders at removal.

[sailor55330]

One last update---I did try the HF finger sanding attachment. It lasted about 8 minutes before the hook & loop melted to the point that it would not hold sandpaper. The good news is it was only $7, so it's not a big loss. I would advise to stay away from that one.

[onedash]

I am doing this right now and am using a brand new cordless dewalt oscillating multi tool. My smaller craftsman crapped out on me. It isn't perfect because the bottom piece of the railing has a lip curving up so I can't go across the whole thing but it works better then anything else we tried so far. It gets right to the edge too. It sure heats up though. I don't think those multitools are designed for continuous use like a sander. And the sanding pad seems to have melted a little on one corner so when trying to remove the old disk there is what appears to be melted plastic. My son was using it when that happened so not exactly sure.