Rupes TA50 Mini Sander - First look...

[parttimer]

Someone asked, and it appeared!

[Radarryan]

So would the main benefit be that you can now machine sand closer to an edge, rather than having to go back through the area by hand? The backing plate is much too small to do the entire car with it, right? That's where a 3" Griot's, PC, or Rupes Duetto would come in? But next to the edge, to get a faster and more consistent cut and finish, it's worth grabbing this out and utilizing the 1" or 2" disk?

Also, is the 3mm orbit similar to the Griot's 3"? If sanding with this while using, say a Duetto for the main areas, would you have to go over the area multiple times with the TA50, since the less orbit gives less cut?

Thanks for the education!

[allenk4]

I believe the TA30 is roughly 1 inch and the TA50 is roughly 2 inches

I believe the TA30 does not orbit and the TA50 does orbit

In the videos I have seen, the TA30 was used to polish very slim pieces of trim that were adjacent to painted areas.

[Mike Phillips]

So would the main benefit be that you can now machine sand closer to an edge, rather than having to go back through the area by hand?

I wouldn't do any hand sanding anyway unless it was absolutely necessary. The 3" Griot's mini polisher is great for sanding next to edges because it's very easy to control when sanding, by control I mean keep the sanding disc right where you want it and not on an edge or raised body line.

This new Rupes enables you to machine sand even smaller panels, tighter more intricate areas and like the 3" Griot's, sand along edges with safe control.

The benefit to machine sanding as compared to hand sanding is it's always easier and faster to remove machine sanding marks than it is to remove hand sanding marks.

I demonstrated this at Mobil Tech on a black demo hood in my machine sanding class.


The Chevelle project is coming up real fast and it's the real deal, not a demo panel or a rental car but exactly what a tool like this is intended for...

The backing plate is much too small to do the entire car with it, right? That's where a 3" Griot's, PC, or Rupes Duetto would come in? But next to the edge, to get a faster and more consistent cut and finish, it's worth grabbing this out and utilizing the 1" or 2" disk?

Yes. Think of a master mechanics tool chest, inside there's the perfect tool for any job.

Also, is the 3mm orbit similar to the Griot's 3"? If sanding with this while using, say a Duetto for the main areas, would you have to go over the area multiple times with the TA50, since the less orbit gives less cut?

Thanks for the education!

Any tool that is less aggressive means making more passes than a more aggressive tool but keep in mind, when sanding by hand or machine, "normally" the goal is to remove surface texture or orange peel and you only sand as much as you need to and then stop and that's to preserve as much paint on the car as possible.

Always keep in mind,

1. Sanding removes paint.
2. Compounding removes paint.
3. Polishing removes paint.

Thus always use the least aggressive products to get the job done and the big picture reason for this is it means you'll leave the most paint on the car and that is vitally important for the service life of the paint and the car.

[Mike Phillips]

From this thread,

Rupes TA50 Mini Sander - First look...

2. I'll be giving this tool a real world test in a few weeks on a real car with exactly what this tool is designed for and that's damp sanding a custom paint job. Check it out here...

Here's what this tool is designed for and intended for and that's machine sanding into tight and intricate areas.


Jay's new muscle car projects - Wetsand, cut and buff...



***Update***


The Chevelle is at the upholstery shop getting a new custom interior. When it comes out of the upholstery shop it's time to wetsand, cut and buff for a show car finish.

Here she is all assembled after painting....

[Mike Phillips]

Shout out to Allen aka allenk4 for sending me the link to the website for this handy 2" hole punch.

[Mike Phillips]

At my last detailing boot camp class a few of the students tested out the Rupes TA50 to machine sand on a 1963 Impala SS.

Didn't get to all the pictures from this class, processing pictures so they don't disappear is kind of time consuming but here's one picture showing the Impala being sanded.



Using the Rupes TA50 with #3000 Trizact to edge a panel on a 1963 Impala SS

[Ballistic]

I have been thinking about buying one of these, does it use much air? Got a 60 gallon air compressor now..

Wanted to use it for places my Rupes 21es cant get into and when i paint cars any spots that need to be sanded down..

Got a laser table at work was gonna have it cut foam circle pads and Trizact to make things easier..