One of the most versatile tools we’ve ever developed for your shop is the Eastwood Countour SCT surface conditioning tool. If, you’re not already familiar with it, the patented Contour SCT is a hand-held drum-type sander/stripper/polisher. Instead of traditional...
One of the most versatile tools we’ve ever developed for your shop is the Eastwood Countour SCT surface conditioning tool. If, you’re not already familiar with it, the patented Contour SCT is a hand-held drum-type sander/stripper/polisher. Instead of traditional rotating discs or pads, it uses a variety of task-specific 4-inch drums to work the surface.
There are numerous benefits to this design. When used for sanding and stripping, the drums don’t load up with spent material like flap discs or flat paper. They also generate far less surface heat, preventing warping and discoloration. The more uniform shape of the drums is also ideal for working large, flat surfaces efficiently while also providing the ability to work in tight spaces and unusual contours. All around it’s just an amazing tool to use.
Eastwood developed the Contour SCT in-house, along with more than 20 unique drums designed for specific tasks. Choosing the right drum (or drums) depends on the project you’re doing. To help you decide, we’ve created this guide according to different kinds of jobs the Contour SCT was built for.
Heavy Stripping
The Contour SCT is a beast when it comes to stripping rust, scale, old paint, and even body filler. The most aggressive of the stripping drums is the abrasive scaling type, which uses abrasive-coated nylon bristles instead of metal to tackle heavy scale and corrosion. This design allows the individual needles to work around bolt heads and other hardware. A slightly less aggressive option is the steel wire drum.
Heavy stripping is done with (left to right) scale stripping, steel wire, polymer abrasive, or interleaf stripping drums
Perhaps the most popular option for bodywork and other large surfaces are the polymer abrasive drums. Available in several levels of coarseness, these are great for stripping multiple layers of paint in a single pass. They are aggressive enough to strip body filler as well, but still gentle enough not to remove sheet metal like a sanding drum. Because of their very open construction, they don’t load up with old material like most rotary machines do.
Another alternative to the poylmer drums is the interleaf abrasive drums, while use thin layers of coarse polymer material (60- or 120-grit) mounted on separate sheets of paper. This option is ideal on more complex surfaces where the paper can conform better than the solid drums.
Light Stripping & Sanding
For lighter stripping as well as sanding, there is a finer 240-grit interleaf abrasive drum as well as 60- and 120-grit sandpaper “flap” drums. The sandpaper drums are exceptionally versatile, even working on wood surfaces.
Another option still is the rubber expanding drum, which can be used with a variety of sanding belts running from coarse to super-fine grits.
Surface Prep & Conditioning
If you’ve been stripping and sanding, you may need to groom the surface of your work to get it smooth enough for paint. Conversely, on new metal, it’s generally a good idea to give the surface a mild scuff to give it some “tooth” for better paint adhesion. In either case, the finishing drums are the right choice for preparing the metal for its final finish. A range of finishing drums includes 60-, 120-, 240-, and 320-grit finishes to get progressively smoother or coarser surfaces, depending on what you started with.
Conditioning drums include mild polymer finishing drum (left) and interleaf finishing drums (right)
Polishing
Bare metal can look amazing if it’s polished well, and the Contour SCT can handle that job too. Two buffing drums – one of sewn cotton, the other of felt pads – are perfect for use on stainless steel and aluminum. Use the felt drum with your preferred liquid polish to cut fine scratches, and finish to a brilliant shine with the sewn drum.
Buffing and polishing are achieved with felt pad (left) and sewn cotton (right) buffing wheelsThe post Selecting the Right SCT Drums for Your Project first appeared on The Garage™.