Are you achieving speedy, efficient and clean renovation? Festool’s Phil Beckley explains how you can do just that.
In the last column, I looked at the development of tool technology and the renovation sector has not missed out on these advancements. Renovation brings with it some of the toughest jobs such as removing tiles, adhesives when stripping bathroom walls and floors and the levelling of concrete surfaces to make ready for a finished floor level.
These are labour intensive tasks we’d all willingly avoid and in addition to the physically tough work, renovation work causes challenges such as hand-arm vibration issues and creates a lot of harmful dust particles in a greater volume than any other type of work. The advancement in power tools has tackled some of these issues.
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Using tools such as the Renofix RG 130 diamond grinder, instead of a hammer and chisel, saves countless labour hours. Not only is the surface levelled, the dust is also removed. If the dust is removed at the source where it is produced then there is a big saving to health and labour becomes more efficient.
The ergonomics of a power tool ensure that they are more comfortable. With the ‘Vibrastop’ handle on the RG130, which can be positioned to aid working on horizontal and vertical surfaces, the vibration is greatly reduced so that the exposure time on this type of work is within acceptable levels.
The removal of dust in renovation work is essential. Tile adhesive and concrete dust is very fine, so the use of the correct type of extractor is vital. Using an auto clean version is best (CTM 36 E AC HD) as the filter is cleaned every 10 seconds automatically ensuring the efficiency of the extraction is maintained.
In combination with dust extractors, power tools are now designed to optimise dust extraction. For example, the RG130 has a spiral into the duct collection port so that as soon as the material is cut the extraction takes over and the silica dust is removed.
The brush ring on the head of the machine aids the extraction while the machine is being moved across the floor or wall and the support ring helps the keep the diamond disc flat on the surface for an even cut. Needless to say, choosing the right tools for the job will make your life a lot easier and healthier.
Phil Beckley is a Technical Trainer at Festool UK. Phil has been qualified for 30 years and still works on commission furniture. Prior to working at Festool, Phil was a lecturer at West Suffolk College.
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