Comments about Fein Fein Rotary Sander 8 Inch:

I removed the barrier coat and gelcoat from a 34-foot sailboat; 36-footer coming into the shop next. I work alone. For the bottom paint, I used the Fein 6-inch random orbital, which is fast and captures nearly all of the dust. FOr the barrier/gelcoat, I used this Fein rotary in tandem with a Milwaukie 9-inch angle grinder with 24-grit discs on a flexible backer disc. The angle grinder was used to strip the gelcoat down until the laminate just shows through, then I finished it off with the Fein rotary. Exceptionally fast method, on par with the Gelplane. The Milwaukie has the potential to hook an edge, and carve a deep divot. The Fein rotary has far less potential for this because the "soft" grade H&L sanding pad flexes just enough to prevent it. So, anytime I felt I was at risk for gouging a divot, I'd switch to the Fein. The Fein unit can follow slightly concave surfaces, but is not good for deeper concave surfaces. The Fein unit preserved the original hull contour adequately, similar in principal to the gelplane but not quite as precise. Good enough that I can't tell the difference by eye, but can measure it with depth gauges. The only drawback to the Fein unit is that it is not dustfree. The Turbo III vacuum system captured about 60% of the dust. It is much lighter in weight, but has better torque than the Milwaukie 9-inch angle grinder. With the Fein 16-grit H&L disks, I can control the material removal exceptionally well but it does require significant upper body strength. The material comes off in tiny stringy shavings, not so much as dust. Overall, I'm very impressed with this tool, but would not use it alone for gelcoat removal. My preferred method is to cut about 3/4 of the material off with a heavy grinder, then finish up the contour with this Fein rotary unit.