Yet another tool to add to your ever-growing collection...

[Case]

Let me tell you something about me: I am a major boat nut. And I am also a major car nut. Possibly the worst affliction there is in the world... Most people have one of those but not too many have BOTH. The automotive world usually do not have that many products that is any good for the boater but recently I came across one such tool that may be useful to you boaters.

I was working on the dropboards for FIZZ, the family daysailer. She's a Sea Sprite 23. The dropboards were oiled but turned black so I decided to varnish it rather than re-oiling it. First before doing that, I had to sand it because the black stains were rather deep. Of course, this caused lots of dust to fly all around my workbench. After vaccuming up the dust and using a thinner - soaked rag to clean up the dust from the work bench, generally not really enjoying the work... I eyed my California Car Duster.

Perhaps you have seen the hokey T.V. commericals of this thing before... I'll put in the web address for this product here so you can see what it looks like: http://calcarduster.com/originalDuster.asp

Well... After feeling fed up with the sheer amount of sawdust clinging to all of the various bottles, cans and all of the tiny impossible spots at my work bench, I decided to try my California Car Duster to sweep up the stray sawdust.

It works really, really, really well. Extremely well. One quick light sweep and the sawdust was gone. I could make the work bench dust free in an instant with this duster. In fact, the dirtier it gets, the greedier it gets for dust. I can personally attest to this. You do need to shake it out once in a while but that's about the only maintenance it needs.

I'm not saying that my California Car Duster will replace good old vaccuming. Vaccuming is better for the copious amounts. But the duster works really great removing those stray dust or sawdust from the workbench. After all, dust or its ilk, the sawdust, is an evil thing, always lurking about until the perfect moment which it then gracefully deposits itself on fresh varnish.

So... there it is. A yet another useful tool for you tool collectors to have around. A quick sweep with the California Car Duster will remove the last traces of sawdust or dust so you can varnish in relative peace. Sure its rather pricey for a seemingly simple thing but it does work really well. Should be easy to find at the local Walmart. I better stop writing any further because I'm starting to sound like an infomerical.

- Casey

[Tim]

I use one of those car dusters on my truck in the summer, to keep the dust off so that the dew doesn't ruin a clean truck. (I like a clean truck, though I'd really rather not wash it any more than necessary.) I also use it inside on the dash, etc. It works extremely well.

The car dusters work because the fibers are impregnated with wax or something similar; therefore, I would not use it to clean the surface that you intend to varnish, as I'd be concerned about the possibility of surface contamination from the waxy stuff in the duster. I'm just clarifying a point here, as I know you said you used it just to clean up the bench area.

I think this is a good idea, and will start saving my old ones to use in the shop! I buy about one or two of these a year, so there's a fairly steady supply.

(And you don't have to stay up late watching bad commercials to buy one of these; they're available at auto parts stores and the usual el-cheapo box box stores.)

[Case]

I should have said it in my orginal message but don't use it to remove the dust on whatever you are varnishing or painting. As Tim said, the car duster does have waxy substances on the surfaces which helps it to suck up dust. This may leave some residues on the surface that may ruin your painting/varnishing process. The car duster is great for clean up, that's all. It is a quicker way to remove those stray sawdust than having to constantly vaccum and wipe up the surfaces. A great labor saver used this way.

The surfaces that is to be varnished or painted should always be wiped down with thinner or alcohol before application. This includes the immediate area right below the pieces you are varnishing. Do all of this after you wipe the area with the car duster.

- Casey