Scaffolds
There’s a lot of climbing on a building like this. A full three stories on a sloping site can (and did) mean working 4 stories above grade. We rented, and eventually acquired, a full set of pipe scaffolds with deck boards. Chris , our contractor/advisor, had a pair of nice aluminum pump jacks with a long walk board.
But we got a lot of use out of traditional wooden pump jacks, made out of doubled 2×4’s with mending plates. These often are used with a simple plank. I don’t care for that, I like to stand on something wide and stable. My solution has been a working platform built up from 1×4 stock and plywood.
These were built 12 feet long and 2 feet wide using 1×4 pine stock (no knots) and 4×8′ sheets of plywood. The tops were 3/8″ plywood, just thick enough to not feel squishy when walked on. The bottom was 3/16″ or so plywood paneling or underlayment. The top and bottom were fastened with polyurethane glue for strength. The bottom is the critical member, the two panels form a box beam. The result is surprisingly stiff: our unscientific test was to elevate the ends and then have two adults bounce up and down in the middle. I’m sure OSHA would have a tizzy-fit.
Paint Shaver
For stripping paint from old clapboards, this is one of my favorite tools. It’s built on a Hitachi angle grinder, and is made specifically for clapboard work. Current models (https://paintshaver.com/) are quite expensive. I was lucky enough to find an old model on Ebay. It’s obsolete now, I think, but I like it because it has the bladed stripper head and a sanding head. These days they come as separate tools.
Mine came with a sanding head that works with disks as coarse as 24-grit, and a shaving head.
The shaving head is designed to ride under the bottom edge of the clapboard, while the spinning blades shave the surface. It requires some care and practice.