Replies

1. 
   George_Abramshe | Jan 23, 2002 03:31am | #1

   *
   Mike what species of wood flooring are you sanding?

1. 
   RonTeti | Jan 23, 2002 03:38am | #2

   *Mike, On mine I went to 120.

1. 
   splintergroupie_ | Jan 23, 2002 05:39am | #3

   *Michael, when we sanded this floor, we went to 100 grit on the drum, then 100 grit on the vibrating pad. What was not said is that i spent 8 or 10 hours sanding it again with a quarter sheet sander to 120, which made an incredibly beautiful surface, but was quite the overkill exercise. I wouldn't leave it with chatter marks from a drum, though, no matter what the grit.

1. 
   Rich_Watkins | Jan 23, 2002 05:52am | #4

   *Mike 120 is fine. We disc between coats with a very worn 120 disc.Rich

1. 
   jim_"crazy_legs"_blodg | Jan 23, 2002 05:01pm | #5

   *Has anyone used one of those square, walk behind, vibrator sanders yet? It got a pretty good write up in FHB last year, but they don't have them at our rental yard yet.

2. 
   Cloud_Hidden | Jan 23, 2002 06:24pm | #6

   *>Has anyone used one of those square, walk behind, vibrator sanders yet?Yes. For new construction, much easier for me than the big belt ones. No real chance of a big screw-up. It was pretty easy to get the floor sanded the way I wanted it. We have them at HD, Lowes, and Ace here.

3. 
   IanDGilham_ | Jan 23, 2002 07:27pm | #7

   *Jim,yes, they're quite impressive for the final sand of the floor.To do the whole floor with one, start to finish, would be a slow exercise as the drum sander is so much quicker on the rough, flat sanding, but as they can't dig in it would also be idiot-proof.

4. 
   David_Thomas | Jan 24, 2002 12:52am | #8

   *Speaking of a drum-sander not being idiot-proof: I had a co-worker who figured it was a an easy DIY job to rent the big sander and do his upstairs room. He was not ready for the torque and didn't keep hold of it. Fortunately, he'd left the sliding glass door open for ventilation so it was undamaged as the sander passed through. The handrail was not so lucky. And by the sanding marks on the roof of the car below, it was still spinning when it hit!

5. 
   IanDGilham_ | Jan 24, 2002 01:58am | #9

   *I had a similar thing happen when my assistant adjusted the height of the handle and didn't tighten the lock screw. The machine picked the most expensive units in the whole fitted kitchen to crash into -- the assistant was left standing there with the handle in her hand.

6. 
   RonTeti | Jan 24, 2002 04:27am | #10

   *yea jim thats what i used on my floor, the plusses are like ian said its idiot proof(perfect for me) wont dig into the wood. the downers are its slow like ian also said but it dont go down to as cours grit sand paper as the drum or rotary(one that looks like a floor buffer). i could only go to 36 grit. that was a pain when sanding though carpet pad glue. used up a bunch of paper and at about 6 bucks a piece added some additional cost to the job.

7. 
   ken_hill | Jan 24, 2002 07:27am | #11

   *I used the vibrator,too, on an oak refin. . I think we started with 18 grit and finished w/120. The first few rough passes were back-breaking because we were under time constraints (yea, this sander is definitely slower than a drum!), and to speed things up there was two of us on the thing - one to push/pull on the handle and the other holding on to the handles on the main body to keep from beating up the cabinets and walls.

8. 
   jim_"crazy_legs"_blodg | Jan 24, 2002 07:43am | #12

   *Thanks, you guys, I'm gonna check into renting one. I never thought to look at Home Depot - love that place.

9. 
   ken_hill | Jan 25, 2002 05:38am | #13

   *Jim- I think we rented the sander at Lew rents Oly. Westside. -Ken

10. 
    Ken_Berg | Jan 26, 2002 02:51am | #14

    *PBS is airing an episode of This Old House (#2119) that shows the use of the U-Sand floor sander. Which I think is the sander you guys are speaking of?Ken

11. 
    Don_Reinhard | Jan 27, 2002 10:50pm | #15

    *If you need more surface pressure from the square job because it is lighter,have your assistant sit or stand on it. Used a HD model about 5 yrs ago for a refinish and my wife rode around on it while I pushed. Worked slicker than a greased eel. Got that floor smooth as a baby's butt - w/o diaper rash. Don't think I'd try that if my asst were center for the Green Bay packers for his daytime job, however. Don