Thread: What do you use for sanding

I use a belt sander for rough stuff,a 1/3 sheet orbital,an elliptical and a detail sander at different times for finer tasks and finish prep-the detail sander was a fairly recent purchase and replaces a lot of what I used to do by hand in those hard to reach spots.The orbital is great for clinker plank sanding and other flattish jobs.Still seem to use a sanding block more than I'd like though.Another useful tool is a Skarsten scraper-great for initial removal of epoxy dags etc.
Cheers,
Dave.

Over the years I've found the random orbital sander very useful for all sorts of jobs, but some are definitely better than others. I had a wonderful Makita which worked beautifully but replacing the velcro pad was ridiculously expensive...and they do wear out. Same with a nice little De Walt. I have to admit though that both did some hardcore cabinet making before they died. In choosing a replacement, I took into consideration the cost of replacement velcro pads and the quality of the dust collector. The latter item is really important if you want to collect wood flour to combine with commercial silica powder, or whatever, to make fillets. A boat can use buckets full of wood flour and I recommend tools that enable you to collect and re-use it without undue mess. Handling bags is nasty and unhealthy. The Bosch has a good plastic container with a hinged filter/lid. Easy as pie. It's cost wasn't much more than the replacement pad for the Makita- although, as you'd expect, the action isn't as nice as some other tools.

Random orbit or random direct drive are by far the most generally useful.

For doing bigger boats the random direct drive has lots of extra grunt, but is waaay more expensive.

Random orbits do just fine.

I must admit my favourite standby tool is the belty (belt) because of the large amounts it can remove from surfaces that are difficult to cut or plane.

However I would use the random types over 90% of the time.

A little orbital palm sander can be a useful ADJUNCT, but they are too slow and too scratchy (leave marks behind) for any serious work. You can use coarser paper on the random orbitals without scratching for faster cuts.

Actually, rather than buy a second sander I think a vacuum or dust extractor is as much more sensible purchase ... sandpaper lasts waaaay longer if you get rid of the dust and the health protection is important too.

So first purchase ... for smaller boats ... RAndom orbit - not direct drive
First purchase for bigger projects - Random Orbit - Direct drive
second purchase for either .... dust extraction.

Best wishes
MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Actually, rather than buy a second sander I think a vacuum or dust extractor is as much more sensible purchase ... sandpaper lasts waaaay longer if you get rid of the dust and the health protection is important too.

Actually, its not a matter of buying a second sander. Can you believe I already have a belt sander, 2 random orbitals, a third sheet, a detail sander, 2 grinder/polishers with sanding attachment and 2 linishers. You'd think that would be enough, but now I'm wondering about these 'direct drive' sanders. Is that the thing like a angle grinder with a big sanding head (google search is ambiguous) ??

cheers
Arron

A well dried out corn cob and some shark skin on a stick . . .

you know how a random orbit head freewheels? You can just spin it. With the direct drive the head is turned by the motor as well maybe at about 20 to 30? rpm while you get thousands of vibration orbits.

They are great when you have to grind down glass ... small boats don't have much glass or it ends up being relatively flat and smooth.

Direct drives can be really nice when you have big areas to sand as well. They are heavier than normal random orbits and a bit more clumsy to use too.

MIK

Originally Posted by Arron

Actually, its not a matter of buying a second sander. Can you believe I already have a belt sander, 2 random orbitals, a third sheet, a detail sander, 2 grinder/polishers with sanding attachment and 2 linishers. You'd think that would be enough, but now I'm wondering about these 'direct drive' sanders. Is that the thing like a angle grinder with a big sanding head (google search is ambiguous) ??

cheers
Arron

that sounds like my sander selection

i love to use my belt sand as said above the amount you can sand off quickly is great
but i think my favourite sanding tool has to be a block wrapped with sand paper, it may sound a bit sick and perverted but i love hand sanding, i just feel your more at one with the wood

The humble Black and Decker Mouse Sander is a great little weapon capable of inflicting great damage to areas otherwise hard to get at. I've tried other detail sanders and wasn't as impressed.

As Mik said, get theyself some dust extraction. Mine is Mum and Dad's old vacuum cleaner hooked up to a Triton dust bucket hooked up to my sander by the simple ploy of jamming a piece of flexible plastic pipe up it's bum Not only do I sand better for longer, there's a lot less dust about. That and learning to change sandpaper while it's still go some grit left on it

Richard

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Actually, rather than buy a second sander I think a vacuum or dust extractor is as much more sensible purchase ... sandpaper lasts waaaay longer if you get rid of the dust and the health protection is important too.

Another point. This statement seems to apply that you sand DRY. That surprises me - surely you sand wet ?????????

Arron

Originally Posted by Arron

Hi. I'd like to know what people here use for sanding - what type of machine or tool.

I have done a search on this and found plenty of references, but I think it would be good to get a roundup of opinions and some consensus on what is the best tool.

thanks
Arron

Doubtless you've read about the bobl/bunnies (bunny's) saw? I've used one of those blades to make a scraper - there are lots of instructions for making your own in magazines and on the Internet. Scraped, my table top is shiny, and it doesn't have a finish applied yet.

I also have a Makita 125mm ROS - when Money Bags and I want to sand at the same time, she gets the ROS and I the scraper.

A piece of MDF with different grits of paper on each side (half a sheet) works well on large flat surfaces too. I use spray-on temporary contact cement, and label each end with a wide felt pen. Chipboard doesn't work as well, it's harder to write on.

Originally Posted by Arron

Another point. This statement seems to apply that you sand DRY. That surprises me - surely you sand wet ?????????

Arron

On wood?

No, not on wood. But the reason why I ignored the possibility of sanding wood in the first instance was because in my experience of boatbuilding (now up to 0.5 boats so nearly an expert) most of the sanding is done on a coated surface.

I can see a role for some quick sanding of wood, but surely you guys havent invented a method of boatbuilding which needs endless sanding of wood as well as of epoxy, primer coats and undercoats ?

Arron

Thanks for the roundup guys. The direct drive ROS sounds interesting and will be worth checking out.

Arron

I had a wonderful Makita which worked beautifully but replacing the velcro pad was ridiculously expensive

I have an old random orbital that I couldn't get a replacement pad for. Just peeled off the old velcro and replaced with new stuff. Bit of contact adhesive and Bob's your uncle.