Sanding Materials and Sanders

[savageseadog]

What is the best type sandpaper and grade(s) for powered orbital finishing sanders. Job is sanding down oiled and plain teak(?) and ply to prepare for finishing

Who does the best 1/3 or 1/2 sheet sanders of the above type of sander?
I'm thinking of speed and user comfort as well.

 

[Blue_Pearl]

I use the Flexidisk from http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/FlexiMain.html

Very happy with the results. Due to the design of the disc holder it gives you the ability to "direct" the sanding.

 

[oldsaltoz]

The run of mill DIY orbitals have a small orbit and this makes slow working. Look for an orbital with at least a 3 mm orbit.

Sanding tip:
If the grit/grade of sanding medium is too low it will not remove high spots but leave smoothed mounds.

Always start with as low a number as you dare, then go higher as the surface gets flatter.

If priming and coating a 250 grit should be fine enough for most applications.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[lw395]

I'm quite impressed with a cheap random orbit sander I bought from screwfix. The type that takes velcro discs. I've used it on a planked wooden floor, plaster/filler walls etc. You do get through the discs though. I tend to finish off with 80 grit decorators paper off a roll and not use finer paper until there are a few coats of varnish on. Some surfaces, like the old ply doors in my house, I scrape rather than sand, depending on what's on there. A brand new stanley knife blade is often a good scraper. When I start a job I seem to try out loads of tools before settling on the one I'll do the whole job with!

 

[Poignard]

Until a year or so ago, I used an old Makita Palm Sander, similar to the BO4555 but without the dust catcher.

Then I bought a Metabo SKE450 Dual Random Orbital Sander which gives excellent results and can be used for rough and fine sanding. Having a circular pad it doesn't get into corners so I use a Fein Multimaster for that and for detail work.

I use Hermes aluminium oxide abrasive papers.

I bought all this lot from Axminster Power Tool Company and I try to wait until they are having a discount day before buying.

Despite all this expensive paraphernalia, there are very many awkward corners on my boat where a piece of abrasive paper wrapped around half a wine bottle cork does the job better!

 

[Amulet]

I'd go for a random orbit (Bosch probably) with a Makita palm for the corners. Random orbit leaves no swirl marks. (I have a Bosch Delta for detail as well and a beast of a belt sender for serious removal of material.)

I'd buy resin-bonded aluminium oxide paper - more expensive but the extra life far outweighs the extra cost.

Grit. How coarse you start depends on the roughness. Somewhere between 60 (damned fierce) to 100. I'd then go to 180 followed by 240. NB 240 can be too smooth if paint or varnish is goint to be applied. You can go smoother if you wish, wet the wood to raised the grain and hand sand with wet-and-dry. I'm too lazy.

Finally I'd buy a rubber belt-cleaning stick for cleaning clogged but still sharp paper.