 |
 General International 15 015 M1 Belt and Disc Sander $969.99 |
 JET Bench Belt and Disc Sander 1in x 42in Belt 8in Disc $449.99 |
Disc And Belt Sander
Tutorial on Basic Disc and Belt Sander Use
FYI on Disc And Belt Sander
The Proper Way To Sand A Timber Floor
The typical home handy man process of timber floor sanding is do 2 or 3 cuts employing a course sand paper, followed by a medium sand paper and then eventually a fine sand paper. Most people will attempt to buff out the chatter marks and any sanding marks that remain, frequently called railway lines.
The difficulty with this classic methodology is that you are constantly doing the same sanding to the floor, in the same area, with the same machine and the same cutting action that will end up producing a poor result.
Imagine you have an one inch thick letter "S" and you want to turn that into a letter "I". You don't want to just carve off an even amount following the "S". All you do is have a skinnier 'S" you will never finish up with an "I". The point is, by constantly maintaining the same cutting action with the same machine, you are only following the waves of the floor like the "S".
The professionals make sure that after the medium sand paper cut using a belt sander, they change to a three disc, planetary motion cutting sander called the Trio.
The Trio has a far wider span and is multidirectional. Firstly it spans the high spots bringing them down. So that when you return to the drum sander, the floor is much flatter.
That original machine is now on a very different formed floor than before. It isn't on the "S ' now, its on the "I". Additionally, the planetary motion has removed all of the course and medium sanding marks. The floor now appears finished.
When you now run the final fine sand paper over the floor, all the fine paper has to do is smooth it off, it does not have to cut in and try and remove sanding marks as they have just been removed.
The professionals then return to the Trio for a fine paper sand. But it does not stop there. They then change the cutting action again to a square buff oscillating action for a swirl free finish.
Standard Way: Belt, Belt, Belt Circular Buff. (too many swirls) Same action = not flat.
Professionals: Belt, Belt, Trio, Belt, Trio, Oscillating. (Alternating action = 20% Flatter floor)
Technology has come a great distance and peoples standards and expectancies are higher than before. If you're on the lookout for the perfect timber floor, the standard way just won't cut it. You can now sand your floors like the pros and get a much flatter and smoother finish.
Mark Jolley is the founder of QSand Timber Flooring Brisbane, a company specialising in professional floor sanding and polishing Brisbane and near by areas.