Sanding......

[Mark Rios]

UGH!!!!!

[Vaughn McMillan]

I gather this means you don't like sanding? :p

[Rennie Heuer]

UGH!!!!!

Mark, Mark, Mark. Get a set of work tunes radio/ear protectors, some nice cushy paddying on you shop floor, turn on the sander and zone out.

This is called a survival tactic. ;)

[Jim Hager]

Get you a Festool sander then it will nearly be fun and pure joy to sand your projects.:dunno:

[Frank Pellow]

Mark, you must not have a Festool sander. I used to feel that way about sanding too.

[Jeff Horton]

Just one word

SCRAPERS!

[Jim Young]

Just one word

SCRAPERS!I was thinking along the line of
Hand Planes & Scrapers!

[Mark Rios]

LOLOL

:D :D :D :D :D :D

When I posted this afternoon I had been sanding for about 4 hours by then. I'm sanding my carcass parts. Last thing for me before carcass assembly. I did another 2 1/2 hours or so and then was finally able to start assembling.

As far as Rennie's post, I use my iPod most definately and I work on a raised wooden deck so those things aren't too much of an issue.

Regarding the Festools, I don't really have any trouble ordering them but you folks have yet to be able to quantify any level of BETTER sanding or finish over a good "regular" sander. Yes, although I haven't used them I will happily concede that they eliminate the vibration. But I don't really have any trouble with the vibration issue. I grew up in a body shop (for those that don't know) and I was using the 6" DA's since I was 7 years old so I'm okay with any vibration (within reason of course ;) )

If you folks here can show me how the festool sanders can give me a quantifiable better finish then I'll happily call Uncle Bob. A couple of things about the Festool though, I really prefer a 1/4 sheet sander to a round one. I don't know how you folks sand in the corners with your 125's and 150's. The other thing is having to manipulate the hose. I'm a BIG fan of cordless and the tail on a regular sander is a bother that I have gotten used to. You add a big 1 1/4" hose into the equation and I don't think I'd like that very much. It may be something that is adapted to and I'm sure that Festool has made the hoses out of some 24th century, lightweight material but it does seem cumbersome to this bonehead. The bigger issue is the 1/4 sheet thing though.

The BIGGEST thing however is spending the money without getting a correspondingly better finish.

Care to jump in? (PLEASE.......NO talk of sanders on guided rails:D :D :D )

[Vaughn McMillan]

No wonder you hate sanding...you're not using a vac of some sort to suck all the sawdust away from the sandpaper. ;) When I first hooked up the shop vac to my little Ryobi 5" ROS, it was like the heavens parted and angels hand-delivered new enlightenment to me about sanding. :bow: Not only is the dust I was breathing reduced a WHOLE lot, sanding is faster and paper lasts longer when you've got the vacuum getting the dust out from between the sandpaper and the wood. I use a 2 1/2" shop vac hose on my 5" ROS, 6" ROS and 1/4 sheet sanders, and the hassle of the hose is a small price to pay for the better and faster sanding results. Granted, most of my sanding has been on relatively small stuff...not cabinets, but if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend hooking up a vacuum.

Also, forgive me if you already know this, but if you haven't tried a ROS on wood, I highly recommend it. They're remarkably faster than my 1/4 sheet sander and (at least for me) the corners haven't been a problem. Anything I can't reach with the round ones I can touch up with the 1/4 sheet.

[Jim O'Dell]

LOL!! LOML came in and read a little of Mark's second post, chuckled and said we better not get these posts mixed up with her Raw Setters posts (an email group on feeding raw foods to dogs) There would be a big stir about why you would sand your carcass's before you fed them to the dogs! :D
Vaughn, that's good information about keeping the dust out from the sandpaper to prolong it's life. I usually use the shop vac when using the ROS, but mainly to keep the dust down. Jim.

[tod evans]

mark, here`s how i deal with it;

flats are done here
894

curves and finishin` with these.
895


inside corners with this.
896

all the rest by hand! and i agree sanding sucks! tod

[Frank Pellow]

Mark, first of all, I am not even trying to convince you to buy a Festool sander. But, you do owe it to yourself to try one. Vibration is not the big issue with me, rather dust is the issue. The Rotex RO 150 random orbital hooked up to a vacuum eliminates dust, in aggressive mode replaces a belt sander, and in fine mode produces a superb finish. Perhaps it is not as good a finish as can be achieved with a scraper, but I can't tell the difference. As for getting into corners, I also have a Fetool LS 130 Linear sander that uses rectangular pds and a Festool Deltex DX 93 detail sander that uses small triangular pads. Of course these sanders hook up to the vacuum as well. I do agree with you that the vacuum hose sometimes gets in the way and can be bothersome but, in order to both work dust-free and to prolong the life of the sandpaper, I use the hose about 98% of the time.

For me, sanding can be fun.

[Jeff Horton]

If you folks here can show me how the ______ ______ can give me a quantifiable better finish then I'll happily call Uncle Bob.......

The BIGGEST thing however is spending the money without getting a correspondingly better finish.

Mark, I am so glad to see someone else that thinks like me! Of course thats scary too. I don't mind spending on something be it sanders or saws if I can get an improvement worth the exspense. I should have been a finical consultant because I am so careful with money. Just kills me at the money spent on new tools just for bragging rights. Of course it is their credit card balance and not mine! :guitar:


No wonder you hate sanding...you're not using a vac of some sort to suck all the sawdust away from the sandpaper. ;) When I first hooked up the shop vac to my little Ryobi 5" ROS, it was like the heavens parted and angels hand-delivered new enlightenment to me about sanding.

Just has to second you Vaughn. I just recently realized that I could plug in the shop vac to my Bosch sander. While I hate dealing with the hose I love the results it provides so I tolerate it. It such an improvement!

[Paul B Cresti]

Mark,
I own four Festool sanders and sold my old Dewalt & Bosch to help fund them. The dewalt was old and I really did not have any dc for it. I did rig it up with my main DC and it worked decent but it I never got it just right. Can I honestly say my finishes are better now since using the Festool sanders? No I can not. What I can say is dust control is great. The sanders are very ergonomic and the 150 sander is very very smooth. The big rotex I have is BIG but it works great for polishing and rough removal of material and fast! I recently used it to shape a special project I am working on. Now that there are many manf. out there with dc's for their sanders and such I am not sure which really is the best...but then why does that matter...if it works and works well then it is a good investment. In the end I am very happy I went to Festool (& Bob) for my sanding needs. They work for me and I enjoy using them. Hopefully one day I can get that widebelt I would like and then my sanding time will be much less!

[Frank Pellow]

...
Just kills me at the money spent on new tools just for bragging rights. Of course it is their credit card balance and not mine! :guitar:
...

Jeff, I definately did not buy my Festool stuff for bragging rights.

[Jesse Cloud]

I use a combination of scrapers (for highly figured wood) and Festool sanders. I love the Festool, but the main point is to get some good DC on your sander. Even if you don't mind inhaling the dust, it does affect your work. If the dust isn't being removed as you sand, most of what you are doing is moving that pile of dust around. This slows down the cutting action and loads your paper much faster.

A good dc hookup will leave the board almost clean when you finish. A couple of swipes with a brush and you are done. BTW, if you don't get all that grit off before you start sanding with the next grit, you will be moving it all over your piece and making scratches, defeating the purpose of that next finer grit.

The final thing is that since the work goes faster, there's little vibration, and I can see what I'm doing, personally I think I do a better job than when everything is dusty and I just want to finish it up and get the heck out of there.

I think also, you get better results with an ROS than with a 1/4 sheet linear sander. The randomness of the orbit smoothes out the scratches faster than the back and forth motion of the quarter sheeter. BTW, Festool makes linear sanders and triangular detail sanders for getting into those tight corners.

Sorry this is so long. I spent the afternoon sanding yesterday and had to switch to my PC sander because I was missing a grit in Festool. The dc didn't suck well and the thing vibrated like crazy. I was not a happy camper.

Is the Festool worth the $$, in my book darn right. I value my health and my time, the extra $100 or more gets recouped real fast in my financial analysis.

:thumb:

[Per Swenson]

Mark,

I have used all the sanders except Tod's dynabrades, Let me rephrase,

I have used all the electric ros's. In my opinion you do not get a flatter

finish then Festool. I ain't braggin and I ain't sellin.

My customers really could care less how a project was built.

They are just interested in how light reflects off of it.

And thats my nickels worth.

Per

[Don Baer]

I realy don't mind sanding. It's kind of a mindless task and when your done the results are self evident.just work my way through the grits and when I'm done I'm done. Not much chance of screwing it up either.