Author Topic: sanding pine floors (Read 1512 times)

shinnlinger · « **on:** August 14, 2011, 06:40:50 pm »

Ok,

So my plan is to rent one of those new fangled floor sanders tomorrow with 4 random orbits. A buddy of mine did that to his pine and it turned out great. My frame was going to be a strawbale though and the posts are 19 inches into the room with little return walls. What this means is rather than having 4 corners in a room, I have 16 and they are tight corners so I doubt the typical edger will get it done.

I have a Fein detail sander and maybe that will work, but It will be a alot of work and I have heard somewhere, probably here, that Dynabrade pneumatic sanders are just the ticket. I have a decent sized (18cfm) compressor .

ANy words of wisdom here will be appreciated.

Dave

shelbycharger400 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 14, 2011, 07:03:46 pm »

they are touchy. personally i never used a floor sander, but i used a 14 in industrial floor scrubber.. that thing tried to throw me round til i got the hang of it and im 5, 11, 250 lb! orbital scrubbers and sanders..based upon how much you push down or pull up, they will walk... or RUN!

Get a dust collector , from what i heard floor sanders create a HUGE amount of dust.

Raider Bill · « **Reply #2 on:** August 15, 2011, 08:19:32 am »

Word of caution....

A friend sanded some floors. Must have hit a hail head and created a spark because over night a fire started in the dust bag burning down the house. Luckily it was a empty rental and nobody was living there.

witterbound · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2011, 09:07:38 am »

I got a rigid, I think, random orbital sander that was the same size as the pads that came with the floor sander. I just used some of them on the rigid, and sanded around my posts. Worked fine. My floor was hickory, though.

Brad_bb · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2011, 09:24:56 am »

I rented a 3 pad orbital sander machine from Menards to do an Oak floor. It worked great and was not hard to control like the older belt types. A pine floor would be much softer so you'd have to be careful not to gouge anywhere I'd think. It will probably sand faster than a hardwood floor. Don't go as heavy a grit as you would a hardwood floor.

LOGDOG · « **Reply #5 on:** August 15, 2011, 10:20:11 pm »

Shinnlinger ... What about a scraper card for those tight corners? I love those things. They get right in there and leave it glass smooth. You can remove a little at a time. Could work for you and they're cheap.

shinnlinger · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2011, 10:12:54 pm »

Where do I get a scraper card?

Ok, I laid rough gut boards from my mill and there is some unevenness in thickness as well. I have always heard that the drum sanders will burn a hole in your floor in a flash so that is why I went with the random orbit but let me till you, if you can build a house, you can use a drum sander. I started with the orbiter but it really didn't do much. I am now running 24 grit on a drum sander and it is getting the job done, but not as fast as you might think as I need to make multiple passes on some of the uneven seams.

Will post more as the project progresses...

LOGDOG · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2011, 10:49:37 pm »

Grizzly has them here: http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-pc-Scraper-Set/H5568

But most of the woodworking supply catalogs and websites have them as well. I think there are some video on YouTube of guys using scraper cards just in case you haven't seen one work. So simple but very slick.

LOGDOG · « **Reply #8 on:** August 16, 2011, 11:07:01 pm »

Here's a short clip of a scraper card in action....

shinnlinger · « **Reply #9 on:** August 17, 2011, 08:10:37 am »

thanks for the link, I have used those before and they are great for hardwood, not so much with knotty pine. I have always just called them scrapers hence my confusion.

IN a pinch, you can use a piece of glass in the same manner and it works really well.

LOGDOG · « **Reply #10 on:** August 17, 2011, 08:25:00 am »

Aren't you wanting to just clean up the corners where your edge sander or orbital aren't able to get into? Or did I misunderstand?

shinnlinger · « **Reply #11 on:** August 21, 2011, 12:10:20 am »

OK,

Here is what I did to my rough cut pine boards from my mill. they weren't all the same thickness so despite what 3 people told me, the big random orbit is not enough sander to make them level. I did multiple passes with a drum sander starting at 24 grit to bring them down and even that was not enough. I might even have run 24 grit on a buffer if I was doing it all over again. Once the floors were relatively level with the drum I then went to 24 grit on the random orbit and worked up from there. Wife then put on some tung oil and I must says it looks pretty good. Rustic, but good. Works with the blue stain and knots and being pine, I know they will dent with time.

In the corners I used a pneumatic DA sander and the Fein detail sander and it worked out pretty well. The random orbit machine gets pretty close though.

LOGDOG · « **Reply #12 on:** August 21, 2011, 09:00:03 am »

Any pictures?

shinnlinger · « **Reply #13 on:** August 21, 2011, 09:32:29 am »

LOGDOG · « **Reply #14 on:** August 21, 2011, 10:16:13 am »

Wow! That will look incredible when the finish goes down on that floor. I like the red/pink tones with the blue. Compliments the walls well. Looks like a cheerful home.

Roxie · « **Reply #15 on:** August 21, 2011, 10:44:30 am »

Wow is right! That floor is gorgeous!

Magicman · « **Reply #16 on:** August 21, 2011, 05:55:15 pm »

Is that T&G? It looks like at least some of the flooring is surface nailed.

shinnlinger · « **Reply #17 on:** August 21, 2011, 07:56:59 pm »

here is the story of my floor...
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,48122.0.html

WDH · « **Reply #18 on:** August 21, 2011, 09:28:07 pm »

That floor will be a conservation piece for sure. Unique and special.

Magicman · « **Reply #19 on:** August 21, 2011, 10:08:38 pm »

Thanks for the flooring link. You were flooring when I was foundationing.

Maybe before the end of the year I will be flooring.

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Author Topic: sanding pine floors (Read 1512 times)