Replies

1. 
   SCFrankland | Apr 15, 2002 03:53am | #1

   A belt sander should be fine if you are going with the grain but you have to watch that you don't create ridges. If you are going across the grain than the orbital would be a better choice.

   Scott C. Frankland

   Newfoundland Wood Worker

1. 
   hawknest | Apr 15, 2002 05:24am | #2

   Scott

   Thank you for your prompt response.

   John

1. 
   ClevelandEd | Apr 15, 2002 05:54am | #3

   I think using a belt sander should be better than one of those circular edgers on the boards where you can sand with the grain. 

   I am planning on sanding a couple more floors in my house, and this time i want to avoid using that "edger,"  to avoid the cross grain marks from the sandpaper.   I still don't know what to use, though a heavy scraper might be the tool. 

2. 
   jeffn7 | Apr 15, 2002 07:28am | #4

   I installed new floors in my house last year, and one of the best things I did was to rent the right tools from a good shop, one that had well maintained, newer equipment. The pneumatic side nailer made quick work of laying down the rough floor, the drum sander was outstanding, and the tool that I thought I would not need turned out to be one of the biggest time savers... the handheld edge sander. It was a handful, but it quickly got the job done and I never thought twice about the couple of extra bucks it cost me to rent it. I finished in probably a third of the time I would have if I had been using my belt sander.

   My vote would be for the specialized edge sander.

3. 
   ccampbell | Apr 15, 2002 05:09pm | #5

   The specialized floor edge sanders are much heavier and more powerful and they have the capability of sanding right up to within an 1/8" or less of your walls/trim.  You should go around the area 2 or 3 times using successively finer grit paper.  As long as you keep the machine moving and don't get in a hurry you shouldn't have too many problems with swirl marks.  I've finished floors 5 or 6 times for myself and others and can't imagine having to do it without the commercial type equipment.  Also, don't bother wasting your money on one of those giant vibrating buffer types they rent at the home improvement stores.