A floor sander is a piece of electrical equipment used to refinish or repair a hardwood floor. From the huge, heavy drum sanders down to a handheld edge sander, these are pieces of equipment that are necessary to give your floor a professional and smooth finish. There can be problems using a heavy piece of equipment like a drum sander without knowledge of how to do it properly. Not only can it put the operator risk, but it can seriously damage your floor.

Companies that refinish hardwood floors will use drum sanders because they're fast and when you're experienced using them, it's less likely there will be problems. Someone who has operated a drum sander many times knows how quickly to move it over the floor to do an optimal job. Someone inexperienced can leave gouges and then scrapes on the floor they're trying to smooth. They can even remove a great deal of the wood. Because of the speed at which the sander runs and its heavy-duty operation, an inexperienced sander can remove from an eighth of an inch to a quarter of an inch of the wood floor without even realizing it.

There are options to a drum sander, such as an orbital sander or square sander. An orbital sander weighs less and is easier to control. But because it's a lighter-duty piece of equipment, it will take far longer to do the floor than with a drum sander. This is why companies generally stick with the drum floor sander. The square sander is simply a sander that shaped like a square. This allows the sander to get right up to the walls and eliminates the need for an edging floor sander later. But it also takes far more time to do the same job as a drum sander. An orbital or square floor sander may be better choices for someone unsure of how to go about sanding as they can help prevent mistakes and accidents that spring from inexperience.

Someone using a drum floor sander incorrectly can damage the floor simply by going against the grain. Drum sanders have to be operated in the direction of the wood grain and have to be constantly moved. Letting it sit in one spot will simply grind the floor away and leave a gouge. An orbital sander moves in a circular motion and can be used without worrying about the direction of the grain. An orbital floor sander needs to keep moving also, but a small pause will not do damage like you would with a drum sander. A square sander also won't cause that problem because they're a less aggressive piece of equipment

If a drum or orbital floor sander is used, then an edge sander will be needed to finish off the edges of the floor. This is a handheld sander that runs on electricity and has a dust bag like the other larger models. You may also want to use a vibrating floor sander after using the drum sander just to finish it off and give the floor the smoothest surface possible.

Photo Credits: abbybatchelder

Originally posted 2010-04-10 03:37:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Green Construction, Tools and Equipment

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drum floor sander, drum sander, drum sanders, edge sander, electrical equipment, going against the grain, hardwood floor, heavy duty, orbital sander, refinish hardwood floors, wood floor, wood grain