Drywall Sander for Table Tops?

[johnny means]

Has anyone ever done this? We do a lot of large table top, 10 ft +, and the random orbital is killing my hands as well as my back. Currently we sand up to 220 grit on a wide belt sander, but that still leaves quite a bit of hand sanding to do.

[Tom M King]

I think they're just straight circular motion, which would probably leave swirl marks. One might be a little relief off your hands, but not your back, or shoulders. I use one for sanding stuff off of old plaster, but I have only used the coarsest sandpaper they sell for them.

http://historic-house-restoration.com/images/frankdoesn_tsuckanymore.JPG

[Peter Christensen]

Impacto make some very good anti-vibration gloves both full finger and with the tips exposed for feeling the work you're sanding. I think I get at least 4 time more sanding before I feel any effects (tingling and numb fingers). These Air Gloves are the ones I use now and were about $50Can that I bought on line from Lowes.

http://www.impacto.ca/products/mechanics-air-glove/

[liam c murphy]

I use a Festool Rotex for my coarse sanding(60 grit), and a different festool random orbital sander for 120 grit and higher. A smoothing plane is also useful, and might eliminate the need for some coarse sanding.

[Bradley Gray]

Stroke Sander if you have room

[johnny means]

Stroke Sander if you have room

That's pretty much what I'm thinking, poor man's stroke sander. Also, we do things in the 12, 16, 20 ft range often. Too large for even any stroke sander I've ever seen.

[Bradley Gray]

How about this:

https://www.amazon.com/slp/floor-sanders/5h9qrfhvujqd5gm

[Matt Day]

That's pretty much what I'm thinking, poor man's stroke sander. Also, we do things in the 12, 16, 20 ft range often. Too large for even any stroke sander I've ever seen.

One length may be 20’, but surely the width can’t also be that long? Or are stroke sanders not used for cross grain sanding?

[Van Huskey]

One length may be 20’, but surely the width can’t also be that long? Or are stroke sanders not used for cross grain sanding?

I see where you are going but where are you going to stand to operate the sander with a 4' wide table 20' long placed through the sander?

393393

[Wayne Lomman]

Johnny, for the final sand through the wide belt, run the tops through 3 or 4 times at the same setting. This gradually reduces the pressure of the belt on the timber and improves the finish no end. I actually expect a top to require no further machine sanding after the wide belt. Careful hand sanding at worst.

Van, that stroke sander should have the pad on a guided rail and a long handle. You can stand beside a long job then with no problem. A hand pad like that one is torture. Cheers

[Tom M King]

I wasn't thinking clearly. I was only thinking about the sheetrock pole sander. I've done it before, and the way to do it is to use a flooring buffer. You can get sanding screens from 60 grit, down to really fine disks by Norton to take the finish as fine as you need. Buffers come in different diameters-typically from 16" to 20". My 16" was bought new 35 years ago, and it's still going strong.

The Norton disks are only available in boxes of multiples, and aren't cheap, but the amount of work they would save you would be amazing.

It'll take a little time to get used to steering it. You use pressure down, and up on the handle to go side to side, and a little twist to go forward and backward. Learn that on the floor before you put it up on a table top.

They make square, and rectangular ones now, that might be a better choice, but round was the only kind available way back when I bought mine, so that's all I have experience with.

Norton is my preferred manufacturer of abrasives for buffers. They have all sorts of information available: https://www.nortonabrasives.com/en-us/resources/expertise/mastering-buffer-floor-sanding-success

You could build a platform the same height as a finished table, slide the table beside it, and run it right from its platform over onto the table top.

I'd use flood on floor finish on them too. You can get any surface you want in different floor finishes, and it would take about 20 seconds to coat the whole top. I use a plastic watering can with a small spout to have a helper pour the finish ahead of the squeegee, to keep a raised bead of finish going ahead of the squeegee.

If you have a pro flooring supplier near you, like Horizon, they will have everything you need.

The Norton Sand Dollar discs leave an incredibly smooth finish, and also great between coats of finish: https://www.nortonabrasives.com/sites/sga.na.com/files/document/Flyer-Pads-SandDollar-8507.pdf?t=855389

[Davis Young]

I've done this when the Festool Planex first came out and I tried it out on a workbench. The bench was reasonably flat but had accumulated a bit of dirt as well a thin surface finish. It just wasn't aggressive enough and took a while to sand. The resulting surface quality, though not remarkable, was acceptable. I used P220 Brilliant if memory serves. You might have better results from raw wood coming off a wide belt.