OT-Handheld belt sander recommendations?

[Toby Newell]

Technically speaking my gf says I should be coming to bed... but technically speaking the REAL reason why belts sanders are virtually impossible to use, on floors at least, is control.

Belt sander = moves in a straight line therfore reaction acts in a line which means you need to brace yourself against the reactive force directly behind the sander, as soon as you move off the line it trys to 'run away' from you, hence you have to move around constantly to keep your body in line with the sander.

Rotational sander = moves in an arc therfore reactive force can be braced against by holding the sander to one side of the body and leaning into the sander counteracting the reaction force with your weight you can move the sander laterally from left to right over a wider angle without having to get up and reposition yourself.

I started off with a Hitachi half sheet and a Hitachi belt sander, which both were great but utterly virtually useless compared to the Random orbitals.

Sanding is hard enough at the best of times, it's one of the few areas where paying a little more really pays off. Technically speaking if I dont stop writing now I shall to brace myself for something else.

 

[AMc]

I appear to be too late! Well done on the work, looks great. In future if anyone is thinking of buying a belt sander dont. Well not a hand held one anyway (I have an 80kg 8" belt sander and it sands very smooth but it costs £4700...) they are totally superseded, for decorative work after the Random powered rotation orbital or Dual Action sander was invented...

Thanks for the compliment - I'm quite pleased with the floor. I appreciate that it isn't a professional finish but I figured that was unrealistic. The floor boards were pine to begin with and thanks to an earlier rearrangement of the rooms upstairs - half of them are in the wrong places and have been cut down. A few more had been pulled up to install the heating and the replacements were from the house but not the right place.

I'm sure people will find this on a search and really appreciate the care and detail you've put in.
The only thing I didn't spot in there was any indication of cost - a quick Google shows http://www.tooled-up.com/MicroCategory.asp?CID=4&SCID=23&MCID=3429
Bosch GEX 150AC Random Orbit Sander 150mm Disc 340w 240v at £160 and the Turbo at £286 both of which were beyond my means at the moment. Perhaps I should could hired one, I'll bear that in mind next time.

Thanks again for taking the time, genuinely interesting to hear a professional opinion.

 

[Toby Newell]

Your finish was probably more professional than 99% of the 'professionals' currently working in the industry and anyone who sands a floor by hand deserves a compliment!

You can get the GEX150 TURBO for around £250 if you look around and the Makita BO6030 for a bit less. I have no idea if you can hire these types of tools, so probably you did the best you could, its just that for future reference if someone was going to do a larger area they might find that the investment was worth it.

Its very hard to find people willing to do this type of work properly so I would say in almost all instances buying the machines and having a go yourself is an economically sensible thing to do. I know good tools are not cheap but the bonus is that in most cases they really do last a lifetime and once you have purchased them you may surprise yourself how many times they actually come in handy.

Regards

Toby