palm sander leaving imperfections [Merged thread]


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Old 12-28-05, 04:57 PM
haight78
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palm sander leaving imperfections [Merged thread]

I have been having an extremely annoying problem with palm sanders. I have been getting half moon squiggly lines about a 1/8" long x 1/16" high. I have used 4 different palm sanders Dewalt, B&D, Ryobi, and Sears all with the same squiggly lines in my work. All grits too. I am using new paper and still see this patern which is deep enough to see sometimes with the naked eye and other times after appling mineral spirits. It is frustrasting because, one I can't fix the problem and two, it requires additional work to sand out the squigglies. Has anyone else had this problem? What is the solution? Would I get better results with an orbital sander? Wayne
 
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Old 12-28-05, 05:37 PM
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Is it possible you are pressing to hard on the sander? I only remember noticing such 'lines' when the paper was worn.
 
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Old 12-28-05, 06:03 PM
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palm sander leaving imperfections

I agree with marksr, regarding pressing too hard. It is a machine, let it do the work. You may want to try a finer paper, and keep an eye on it for wear. Change it often. You may want to even try one of the wet or dry papers and use a few drops of water to get a really fine finish. I'm talking about 600 grit, which will barely scratch your fingernail, but it will give a good finish for staining or paint.

And, absolutely, a random orbit sander will do away with the squiggles, but a final finish will almost always have to be done by hand.
 
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Old 12-28-05, 06:16 PM
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You are likely having this problem because of using too coarse a grit and possibly pushing down on the sander to try to make it sand faster.

Depending on what you are sanding it is sometimes a very time consuming process.
A random orbital sander is normally faster than a palm sander.
The palm sander is good for the finishing grits.
You need to use at least three grits to achieve a good finish in the least amount of time.

We can't really offer suggestions that would be more helpfull untill you answer these questions;
What material are you trying to sand?
How rough is the surface before you start and how smooth are you trying to get it?
What finish will you be applying and what sheen?
Exactly what grits of sandpaper are you using?
What type of sandpaper are you using?
 
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Old 12-28-05, 06:29 PM
haight78
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palm sander imperfections

I have been having an extremely annoying problem with palm sanders. I have been getting half moon squiggly lines about a 1/8" long x 1/16" high. I have used 4 different palm sanders Dewalt, B&D, Ryobi, and Sears all with the same squiggly lines in my work. All grits too. I am using new paper and still see this pattern which is deep enough to see sometimes with the naked eye and other times after appling mineral spirits. It is frustrasting because, one I can't fix the problem and two, it requires additional work to sand out the squigglies. The current palm sander has a 1/16" orbit. Has anyone else had this problem? What is the solution? Would I get better results with an orbital sander? Wayne
 
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Old 12-28-05, 07:01 PM
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In-line finish sander. Palm sanders are orbital.
 
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Old 12-28-05, 09:31 PM
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also,dont push to hard. let the sander do the work, you just guide it,especially at the finer grits. Of course, i always like to finish the ultrafine by hand.
 
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Old 12-28-05, 09:41 PM
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An in-line sander looks more like a block plane with a sanding pad on the bottom, and doesn't orbit... so it wouldn't cause the squiggles... I think that's what 2000 is saying anyway?

Both the orbital palm sanders (also called 1/4 sheet sanders or palm sanders for short) and the 5" round random-orbital sanders (often just referred to as orbital sanders) I have used tend to get those squiggley half moon lines when you push down on the sander too hard, especially when using course sandpaper... 60 and 80. The solution is to let the sander do the sanding, don't rub the sander on the wood like it's a sanding block, and don't neglect sanding with the finer grits of sandpaper in succession: 120, 150, 180.

I use to notice those scuffs more with the square palm sanders, and notice it less with the 5" round orbital sanders. Probably it's because the palm sanders take so long to sand anything, you get impatient and feel like you need to push on the sander to get it to do anything.

I suspect that what's happening is a piece of oxide grit comes off, and gets rolled around under the pad. When you are pushing hard on the sander, it basically gets rolled around under the sander, scratching the wood as it gets moved around. The 5" hook and loop pads which have dust holes likely suck these little bits up into the dust bag before they can cause as much damage.
 
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Old 12-28-05, 09:59 PM
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I'm closing this thread because it is a duplicate. The thread can be found in the Tools and Power Machinery forum, for those who want to continue posting about the subject. Click on the link below to access it. I tried merging the two, but can't.

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=246879
 
 

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