How To Sand A Floor Using A Drum Sander

Drum floor sanders can be extremely loud and they can kick up a lot of dust into the air.

How to sand a floor using a drum sander.

Floor sanders come in three distinct types. A great analogy i like to use is this. Sanding pattern for the drum sander. I am very embarrassed to say this.

Be sure you start with the coarsest grit of sandpaper and take care not to gouge the floor. A standard floor sander sometimes known as a drum floor sander uses a sleeve of sanding paper which slides onto a square drum. Just sand the floor with 120 do the last pass with the edger then start lacquering or even staining. This results in an aggressive action which quickly cuts through finish.

When you start sanding you should go from one end of the room to the other excluding the space for you and the machine but don t try to lift up the drum too late. A long time ago when i was taught the wrong way to sand floors we finished floors with the drum sander. Using a belt drum sander should be like an air plane landing on a run way and then lifting off at the end of the runway. Edgers orbital sanders and drum sanders.

Drum sanders use a sleeve of sanding paper that slides onto a square drum. An orbital floor sander is even larger and more powerful than the edger but both operate by randomly and rapidly moving a single sheet of sandpaper around the wood. The paper slides along the floor as the drum spins but only a small portion of the paper and drum is in contact with the floor at any one time. The paper slides on the floor as the drum spins.

At any given second in time drum sanders are designed to cut a divot into the wood of your floor that is 8 wide by 1 2 long. Only a small portion of the paper and drum is in contact with the floor. The drum sander looks like a cross between a vacuum and a lawn mower but you can t move it across the floor in a vacuuming or mowing pattern. It s best to tilt the sander back and start it while it s not in contact with the floor.