How To Use A Floor Belt Sander

Start off with a 60 grit sandpaper but you may want to consider 36 grit paper for heavy duty jobs or older hardwood floors.

How to use a floor belt sander.

Drum and belt sanders for hardwood floor refinishing are two different tools. 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. While the sander is unplugged place a coarse grit sandpaper on the sander. Belt sanders will do a good job of leveling out the floor and preparing.

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. 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 belt sander for finishing a wood floor should be a hand held one so you can move the tool around on the surface of the floor. A belt sander particularly one with a very coarse belt can tear through a surprising amount of stock very quickly so keep the sander moving.

A standard floor sander sometimes known as a drum floor sander uses a sleeve of sanding paper which slides onto a square drum. A belt sander is rather large and if not used properly can result in damaging your wood or causing serious injury. It can also be used to smooth or round edges. Hardwood floor drum sander vs belt sander.

However using a belt sander is a pretty simple operation. Stop and check the progress frequently. A belt sander will make stripping and sanding the floor quick and easy. Belt sanders have a loop of rotating sandpaper that gives quick results.

A small floor space can be sanded with a handheld rotary sander and a sanding block. You will still need to use a sanding block to finish the corners and areas that the belt sander can t reach. For all intent and purposes you re likely to find belt sanders at the common rental places today. Reasons being they are easier to work with not only in functioning when sanding but working on the floor itself.

However in most instances you will be dealing with larger floor areas which need a belt sander to be efficiently sanded. A great analogy i like to use is this.