Sanders- The image making Power Tool
Written by admin on October 27, 2008 – 11:15 am -
No woodworking project is complete until it has smooth beautiful finish applied and no finish is better than the surface on which it is applied. Unless you want to start the finishing process over from scratch it is important to note that you MOST have a completely smooth surface BEFORE you apply the surface coating. I have been guilty of this some many times in the past I could not even begin to count them but I still find it hard to wait until I am certain I have smoothed every surface on my project so that cutting or sanding marks will not show up after I apply my coating. There always seems to be some small area that could have been worked on a little more. No project is perfect but when the error stands out it is down right frustrating.
I cannot even blame it on the fact that I had to hand sand it any more. There is a Power Tool in the shop that will sand anything I need to sand. Belt sanders, finish sanders, orbital sanders, disc sanders, corner sanders but the finish still relies on me the operator and my eye for detail.
Belt sanders can be hand or table units. They are used for sanding larger flat surfaces quickly but they will still leave areas that need finishing. They remove large amounts of wood and smooth the surface of a rough board. The home workshop of the average woodworker will almost always have a hand belt sander and many have the bench belt sander as well. They usually have lots of power and will create a pile of sawdust in a hurry.
Almost all other sanders are finish sanders of some kind. They are made for different jobs in the finish dept of your shop. I don’t have all of them but some times I feel like I could use a specific type for a job at hand. It would be nice not to resort to the old fashion method of sanding, a block of wood wrapped with a piece of sanding paper. I know that is a real redneck sander but some times it produces the best finish. Slow progress will help reduce errors on the end result.
There are different abrasives for all sanders. They range from a course grit to very fine. Start out with the course and work to the fine grit to produce the smoothest surface possible. Eye’s and finger tips are the test that I use to determine the finish. You can detect an irregularity in the surface by sighting down the board from different angles and very lightly brushing your finger tips along the surface will detect an area that needs additional attention. It takes practice and patience but in the end you can develop a sense for finding the areas that will show up after the final finish coat is applied.
Take a look at the large selection of Power Sanders at this store. They have everything from the most expensive commercial sanders to the smallest finish sanders.
Tags: belt sander, disc sander, Sanders, table sander, Woodworking power tools
Posted in Sanders | No Comments »
