We have a mouse sander and a supply of standard pads - not sure what coarseness of grit.
How long should a pad last before the grit wears off in places and the pad is smooth and no longer capable of sanding? I've always been very unimpressed with the life of the pads. I put on a new pad from a previously sealed pack, and sanded the sides of a length of 4x2" timber (*). Within probably 1 minute of usage, all the grit had worn off the part of the pad that had been in contact with the wood and it was down to the bare fabric backing. Is it a bad batch or a bad manufacturer? What is a good brand of pads to buy?
(*) Previously used as an imitation "roof beam" in a ceiling, so bog-standard wood, stained and with traces of foam sealer on the edge that had been glued to the plasterboard ceiling.
For just about anything involving surface cleanup or leveling, I like a heavy grit (50) on the belt sander, and do the work out on the concrete patio. Even with the dust bag on the belt sander, dust goes everywhere if you attempt to do that sort of work inside.
Once that's done (without gouging the work on purpose), piddly little sanders will last longer.
If I were to use a higher grit on the belt sander (in an effort to reduce the work of the piddly sanders), the belt clogs up too easily. With the heavy grit, you can give it a whack and a lot of the paint chips fall off the belt. And it's ready for another go.
They come in good-sized packs. This is enough to do a deck.
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The other thing you want on a belt sander, is a motor. I used to have a belt sander with a real motor in it. You could lean on the work, and it wouldn't slow down. But that was stolen out of my car one day (car window broken out with a boulder). The replacement (a different model), wasn't nearly as powerful, and just doesn't have the same cutting power. That's what I'm using today.
You can also get a heavier grit than that. I would only go for a heavier grit, if the brand of belt was clogging up even with 50 grit.
It's not an angle grinder. And it's still a lot of work to process wood that way.
Now, the 2HP surface planer in wood shop class in school, now *that's* how you finish off lumber. That thing was a champ, even with kids running it :-) (Don't take off too big a bite on each pass... The instructor will show you how much to crank the knob before the next pass.) We had a surface planer with the big motor in it, and an edge planer for doing the narrow dimension of a work piece. Much less work to do with a fine sander later (since shop class, you'd be doing little furniture grade projects to keep busy). We would get four hours a week of shop class.
and the quality of the pads (grit quality/ bonding to the backing material etc.) On one of my sanders I can get 5x the life from more expensive Bosch branded pads compared to the generic pads sold by Toolsatan.
Yes, they don't sound right at all. If it's heavyweight crud removal that's called for, I use a flap wheel with an angle grinder and only finish off with a pad sander. These work well and you can get 'em down to 36 grade grit for superior excoriation.
Alternatively the user hasn't let the sander do the work and had pressed down too hard. A light touch is often better with mechanical sanding with power tools.
I've had a thought. If the pads had got damp through being kept in an unheated garage over the winter (but not actually had water on them) could that soften the glue that binds the grit to the pad? Maybe I should keep them inside the house at cold/damp times.
There is an update: the backing foam that the pads grip to by Velcro action has now lost its hooks so even a new pad will not stick to the foam. So the backing foam moves and the sandpaper stays stationary on the work to be sanded. The sander may be beyond easy repair :-(
I've had a thought. If the pads had got damp through being kept in an unheated garage over the winter (but not actually had water on them) could that soften the glue that binds the grit to the pad? Maybe I should keep them inside the house at cold/damp times.
There is an update: the backing foam that the pads grip to by Velcro action has now lost its hooks so even a new pad will not stick to the foam. So the backing foam moves and the sandpaper stays stationary on the work to be sanded. The sander may be beyond easy repair :-(
I've used pads that have sat in my concrete panel, unheated garage, that water comes under the edge of when it rains, for years and the pads have worked fine.
Which is the classic case pressing down too hard on the sander and not letting the paper do the work. Pressing down too hard generates heat which melts the Velcro. Once the surface attached to the sander has melted then no pad will stick to it. Possibly beyond economic repair unless you can find a replacement pad for the sander side at a reasonable cost
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