Sanders

[Steve]

Hi all, im about to start redecorating the whole house, but a lot of the ceiling and walls have very patchy plaster work (lumps and bumps) paint peeling etc also the door frames need sanding back. Would anyone have any suggestions for a good sander or sanders, one for large area work walls and ceilings and one for frames etc. im looking to pay around the £100 mark for the two any ideas?

Please note my knowledge of sanders are nill, so any explanations would be of a great help.

Thanks

Steve

[PoP]

You really need something like a belt sander for removing wall material, this isn't a job for your average flat sander. The type of thing you would be looking at would be like this:

also need some coarse sanding belts for the above. Fine belts clog all too easily - even the course belts do. Maybe 40 grit or 60 grit. You will most likely be changing belts frequently depending on the area to be flattened. Look at this for an example:

I don't know if that particular type will fit the above sander, make sure to check before ordering.

These sanders in my experience are VERY noisy in operation, leastways the one I have is. Get some decent ear defenders as well.

Prepare for lots and lots of fine dust in the work area. If you can arrange for your other half to hold a decent vacuum cleaner hose close to the work area (or better still, attached to the sander) it will help a lot. Close all doors to other rooms etc, and be prepared to wear face masks - you don't want to be breathing this fine dust.

PoP

[stuart noble]

Don't even think of sanding plaster. The abrasive clogs after a few seconds and the entire neighbourhood will be coated in dust. Lay a straightedge of some kind on the wall. Where it rocks to and fro chop out the high spot. PVA the whole wall and then fill the troughs by trowelling on some sloppy filler. Unless you're having the walls skimmed professionally, you'll probably need a heavy lining paper.

[Andy Dingley]

Couple of cork blocks, cost you 50p each.

Then splash out on a lot of grades of good quality abrasives, especially well-made coarse grades. If you're rubbing down plaster (which is a heathen task, but sometimes you have to) then look at grit-coated abrasive meshs (Plasplugs sell a handy one for tiling).

You can hand sand many materials as fast as machine sanding them, because your limits are either dust removal or surface heating, not input power. Electric sanders are _vastly_ over-rated, especially the cheaper end.

Never use a belt sander on anything fixed-down or irreplaceable, until you're used to it. They have a great appetite for eating divots.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[N. Thornton]

Hi. for interest, a power planer can be used to take off plaster high spots, but they dont last long when used like this.

Regards, NT