Update on parquet floor sanding

Was it really a random orbit sander, or an orbital sander? I ask because I used my Bosch random orbit sander (PEX400) to sand our entire oak floor, and it took me about two hours to do the room (14sqm with 120 grit).

SNIP

That's interesting. I used a 180W PBX 'orbital sander' from Homebase with a square base to put the paper on. I see that the PEX400ae is a 'Random orbital sander' with a circular base to put paper on. It may be a silly question,but does it just rotate? |P

This is an orbital sander. Orbital sanders IME are only very slightly more effective than soft cotton wool.

An easy way to tell - if the base is anything but round, then it's *not* a random orbit sander. Random orbit sanders spin as well as orbit, so the base always needs to be round.

It spins, and the centre of spin rotates in an orbit of about 3-4mm radius. They are very good.

Sanders that just wobble dont do a lot, so for the same result as a spinning disc or belt job, you need to use far coarser paper. 60 grit on an orbital is more suitable for grinding plaster blemishes.

Use either a serious sander (not an orbital), or put 24 grit on the orbital - you'll probably need to cut the 24 paper to shape and stick it onto your 60 disc or triangle with no-mo-nails.

At the cheap end, a drill with rubber backing pad and fibre sanding disc works fine, as long as you get the hang of how not to leave arc shaped marks in the wood - always keep it moving, use it a bit like a paint brush, brush gently.

Someone mentioned doing a whole floor successfully with a wobble sander, but I've never used any wobble sander myself that could do anything like that. But sanding isnt something I'm that well tooled up on.

NT

Sanders that just wobble dont do a lot, so for the same result as a spinning disc or belt job, you need to use far coarser paper. 60 grit on an orbital is more suitable for grinding plaster blemishes.

Use either a serious sander (not an orbital), or put 24 grit on the orbital - you'll probably need to cut the 24 paper to shape and stick it onto your 60 disc or triangle with no-mo-nails.

At the cheap end, a drill with rubber backing pad and fibre sanding disc works fine, as long as you get the hang of how not to leave arc shaped marks in the wood - always keep it moving, use it a bit like a paint brush, brush gently.

Someone mentioned doing a whole floor successfully with a wobble sander, but I've never used any wobble sander myself that could do anything like that. But sanding isnt something I'm that well tooled up on, maybe I'm missing a trick.

NT

Did you actually read my post? Please refer to the fairly detailed explanation of the difference between 'orbital' and 'random orbit'.