Sanding floors with a belt sander

[TassieKiwi]

As an indication of durability, chippies from the lunatic fringe on Auckland building sites use them for racing - sit on it (somehow) in a large open space, and pull the go switch. Very funny. And they still work!

[rsser]

Love it!

They've got plenty of guts its true; just get the power cord caught up in the belt for a demo!

[MarkV]

I have done about 30 sqm with a 3" belt sander with final finish using a 1/3 rd sheet sander and achieved excellent results. Took about 2 days hard slog sanding and drove the missus nuts with the constant vibration through the house BUT she was very happy with the finished product(50yr old cyprus by the way). Strangely I derived a great deal of satisfaction doing it the hard way and still have the belt sander. Win all round I would say.

[georgw]

i hired a big floor sander from Cass bros in parramatta rd petersham for about $100 for a weekend - pick up friday back monday = 1.5 days hire charges. Sanding paper cost quite a bit though. Because i failed to varnish the hallway! after 3 years it became discoloured. Rather than go through the trauma of the big machine again (which by the wayiin combination with my lack of expertise and the fact that i had to go across the boards rather than along them, caused my hallway to look like rolling plains) i hired a belt sander from kennards - $25/day and it did a good job of getting off the accumulated grime of 3 years. I used 40 grit paper at first which may have been a bit savage but seemed necessary and just let it run away from me and pulled it back rather than trying to control it. Ear muffs compulsory to save hearing. I am now going to invest in a belt sander for sure!

[Marc]

I must agree with the two last responses. It is possible to do a good job with a Makita belt sander. They are remarkably though. I did 3 bedroom and a living room with one of this things. For an edger I used an orbital sander, and besides very soar knees the job was OK.

By the way, to hire a drum sander is no guarantee you will do a good job. Unless you get the newer models that have a mechanism to lift the sander drum up, the older type drum sanders can be a real hazard to the integrity of your floor. It is very easy to dig a hole in the floor with them particularly if you follow the instruction the hiring company give out, that is to start with number 40 and work your way up to the finer grade.

I say that if you are not afraid to sweat it out, you can do it with a belt sander, BUT... if you are to use a drum sander try to find a modern machine that is safe, and for goodness sake do not start with number 40 like they tell you. Rather start with a fine grit, and if you see you are not achieving the result you need, then you try tentatively a lower number. Remember that you don't have 19 mm thickness to work with rather just about 3mm.
A Makita belt sander will never become a danger to your floor not even if you ride on it ... well ... let me rephrase ... how much did you say you weight?

[jimmyjames]

Thanks very much for all the replies, i lost track with this thread after the first few replies and the project has been shelved till next year due to some unfortunate car problems sucking up all the spare cash we had. I will give myself an even shot at success and hire when the time comes, as for the makita well it's still on the shopping list as I've heard nothing but good about them. I don't know if i'm keen to use it as a gokart though, i'm in the triple figures weight wise so....