Are sanders any good?

martin57

Hi folks,

Got all new doors a few years ago but because of wood settling down had to sand down door stops on a few doors by hand as door was getting stuck etc and its not an easy job to sand by hand takes ages and ages even with good quality sandpaper, some are not right yet but I don't fancy having another go by hand only.

I saw a little electric sander at tesco direct I think for only £15 (think some at argos too) and wonder is it worthwhile investing in one and is it a lot quicker than doing by hand?

How do they work anyway, do you just attach standard sandpaper or what?

many thanks fo rany advice.

Martin57

phill99

For £15 its worth having one. They save alot of time and are easy to use.

Enterprise_1701C

Just been finishing off sanding down a large wooden sill with a sheet sander. Made a LOT of difference, and is a lot more even than the work I did by hand..

27col

I have just bought a sander from Toolstation for about £18. It worked very well, as we had to completely sand all the paint from a 28ft yacht prior to refinishing it. On large uninterrupted areas 1/3 or 1/2 sheet sanders are brilliant, but on smaller domestic areas it might be preferable to buy a Delta detail sander.

ailuro2

wouldn't you be using a woodplane on a door??;)

but yes, sanders are good when it comes to bigger areas, though they're not for removing material in any great quantity, they are for smoothing down.

samtheman1k

Sanders are ok, but electric planers are even better for trimming down doors.

phill99

ailuro2 wrote: »

wouldn't you be using a woodplane on a door??

Only for the top and bottom edges or the side edges. If you are removing paint from the door faces, then a planer would be of little use.

GSDog

They are definitely worth having. I just sanded a double garage door with one which would have taken much longer by hand. You basically just attached the sandpaper and away you go.

nickj_2

if you don't have much sanding to do then a £15 will be fine , but don't expect it to last , you pay for what get

ormus

if its just a plain sanding required for repainting then go ahead.
on really rough jobs i prefer to use a heat gun and burn it all off.

start agin with a clean sheet so to speak.

tony6403

Orbital sanders are very good for finishing work.
Belt sanders are much better when it comes to removing larger amounts.
I bought a NuTool belt sander for £9.99 ( Makro ) because I was amazed at the price. Thought that it would be rubbish but it has surprised me with how good it is.
Lidl were selling six 533mm x 75mm belts in various grades for about a fiver. The coarse grades remove excess material very quickly.