Best sanding equipment to use?

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Hey guys,

I've got literally a shed load of pallet wood planks to sand up in my ongoing project of building my Pallet shed in the garden.

I've sanded most of my walls and have now started sanding the internal cladding, with loads to do still i'm finding it very slow going with the current tools that I have.

I've tried a belt sander on the planks with a 60 grit belt but it's barely touching the wood, just seems to be polishing the surface without taking off any wood to leave a nice finish.

I'm now using a foam sanding drum on the end of a drill with a 40 grit sanding belt on, it's working ok but after about 20-30 planks the drum is knackered, having started off with a nice flat surface on the foam drum it doesn't take long before it's rounded or i've caught it on the end of a plank and torn the foam.... quite expensive at almost £8 a drum and i've gone through 3 of them already!!

Any ideas on the best sanding tool for the job?

Many thanks in advance

Kelly
 
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You should be using a plane really not a sander. If the timber is already up plaing it will be more difficult but still possible.

Of course a plane is not much use if there are still nails in the timber, but neither is a sander i suppose.

I commend you for your re-use of pallets! good luck
 
My boss suggested the same thing to me about an hour ago... reckon i'll be on the lookout for a good power planer now, thanks for the advice, that's brilliant.

I've saved 202 pallets in all from being burnt, the wood is excellent and even though i've given myself RSI by sanding them they do narf scrub up beautiful!
 
If your aim is to clean the timber (rather than making it perfectly smooth) then the following might be worthwhile hiring

http://www.festool.co.uk/Products/P...=570748&name=RUSTOFIX-RAS-180-03-E-HR-GB-240V

It will enable you to decide upon the degree of pronounced grain that you want.

I have never used the above so you might want to speak to a rep. first

I am guessing that most of the timber is already in situ, i.e. fixed.

Running a planner over it is not a good idea if it is indeed already vertical.

My Festool Rotex sander would do the job but it would take sometime and a lot of 80 grit paper. I would also recommend attaching a vacuum dust extractor- you will be producing a lot of dust

http://www.festool.co.uk/Products/P...ccentric-sander-ROTEX-RO-150-FEQ-Plus-GB-240V

Some of the longer established Festool suppliers do hire out their tools, eg Aces Tools And Fixings in Northwood.


A final option is to try a decent pressure washer- this will clean the timber and raise the grain but can make it furry.
 
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Hey guys,

I've got literally a shed load of pallet wood planks to sand up in my ongoing project of building my Pallet shed in the garden.

I've sanded most of my walls and have now started sanding the internal cladding, with loads to do still i'm finding it very slow going with the current tools that I have.

I've tried a belt sander on the planks with a 60 grit belt but it's barely touching the wood, just seems to be polishing the surface without taking off any wood to leave a nice finish.

I'm now using a foam sanding drum on the end of a drill with a 40 grit sanding belt on, it's working ok but after about 20-30 planks the drum is knackered, having started off with a nice flat surface on the foam drum it doesn't take long before it's rounded or i've caught it on the end of a plank and torn the foam.... quite expensive at almost £8 a drum and i've gone through 3 of them already!!

Any ideas on the best sanding tool for the job?

Many thanks in advance

Kelly

You need a planer thicknesser http://www.screwfix.com/prods/81126.../Erbauer-ERB-052-BTE-204mm-Planer-Thicknesser
 
Yep - second vote for a planer thicknesser if you've got any number to do. Just make sure there's no nails or grit.

If you've only got a dozen or so and won't find a use for the above again - or are tight on space, get a cheap £20 planer instead. A more versatile tool, but not so easy to use.
 
You gotta love Pallet wood for being so readily available and being easily turned into worderful things like those chairs... well done!

I've got about 200 planks to plane down and with money being tight that wonderful planer thicknesser is just a bit too out of the budget, so i went and bought a planer from homebase last night... should do the job nicely.

Time is of no issue, i've been building this thing for almost a year now already and its coming together nicely. I've already sanded the pallets that are already standing as the walls on the inside.. took a while but the drum sander was pretty effective for upright wood, just punched all the protruding nails beforehand.

All the planks are now sitting waiting to be planed, I can do that on the workbench before nailing back onto the wall.

the wood cladding will now be nailed over the gaps in the pallets creating a rippled effect along the wall - I am more than impressed with the beauty of how a good sanded up pallet looks... Thanks for all the advice though guys, this forum is such a valuable source for information and advice :)

Couple of pics....

776.jpg

776.jpg


I've completed half the back wall already with full cladding and its surprised me to how good it looks... Haven't got a picture as yet as the wife has misplaced the USB cable to the camera but as soon as I can i'll get another picture up.
 
OH WOW.... the planer is working a treat, i've literally "shaved" off 10 minutes per plank from sanding :) down to about 30 seconds per piece which has changed my whole build.

Thanks for the advice guys, more pics to come soon.
 

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