I'm finishing out a bunch of cheap #2 oak right now. I was leary of trying to use a drum sander and edger, so I rented a U-Sand machine for the first couple of rooms. Used 60 then 100 grit in one room 40-60-100 in the other, I can't tell any difference and the 60 actually seemed to cut better then the 40 I had available to me.

While I'm quite sure I was never in danger of gouging the floor or causing any problems whatsoever, the U-Sand was extremely slow, seemed to use a lot of paper, and never really got the boards completely flat. Even after several hours of "floor time", I can still feel ridges where some boards were bigger then others.

I've filled the nail holes now and I'm ready for the last sanding passes, so I'm wondering which machine(s) I should use. My rental options are limited. Close to home I have a choice of a Clark drum machine or a square buff sander from Home Depot. Driving way across town, I can rent the U-Sand machine again. Or going to another place (way across town), I can rent a Varathane EZV.

The finish I'm using (Osmo Polyx-Oil) has a very matte sheen to it, so I doubt the slight unevenness would be too objectionable, but I know I'll feel it even if nobody else does.

If I come back over with a drum sander with 100grit, will it take care of my little ridges, or am I better off just going with the U-Sand again (and another $50 worth of paper...)?

Greg

I ended up renting the drum unit (Clark EZ8) and ran it over these floors with 100 grit. It seemed to do a little bit better job of flattening them out, but I wonder if that may have just been a case of more sanding taking care of the problem.

The real advantage of the U-Sand, as I see it, is that it takes care of the edge too, so one tool does the entire job. For me with this finish sanding, it would have saved time, since the edge would have been done and I wouldn't have had to go back around the sides with the RO.

I also used the drum sander to start another larger room where I expected to need faster cutting. By the time I went through 36, 60, 100 grits, it took close to 3 hours and the edges still have to be done, so it doesn't seem to me that this smaller drum sander is that much faster. I'm not really sure it really got it that much flatter then the U-Sand at this stage either. It did, however, use a lot less paper, but I'll probably make that up in what I have to get for the edger and finish sander to finish it out.

Greg

Hey ghouse,

I'm not a pro floor finisher but since no one else is jumping in I'll throw my 2 cents in.

A random oscillator sander is usually used to blend the uneveness of the floor, its used after edge sanding, and drum sanding. I dont know how bad the uneveness was but it sound like you got good results with the drum sander.

I'm surprised your getting the same speed out of the drum vs U-sander.
I haven't used a U-sander so I cant compare.

Try doing the edges first. If you use an edge sander the drum sander will over sand the swirl marks.

Fast Pasquale gave me a good tip. When using the edge sander use a white polishing pad between the sander and paper. Also, start with a less aggressive grit than you used with the drum sander.

Good Luck
Joe

He is sanding with 100 grit is why.

Yup, now I know why.

I used 100 grit on the drum in those rooms because I'd already done 'em with the U-Sand.

Since I wrote this, I did a couple of other rooms with the drum & edger for 36-100grit, then screend to 120 with a square buff. It might have been faster, but even though I was careful I still got some ripples. I might have been better off using the U-sand since I apparently don't have my technique down (either that or the machines I rented weren't that great).

Thanks for the input though. I always appreciate the good advice I get on this board.

Greg