We have a pretty good method for getting maple to take stain well. But I have seen on several threads people talking about using a U-snad for the edges instead of palm sanding like we currently do. Anyway, I am hoping to get some more info on this as we have 2 really large 2000 sq ft+ stained maple jobs coming up and I am hoping to try this. I figured I could rent a U-Sand from Home Depot to try it out before buying one. What sanding progression are you guys using when staining maple for the sanding and then for the final time around with the U-Sand. Do you use the U-Sand over the entire floor or just to remove the edger swirls, and then buff as usual? Thanks in advance.

Generally speaking, I finish the edges with 120 grit and a floater pad (edger) I pop the grain with water and then I buff the hell out of it with either 100 grit sand paper or 120 grit sand paper until all the big machine lines are out and then I buff it with 120 grit screen to finish it off.

With the U sand, you most likely need to do the whole floor. Most sand and finish guys leave maple looking like crap with big machine lines every where. And for me, spinner marks aren't really an issue, it's the big machine lines .I don't have much orbital sanding to do on my floors when the edging is as it should be but the big machine lines are always an issue on maple.

let us know how it works for you

Thanks for the reply. Are you saying that you buff after water popping?

Yes. Popping brings the sanding lines up to the top of the floor as much as possible.It also raises any spinner marks thus making them easier to hit with your buffer or u-sand . I popped a 1400 sq foot job in about 20 minutes and it saved me probably 2 hours or more of buffing.It was the first maple floor that I did that had zero sanding lines or spinner marks. Before trying popping, I had to buff a stupid amount , usually wearing out lots of disc sand paper before getting out sanding lines.

I typically big machine maple with 40 then 80 then 150 and it's still hard to get the lines out. Popping simply gets the lines and spinners closer to the surface where the buffer can do something about them.

We do currently water pop but we do it right after the final buffing. We don't have any issues with sanding lines, it's just all of the palm sanding that gets old. I had never heard of water popping prior to buffing. Thanks again for the info.