hard wood floors

Sting,

The key thing here is you need motivation. I suggest that you place your favorite beverage at the end of each row.
When you get to the end of the row, you drink.

C'mon think man. With you only allowing 2 hours a night, the last row is

I know you can do it with the proper incentives !!!!

As far as staining, cover your self in a towel. Hit that last row, finish said drinks, refill as needed, spill the stain and then flop around on the floor. Any excess soaking through the towel will give you a new spring tan. The neighbors will think that you were on a cruise in the Islands.


Rick

Sting wrote:Pretty floor

I would like to use a drum sander but estimate the rental and paper close to a grand

I think we had them for about 6 days, I only rented one at a time. Think the total was about $600 including the paper but I was in rush and not using it fully. I'd wear it out about half way and switch it out. I'm still using it on palm sander. I couldn't possibly see doing this any other way... that's a lot of work even with the big machines.

, and now believe mechanic ones' estimation of possible sand thru with the drum machine is plausible.

I don't know if it was the age or what but these floors were tough as nails, even with the 20 grit I could have done two swipes. The floors were never fully finished either, you could still see the planer marks on them so there was some spots that were maybe a 1/32 lower and that would still have finish on them after going over it. I had a few spots where it dug in a little but you have to be in the other room with the light hitting it to see where. I only used the drum sander to remove material, the vibratory sander was what really did the job and that could be run by anyone. It's not going to work as fast as drum sander but if you're worried about screwing anything up that's what to use.

so Ill keep at it with my 8 and 6 inch disks when I have an hour or two. Almost every day.

At least invest in larger belt sander.... Might cost you $250.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-362V ... B000RFT5YA

I rented a floor sander that was a random orbit with 4 pads, I believe this would be more forgiving than a drum where you could get gouge marks. 1 day was around $40-$50 plus pads.

AA130FIREMAN wrote:I rented a floor sander that was a random orbit with 4 pads,

The one I had was just one giant pad. It might have even been for waxing/cleaning floors.

Richard S. wrote:At least invest in larger belt sander.... Might cost you $250.

Just a quick tip on this if you do get one. That belt sander I linked too is variable speed, if you get one with variable speed run it really slow and don't put any pressure on it. The belts heat up quick and they break easy when used for long time if using it fast and hard. Slow and easy. Just let it float over the wood with a back and forth motion with the grain just like you're hand sanding.

Eye sight is a big issue

how did YOU know when to move on or even change the paper of that big pad sander

how did you track the sand scratch you were replacing as you moved from xx to xxx grit - with out a guide coat?

Rick 386 wrote:Sting,

The key thing here is you need motivation. I suggest that you place your favorite beverage at the end of each row.
When you get to the end of the row, you drink.

C'mon think man. With you only allowing 2 hours a night, the last row is

I know you can do it with the proper incentives !!!!

As far as staining, cover your self in a towel. Hit that last row, finish said drinks, refill as needed, spill the stain and then flop around on the floor. Any excess soaking through the towel will give you a new spring tan. The neighbors will think that you were on a cruise in the Islands.


Rick

YOU lost your shop and you retained your humor Hats off to you - wish I could help but didn't you post once your a traveler? That should help.

Sting wrote:how did YOU know when to move on or even change the paper of that big pad sander

I just figured it by area, you can use it until it starts to break down if you want but it really becomes ineffective. Like I said I was in hurry and replacing them much faster than needed but it's not going to waste either. If you feel sandpaper when it's new you can almost feel it cutting into your skin especially with the larger grits. It's also imporatant to work your way through the different sizes. Don't use 60 and go to 120.

how did you track the sand scratch you were replacing as you moved from xx to xxx grit - with out a guide coat?

Just did it by eye, With the vibratory sander the smaller side was big enough to do four boards with an overlap. I'd just move it along and keep the edge on one board, this also created an sand berm in front of it which was another indicator.

You need to put some of those young twinkies you're always posting on the sander--your sight seems to improve when they're around. ---you've already started,but next project,do NOT use oil based stain--it is much harder to get uniform on that large of an area. Are you useing Red Oak,Mahogany??? The water base applies much easier & much more uniformly. Ain't hind site grand Although,I believe Chris did make that suggestion. Here's a pic of my back room--200 yr old barn board that was trashed--I used a drum on the bulk & orbital on edges--used water based red oak--the wood was mostly Poplar & Hemlock. I did that 10 yrs ago. This room was where the previous owner dressed out his hogs--it was a mess.

Sorry for not listening about the oil vs water stain -- I already had been sold it by the SALESMAN! Go figure.

Ah yes,salespeople, right up there with lawyers & realtors--your doing fine on those floors. Like I said before, by the time the fat lady sings they will look outstanding. Just keep doin what you're doing. All will end well. AND stop looking so hard,you're not building custom cabinets.

freetown fred wrote:The water base applies much easier & much more uniformly.

freetown fred wrote:This room was where the previous owner dressed out his hogs--it was a mess.

OK Fred, just exactly what kind of water based stain did you use?????



That room looks great BTW!

Very old wide plank pine floors in the 2nd floor of the house I'm working on. They decided to CARPET over them and the first floor hall and great room. The entire driveway has reverted to mud....great idea people... I told them I would do a test refinish-- I'm always begging people do do THEM a favor!

The downstairs living room has typical oak floors, somebody did not know how to use a drum sander! That floor looks like the beach at low tide

OK--just went & got 2 cans out back--Minwax--I guess the one is a one coat deal & the other is one that you could put a clear poly on after 8 hrs or so of dry time--point being,the one coat is much thicker for some reason---the minwax poly is water based--not the stain itself--I forget exactly what the deal was but when I used the thicker mahogany minwax it did not rub in well at all where-as the thinner red oak was just a pour, spread w/ bath towel & then come back w/ dry towel & rub in more--it was a messy couple days,but well worth the effort--actually I let it set for a couple days before putting the semi-gloss water based poly to it & they had a applicator specifically for that. STING,sorry DUDE, I retract my water base stain comment.

freetown fred wrote:Ah yes,salespeople, right up there with lawyers & realtors--your doing fine on those floors.

A majority of these salespeople have no clue especially if you're going to large stores. I like going to somewhere like Best Buy and playing dumb and let them go through their spiel. Then I hit them with a zinger.... "Umm , ahhh... I'll have to go ask manager." I was looking for a VCR once and I needed one with S-Video, I asked the guy if they had one and he goes "What is S-video?" You don't expect everyone to know what it is but if you're working in the A/V department of an electronics store you should know this.

INDEED