Any tips on how to sand flat -with rotex/ets?

[ali]

I do realise that the right tool for the right job makes things easier, but does anyone have any tips on how i can sand level when using a rotex or ets?

Some of the applications I am thinking about are taking a few millimetres of a door/frame, especially when in situ. I find using a sander faster and easier but just need to make it flat and level.

Or am i better off using a square shaped sander, though these are less powerful than say the rotex?

Already have a flat hard pad, anything else I can do? Build a jig? Any tips willfully considered

 

[Holmz]

Sanders make things smooth easier than they make things flat and/or level.

The word "plane" even sounds flat, but they can still be "not too easy" when it comes to a flat surface.

The bigger the machine then the further spaced the ripples. Which is also called a lower spatial frequency. For a hand held machine the daddy is a belt sander with a frame.

For a door, taking it off and using a plane or a track saw should make it easier to get a result, than beavering away at it in-situ.

For keeping something flat, it find a 1/2 sheet sander works better for me to remain flat than a 6"/150-mm disc, so your theory on that works for me, but I do not hear many others professing that.

 

[semenza]

When you say taking a few mm of a door frame  do you mean on the face or the edge?

Seth

 

[ali]

The edge

 

[Holmz]

Doable, yes...  but even someone who is slow like me and get the door off and use a proper track or table saw, and get it back on in 1/2 hour. Enabling people to sand it in situ seems like we are doing a general disservice.

I could also use a jig saw on it, or a grinder, but those are also not the wisest choice of tools.

The idea of how to do with a sander is interesting, and if one only had a sander, then it become more interesting to consider.

 

[semenza]

  If it needs to be precise I would make a pencil line to sand up to. If sanding and edge like this I prefer a 150 sander and the hard pad. I know the large pad seems counter intuitive but the broad surface when viewed from the edge makes it easy to keep it flat on the edge of the work surface. In other words the wide pad exaggerates the tilt making it easier to see.
 
    Need to be positioned to look at the edge of the pad. Should be doable even in situation.

    [attachimg=1]    [attachimg=2]

Seth

 

[semenza]

    Clearly it could be done with a track saw or other tool.  ali is asking for tips on how to do it with a sander and has even commented the using the right tool is the best option. The door edge is an example of the type of sanding being done.  That said, the tips on 'how to' using a sander could apply to many other similar tasks. Not sure how showing a technique that works is doing a disservice. I view it as an option that is good to know.

Seth

 

[Michael Kellough]

A few mm is too much for a random orbit sander me thinks. An RO-90 or RAS-115 is the tool to knock the high stuff down then finish sand with an random orbital machine.

 

[Michael Kellough]

"I am thinking about are taking a few millimetres of a door/frame, especially when in situ."

 

[semenza]

Yes, if more than about 2mm I would start with a Rotex or RAS. In fact this is really the same as sanding to a scribe line.

Seth

 

[Holmz]

    Clearly it could be done with a track saw or other tool.  ali is asking for tips on how to do it with a sander and has even commented the using the right tool is the best option. The door edge is an example of the type of sanding being done.  That said, the tips on 'how to' using a sander could apply to many other similar tasks. Not sure how showing a technique that works is doing a disservice. I view it as an option that is good to know.

Seth

In the vein of the question then...

A disc sander has the advantage of keeping its table normal to to sanding disc, and therefore one only needs to push material in.

To sand the door's edge becomes driven by one's skill to keep the machine at the proper angle and also not scalloping in. So one either need very good hand skills, or some methods to keep the machine in the proper alignment.

Belt sanders have frames to to help prevent the scalloping in, and planes sometimes have side fences to aid in maintaining an angle... However I am unaware of anything for 1/2-sheet or random orbital sanders that maintain an angle.
If there was such a thing, then it would reduce the level of skill required.
I know I do not have the skills, as whenever I have tried similar stunts in the past, they were woefully unsuccessful. (I could get one edge straight, but be scalloped, or have it not be scalloped, but at an angle.)

 

[leer]

After doing some remodeling on our main floor, hands down the easiest way for me to trim doors was with my track saw. Admittedly, most of this type of work was to take some off the bottom of a door to clear new flooring, but I also narrowed several doors when changing out bifold pantry doors for barn door hardware and doors I bought at a salvage/recycling shop.

 

[semenza]

    It might also work to clamp a piece of straight wood to one or both sides of the door edge. Allowing the door edge to protrude the amount that you want to remove. Sand until the door edge is flat to the pieces of wood. The wood pieces limiting the sanding depth.

Seth

 

[Holmz]

[member=1619]SRSemenza[/member]  ok that wood peice is conceptually a good idea. Even angle iron would work.

 

[Cheese]

    It might also work to clamp a piece of straight wood to one or both sides of the door edge. Allowing the door edge to protrude the amount that you want to remove. Sand until the door edge is flat to the pieces of wood. The wood pieces limiting the sanding depth.

[thumbs up]

 

[ali]

thanks for all the ideas guys, I really like the idea of having two bits of wood (battens) running as almost guide rails on both edges.

I do realise that other tools are arguably better, I was just thinking of a particular problem where for example doors may start to stick after expansion after being installed (and painted over etc).

thanks again for all the comments

 

[Holmz]

It is best to take that door off the hinges and then if there are layers of paint remove them with a heat gun and putty knife. Or if one is at the wood and needs some extra clearances a hand plane and remove some wood. If it is more than a hand plane can do, then use a track saw.

A sander is not the right tool here. Yes one can do it with a sander, but it is not the right tool.