jmbfestool said:
Michael_Swe said:
Makes sense not to remove the tops. I haven't really thought about how to cope with fastened tops.
But I do know this:
I've flattened my "fork-dented" oak table with RO125. It was a pleasure going through all the grits and the table came out nice. After buying the BS75 I revisited the table and I can tell you that it was a whole lot easier, booth in terms of speed and outcome (flatness). The table was oiled, but I don't recall the RO125 bogged down less than the belt sander. The belt sander was bogged down a couple of times, but that was solved in two seconds with a piece of raw rubber to clean the belt.
I have done the same thing with MDF coated door blades. After doing this with BS75 I see no point using the R125 other that for the last grits. The BS75 leaves as flat a surface that your eyes hurt
I agree
if you have a table top or Worktop which is not fixed the belt sander would be the way to go I suppose, it's just the original poster said redo kitchen worktops so im assuming they would be fixed and I'm thinking from in the past when iv sanded worktops in place it can be awkward round corners with tall units etc on smaller kitchens and a belt sander would be kinda useless.
I would like the bs75 but its alot of money and I hardly ever use my Makita belt sander
An RO is great at feathering and smooting (creating the illusion of flatness) but it follows the surface it doesn't actually flatten it like a BS/frame will.
To sand the full surface with a BS/frame there has to be room for the frame to extend over the edge.
Sancho said "Belt sanders and finish sanding can go wrong in a heart beat." This is true for a raw BS with no frame. With a frame you can leave the sander running and unattended and nothing will happen if the frame is adjusted to raise the sanding platen. Think about that. If you have to turn an adjustment knob to bring the sanding platen down to the work, what can go wrong? Set to barely touch the surface in one area as you move it around and it starts to grab you know you come to a high spot and the BS/frame will cut it down. If you'd been using an RO sander it would have been cutting low and high spots all the same maintaining the semi-flat surface.
That said, whenever you run the frame off the edge it has to be at a diagonal. If you are running parallel to the edge and let a full side of the sander run off the edge then the sander can lean and overcut the edge. With practice you can compensate for that but in general I wait to run parallel until the grit is fine and a lapse in attention is less consequential.
For sanding
installed countertops I think a combination of RO and RTS (or ETS) would work well. If the wood is already flat and it isn't softwood there isn't too much that can go wrong with an RO since you don't need aggressive grits for that work.
If you're
making a solid wood countertop in the shop and you can't send the thing trough a wide-belt sander than the best tool is a BS/frame combo.