LS130 Profile Sanding Questions

[jyarbrou]

I'm in the midst of sanding a bunch of window and door 445 casing as well as some standard crown molding. Does anyone have any experience using the LS130 to sand profiles like that? I haven't been able to find much information so far.

Would you use the standard profiles and sand in stages, or create a custom profile and sand at once? I would think the sharp corners would be a problem with a custom made profile.

The hand sanding and dust is getting pretty old fast, so if the LS130 is worth it, I may pick one up.

 

[Kev]

I had to look up the 445 profile.

I would fear that the couple of short shallow steps would be hard to form in a custom shape and if you did succeed, the sharp creases would wear too quickly.

I'd try the standard profiles if it was me, but hopefully there's some expertise that's done it before.

 

[Scott B.]

Standard profiles. No matter how many passes, infinitely faster than alternatives.

 

[jyarbrou]

Standard profiles. No matter how many passes, infinitely faster than alternatives.

How are you getting in the small crevices and up to the small edges?

 

[ear3]

You could conceivable create a custom profile to do the large horizontal s or ogee part of the profile, then work with the standard profiles to fetch the rest. The 90 degree profile -- the one that is an upside down triangle with a sharp point, is good for sanding corners and edges. The ls130 won't help you with that bead though. You'll have to get a foam/rubber profile for hand sanding, or if you have a multitool, get the small concave profile that would handle that.

 

[Brent Taylor]

Depending on the profile and the amount of paint layers,  I tend to scrape the pieces first than sand. I have also used the make your own kit for common profiles I use. That being said if the trim is in real rough shape I will either strip it myself or send it out to be stripped and if it's not having a stock profile I make new trim pieces.
The job I'm currently working on I have a few profiles to recreate,  up north I could go to the hardwood yard and pick it up,  down here in the twilight zone, I got to make it myself.  That's why I have so many routers and tables to put them in.  Good luck.  B

 

[Scott B.]

Standard profiles. No matter how many passes, infinitely faster than alternatives.

How are you getting in the small crevices and up to the small edges?

If you can show me the profiles you are referring to, I will be happy to opine.

 

[jyarbrou]

If you can show me the profiles you are referring to, I will be happy to opine.

Both the casing and crown are pretty standard big box store trim. I have a mix of bare wood trim we're adding, and builder installed trim that is already painted and needs to be sanded and repainted.

Here's the casing profile
View attachment 1

Here's the crown
View attachment 2

 

[Mr Jones]

I'd go with the ls130 standard pad and multiple passes + rts400 for the wider parts. The biggest advantage of the ls130 beyond working with the grain is the ability to hold to an edge as the sander is not bouncing off the edge, the disadvantage is increased weight and noise. I keep thinking about the custom pads but have not made one in 10 years using the ls130. For more complex, curved or smaller mouldings I prefer cloth backed sandpaper by hand.