Hello, I own a wood casket manufacturing company and am having a difficult time with finishing our caskets without leaving swirl marks. We currently are using a wide belt sander for our first sanding of the side panels, a flap molding sander for the profiled trim & a stroke sander to sand the dome tops. Once assembled we finish sand with Dewalt 1/4 sheet sanders and then are having to sand extensively by hand to achieve a finish to remove swirl marks left by the Dewalt. We are doing a 120 grit finish on the wood, we then use a 220 by hand between sealer coat and lacquer coat. According to your description your sanders can achieve a finish without swirl marks? Please advise on which sander will best suit my needs
Sander info
- Thread starter SoTxCC
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2013
- Messages
- 3,575
SoTxCC, [welcome] to the FOG!
A picture or two would be really helpful, but here are a few questions that might help us help you:
• Which part(s) of the casket are you seeing swirl marks on? Obviously you may need a different sander for a large flat area vs a curved one.
• What wood species?
• What type of finish do you use?
• Which specific Dewalt sander model number are you using now? Knowing that might help us better understand what is and isn't working.
• Is this a new problem? Have you finally just gotten tired of dealing with it by hand? What brings you to us now?
Sorry to barrage you with questions, but I'll bet someone here can be VERY helpful once we understand your situation. I'll check back for your answers, and others will be along to help shortly...
A picture or two would be really helpful, but here are a few questions that might help us help you:
• Which part(s) of the casket are you seeing swirl marks on? Obviously you may need a different sander for a large flat area vs a curved one.
• What wood species?
• What type of finish do you use?
• Which specific Dewalt sander model number are you using now? Knowing that might help us better understand what is and isn't working.
• Is this a new problem? Have you finally just gotten tired of dealing with it by hand? What brings you to us now?
Sorry to barrage you with questions, but I'll bet someone here can be VERY helpful once we understand your situation. I'll check back for your answers, and others will be along to help shortly...
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Messages
- 8,426
Welcome to the forum.
If you're looking solely to replace your Dewalt sander, I would suggest the ETS 150/3. It will cover the most surface area while provide a great finish. If you want a single sander to replace the belt sander and Dewalt palm sander, consider the Rotex RO 150.
I would recommend that you pay attention to grit progression. Don't skip too far between grits, especially from the belt sander, which can leave some deep marks in the wood. Spend ample time on each grit and this will reduce the likelihood of swirl marks or linear marks.
Our go-to abrasives for nearly every application is Granat. But, if you're just sanding bare wood, Rubin2 would be a good choice too.
We have a 30-day money back guarantee and 3-year warranty on tools, which covers all shipping to and from the service center should you need warranty repair.
If you have other questions, let us know or call toll free at the number below, M-F, 8a-5p ET.
Shane
If you're looking solely to replace your Dewalt sander, I would suggest the ETS 150/3. It will cover the most surface area while provide a great finish. If you want a single sander to replace the belt sander and Dewalt palm sander, consider the Rotex RO 150.
I would recommend that you pay attention to grit progression. Don't skip too far between grits, especially from the belt sander, which can leave some deep marks in the wood. Spend ample time on each grit and this will reduce the likelihood of swirl marks or linear marks.
Our go-to abrasives for nearly every application is Granat. But, if you're just sanding bare wood, Rubin2 would be a good choice too.
We have a 30-day money back guarantee and 3-year warranty on tools, which covers all shipping to and from the service center should you need warranty repair.
If you have other questions, let us know or call toll free at the number below, M-F, 8a-5p ET.
Shane
wow said:
OK
First of thanks for welcoming me and thanks for your response.
We are currently building mostly Aromatic Red Cedar & Yellow Pine Caskets some cherry and other hardwoods
After our caskets have been assembled into the two major components, the box and the lid, we start to sand them with the Dewalt 1/4 sheet sander, start with 80 on areas that were glued together such as the box corners, let me back up a bit, the dome lid is done by a stroke sander set up to do the radius of the lid, then we put the lid in a fishtail saw that cuts the miter out and cuts the piece to fit back in, once that is done the mitered ends have to be sanded to remove the glue, once again with the dewalt or if its real uneven we hit it with a belt sander first.
I am getting swirl marks from the sander even going 80-100-120. After sanding I have been using a 120 sandpaper under a sanding sponge by hand to remove the swirl marks. For 1 casket this sometimes takes all day to sand with 2 guys.
We are using a sanding sealer & then a lacquer finish. I am sanding the wood to a finish of 120, then sand to 220 between sealer and lacquer coat.
After doing a little research I think it may have to do with the 1/4 sheet sander itself, looks like the random orbital method actually may prevent some swirl marks because of its constant rotation. I assumed that since the 1/4 sheet didn't rotate it would leave less swirl marks because of it not rotating?
I have been building these caskets for about 2 years and using the same method as I mentioned. I just figured it was what I had to do to get a swirl free finish, not that I had a crappy sander. We are currently able to do a complete casket in about 2 days from raw wood, but as my business grows I need to be able to finish faster without doing lots of sanding by hand.
I am very impressed with the ETS 150/3 and think I will go purchase one today and give it a try, I have nothing to loose with the money back guarantee they are offering, I am very excited to know my swirl mark issues may be over!
Thanks for all the help, more is welcomed.
I am attaching a link to a video of how our caskets are made as well as a link to our website if anyone is interested in what we are doing.
www.staroftexascaskets.com
Jerry White
Member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 39
Welcome to FOG, SoTxCC. I know your part of the country well, but had not heard of your business. You have an impressive operation there. Also, an equally impressive web site. It is a pleasure to learn about you.
I hope your ETS 150 is working well for you. Please give us an update.
I hope your ETS 150 is working well for you. Please give us an update.
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2007
- Messages
- 5,133
For those curved surfaces, you should seriously consider an Interface Pad. It's a spongy pad that goes between the driven pad and the abrasive sheet.
I agree with Shane about grit progression. With the hook & loop connection, it's so easy to change abrasives that it doesn't make sense to skip many grits. I think it's faster and easier to walk through the entire progression without skipping any.
I see you're in Elgin. I'm in South Austin about a mile south of Lady Bird Lake (town Lake) on Lamar. Welcome to the FOG, neighbor! Please drop by if you want to try something out...
Tom
I agree with Shane about grit progression. With the hook & loop connection, it's so easy to change abrasives that it doesn't make sense to skip many grits. I think it's faster and easier to walk through the entire progression without skipping any.
I see you're in Elgin. I'm in South Austin about a mile south of Lady Bird Lake (town Lake) on Lamar. Welcome to the FOG, neighbor! Please drop by if you want to try something out...
Tom
