Sanding between coats of paint on cabinets

[JCLP]

Hi Everyone. I was hoping to get some advice on sanding paint between coats on cabinets. On past projects I was doing it by hand but I was kind of hoping to use my DTS400 with 400 grit paper. I tried yesterday and found the sander to aggressive, even with the speed down to 3 and my CT26 at minimum suction. Should I stick to doing it by hand or is there another sander that you are using that would work better then the DTS400?
Thx.

 

[Scott B.]

DTS400 is ideal for cabinet sanding. Keep the speed up on the sander, when it is turned down, it is more likely to chatter. Soften it up by raising the grit. If you are sanding primer, start at 180 or even 220/240, and go up with each successive coat. It is important to keep it moving, make multiple light passes quickly with it floating.

 

[JCLP]

DTS400 is ideal for cabinet sanding. Keep the speed up on the sander, when it is turned down, it is more likely to chatter. Soften it up by raising the grit. If you are sanding primer, start at 180 or even 220/240, and go up with each successive coat. It is important to keep it moving, make multiple light passes quickly with it floating.

Thanks for the advice Scott. I did find the sander to chatter with the speed down. I have been practicing floating the sander but sometimes I press to hard and bare wood is exposed. I definitely will have to practice a lot more to get the right touch. Guess what I will be doing today.
Thanks,
JC

 

[Scott B.]

DTS400 is ideal for cabinet sanding. Keep the speed up on the sander, when it is turned down, it is more likely to chatter. Soften it up by raising the grit. If you are sanding primer, start at 180 or even 220/240, and go up with each successive coat. It is important to keep it moving, make multiple light passes quickly with it floating.

Thanks for the advice Scott. I did find the sander to chatter with the speed down. I have been practicing floating the sander but sometimes I press to hard and bare wood is exposed. I definitely will have to practice a lot more to get the right touch. Guess what I will be doing today.
Thanks,
JC

The small sanders (ets125/dts400/rts400) are sensitive to motor speed, extraction rate, grit and your technique. The first two are easy to keep constant - motor speed always up, extraction rate always down, but from grit to grit sometimes it can feel very different, especially with any variations in your technique. Once you "get" that balance, its a piece of cake. It might help just to grab a half sheet of scrap plywood and play around with it for an hour or two.

 

[Scott B.]

One tip I'll throw in here (then I'll shut up!), is to remember that what you are putting down for a coat has as much to do with the finish sanding experience as the sanding itself. Especially, as it relates to thickness of coating. If you are burning through coating when you sand, it could be that it was not thick enough to begin with. This is especially critical at primer stage. Get it on there thick. If brushing, I will often do two prime coats stacked on top of each other wet on wet so that I know I have a heavy base to smooth off. As above, err on the high side with grits when finish sanding.

Think of the thickness of a well sprayed primer coat, and understand that a brushed or foam rolled coat will likely not even be 1/3 the thickness of a sprayed primer coat. The heavier and smoother the foundation coat, the better the finish coats will lay down, and the more appealing the finish becomes.

 

[JCLP]

One tip I'll throw in here (then I'll shut up!), is to remember that what you are putting down for a coat has as much to do with the finish sanding experience as the sanding itself. Especially, as it relates to thickness of coating. If you are burning through coating when you sand, it could be that it was not thick enough to begin with. This is especially critical at primer stage. Get it on there thick. If brushing, I will often do two prime coats stacked on top of each other wet on wet so that I know I have a heavy base to smooth off. As above, err on the high side with grits when finish sanding.

Think of the thickness of a well sprayed primer coat, and understand that a brushed or foam rolled coat will likely not even be 1/3 the thickness of a sprayed primer coat. The heavier and smoother the foundation coat, the better the finish coats will lay down, and the more appealing the finish becomes.

No need to shut up Scott. Always good to here from experts in the field who are wiling to share their experiences. As I am brushing and rolling, I was thinking of applying a second coat of primer. I'm using Benjamin Moore Advance primer.

 

[tiralie]

Hi Everyone. I was hoping to get some advice on sanding paint between coats on cabinets. On past projects I was doing it by hand but I was kind of hoping to use my DTS400 with 400 grit paper. I tried yesterday and found the sander to aggressive, even with the speed down to 3 and my CT26 at minimum suction. Should I stick to doing it by hand or is there another sander that you are using that would work better then the DTS400?
Thx.

Unless I am using a high build primer, I always hand sand between coats. I figure if I haven't done a good enough job sanding prior to applying my coatings no amount of machine sanding will help me. I find hand sanding a good way to "inspect" my finish. If I find problem areas I will sand with RTS/DTS which is one of my favorite sanders. I always think I can sand faster by hand. I always vacuum and wipe the surface down before the next coat.
There are some exceptions (building multiple coats for a high-gloss etc.) but almost always by hand. Before I stain I hand sand after the last machine sanding but that's because I know I hate sanding so put extra effort into making sure I have removed all the swirls.
I usually use a scotch brite pad or a 400 foam backed paper. I am going to try using the hard foam pads for large surfaces but haven't got any 400 yet.
I find that I can feel for finish problems easier when I had sand than when I am using a sander.
Tim

 

[junk731]

You may find that even with the vac turned down to minimum, when using the finer grits, its still to much suction to get the floating feeling with the sander. Personally I had to use the y connection with an adjustable blast gate to get the suction down low enough when using my CT26 or 36 in conjunction with the RTS or DTS. Also like Tim suggested hand sanding in my case is also preferable.

John

 

[mastercabman]

Since you are brushing/rolling you might be trying too hard to make the surface smooth
Spraying will give you a smoother finish so you wouldn't have to sand but so much

 

[JCLP]

You may find that even with the vac turned down to minimum, when using the finer grits, its still to much suction to get the floating feeling with the sander. Personally I had to use the y connection with an adjustable blast gate to get the suction down low enough when using my CT26 or 36 in conjunction with the RTS or DTS. Also like Tim suggested hand sanding in my case is also preferable.

John

Hi John,
I've been practicing my floating technique and took awhile but I just finished sanding a bookcase and it came out perfect. Thanks Scott for your tip. As I don't have a blast gate, I tried doubling the length of hose by attaching a 36mm hose to the standard 27mm that comes with the CT26 and guess what, it worked. Suction dropped and floating the sander became easier. Why it worked beats me. I'll have to research that. Now off to do the remaining bookcases and cabinets.

 

[tiralie]

Great, good to hear it's working.
You can also try removing the hose and attaching the "in-board dust extraction" (plastic holder) and "turbo filter"(paper bag) that ships with the D/RTS. It's quite effective at collecting dust without  using the vacuum.
Tim

 

[JCLP]

Could anyone give me advice on what type of sandpaper, Aluminum Oxide, Silicone carbide or natural garnet, would give me the best finish when sanding between coats of paint. I've been using Norton brand paper from home depot but if there is something better out there I would like to get it.
Thanks,

 

[tjbnwi]

Turn the sander speed up, you're running it way to slow. Turn the CT down to 1/3 or less.

Guide the sander by the hose, any pressure on the top of the sander really affects its performance.

Use Granat paper it is designed for finishes.

Tom

 

[polarsea1]

Could anyone give me advice on what type of sandpaper, Aluminum Oxide, Silicone carbide or natural garnet, would give me the best finish when sanding between coats of paint. I've been using Norton brand paper from home depot but if there is something better out there I would like to get it.
Thanks,

If you are talking about hand sanding 3M Fre-Cut gold is excellent.