I have installed a hickory floor. I am now in the process of sanding same and have a problem. I have used both a drum sander and a vibrating sander at 24 grit and been over the complete floor with the grain and at 45º to the grain at least a dozen times and I still have places that are untouched. I am at the end of my options. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Bunky
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I recently refinished my floors using a U-Sand. Not an aggressive sander by any means, but it's good for a novice.
On a smooth floor, I spent about 8 hours with it, and went over the floor very slowly 40-50 times. It takes a lot, but the worst thing you can do is stain the floor before the you have everything taken up. Look up my thread from a couple months ago where I made this mistake - it was bad news.
sounds like either the flooring itself is not of the best quality or the install got messed up... ie... not getting the sander to touch all boards equally...
uneven... warped boards? not a very level install...
somethings happening
get the palm sander out and hand sand them if the floor doesnt appear to be that bad out of whack. Otherwise... keep sanding. You got some uneven boards
Goodluck
Thank you. I think that it might be thw wet weather here also contributes.
Thanks. I will also try that.
Not enough detail to add much to what's already been suggested (like how big an area, how many passes, how many belts used, how much dust/bags have already been removed...) Only additional thought I have is to make sure you're using sanding belts with enough sharp tooth left on them. Hickory is tough stuff, harder than most N. American woods and will dull up belts faster than oak
Sorry for the slow reply. My DSL has been out for over a week.
24 grit. At least three dozen passes. Over a dozen pieces of abrasive used.
It has been very wet here in western Washington of late. I am waiting for it to dry out before I proceed any further.
Thanks.
Talk to that Blodgett kid. HE might have a better perspective for you being as old as he is and a neighbor of yoursThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
HEY! Don't go getting ME involved in this! "24 grit", "a dozen passes at 45 degrees", "still not hitting surface"? I'd have thought he'd be down to shiney nail heads by now. Something is amiss.
I've never worked with hickory (except to smoke meat, but then I call it hickry and grin like the cat that caught the canary). But I digress.
Bunky - is it possible you aren't letting the sander do it's work? Do you have any experience with this tool? Or other drum/belt sanders? That mama jamma should be just about pulling you across the floor with 24 grit, you should be having to work to hold it back, I would think. Is that how it feels as you sand?TIPI,TIPI,TIPI!
And what's that "old as he is" crack about?!?!>>>>>>>>>>>>Well I do always call you , "that Blodgett kid" dont I ?
My 82 year old Mom who acts like a teenager and is as healthy as one keeps telling me how old her boyfriend is getting...how he drags his feet and takes baby steps now....meanwhile he's about 87 years old...lol. He keeps getting older???....Bwahahahaha...shes a pissa.
Maybe its doing thirty laps in the pool "every day" that keeps her so
fit N' Funny...
See ya soon my brotherman
a...The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
Maybe he turned the belts inside out?
And what's that "old as he is" crack about?!?! Diesel just about calls me out for lying every time I post a photo of one of my kids you know.
I still have all my teeth.
Well, okay, some didn't grow in my head.
But they're mine!TIPI,TIPI,TIPI!
I went through the same thing with some very, very old chestnut. The boards were severly warped. I rented the sander from Home Depot and bought the sanding pads online...very cheap.
Across the grain and changed sanding discs like they were tissues and I had a cold.
After a few hours, 200 sq., and a stack of pads from 36 to 220 she's a bute.
RR
Got any photos of that chestnut floor?TIPI,TIPI,TIPI!
I had the floor finishing guys on site today finishing a new oak floor.
I asked the one guy about hickory. He didn't exactly give a long explanation but he said that he uses #36 on the floor sander - you have to go very slow. Then a quick pass with 40 grit. Then go over it with 150 screen on the buffer.
BTW - he told me that the big sanding machine they had cost $7 grand! They had several smaller machines for edging, stairs, under cabinet kicks, etc.