# better sander



## horseyhorse (Oct 29, 2014)

Hello! I tried to search for this topic for a bit but couldn't find what I was looking for exactly. I carve rocking horses, with lots of small curves but also a few flat surfaces. My demand for them has been picking up a little, and I need to finish them faster. I think most of my time is spent sanding.

I've been using the dewalt plam sander pictured here, and have been really frustrated with how long it takes and how much sand paper I go through using this thing. It wears out the main spots on the sand paper in no time, and I can't imagine that most people aren't using something better. I don't have money to add a lot of tools, but I think I need to add one mega great versitile and fast sander to get things moving faster. What do you suggest? Is an orbital going to be easy enough to control to get the details I want? Spindle? Am I just an idiot for not starting out with the orbital right away? Thanks for your help.

Oh I also have a foredom tool to sand out the grooves and eyes and stuff, so I have that covered.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

You need a softer pad to get better use from the paper on contoured surfaces.

3M Soft Interface Pad

I've not seen one for a square sander so you may want to consider a random orbit sander and in my experience, the random orbit sands faster than the square type sanders. I'm partial to the duel mode 6" sanders like Festool's Rotex for speed, power and versatility but even the cheaper versions from other manufacturers are pricy. A standard 5" ROS with a soft interface pad should be a good balance between performance and cost.

Also, welcome to the forum.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

Nice horses!


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Would a wheel flap sander work?


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## EPJartisan (Nov 4, 2009)

Hello Horsey, welcome to LJ's. 
I would love to have a Foredom someday.. but most my wood carving has been small, so until I start some larger pieces I just Dremel it. Do you use sanding mops?

I also hate wasting money and time on sand paper… but mostly I just hate the dust. If you have not tried yet… I use scraper cards… they come in many thicknesses and the thinnest cards bend easily to organic shapes… but they also need to be sharpened more. OR reshape on on a grinder the match your contour. You can make a rough burr to take off more wood… and a clean small burr for smoothing. They I can usually get my surfaces smooth enough to start at a 320 grit. Saves me a lot of money and the card always cuts the surface clean, so you get to see the wood as you shape and smooth. I love using them.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Broken glass (window glass) provides a lot of random shapes, convex and concave. You can usually find shapes that will work as scrapers for almost any contour. Usually only one edge will be sharp, and they don't last very long before dulling, but the price is right. Sounds dangerous, but I do it frequently and have never cut myself. You can put a piece of masking tape over edges and point you aren't using if you are concerned. I find slightly convex edges work better for scraping flat surfaces than straight edges.

Break the glass inside a thick paper bag to contain the flying bits. Wear eye protection.

Your horses are gorgeous, true works of art. I am very impressed!!!


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## horseyhorse (Oct 29, 2014)

Thanks for responses, I haven't tried scraper cards before, sounds really interesting. And I have lots of glass around cause I did stained glass for a while. Haven't tried flapper wheels, or I did once and it didn't seem to do much, I think my stuff is too large. Good things to check out…


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Nice horses! For the flat surfaces, a block or bench plane. Curved surfacesm card scrapers, which will work for flat surfaces as well. Also, take a look at what bowl turners use for sanding. There are many versions of d drill powered 2-3" dia pad on a rod driven by a drill. Flapper sanders wear quickly for the expense imo.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

Beautiful horses! I personally would use (carefully) a soft pad ROS in places and hand sand the rest. Start with 40 grit and work your way up. Your fingers are contoured, wrap the sandpaper around them.


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## horseyhorse (Oct 29, 2014)

wow, doing a little research I am blown away by the world of card scrapers. I'm pretty much self taught so I don't know a lot, and never heard of them before. I'm hoping I can make them work for my curved stuff. These things will save me mountains of wasted sand paper, as well as me shooting myself in the face due to insanity after sanding the same thing over and over for days. Thanks everyone! 
-horseyhorse


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## TomInIndy (Dec 22, 2011)

WOW those are awesome !!!!!!!


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## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

I think that a sanding mop from Klingspor would be a great tool for you. A lot of people using them for scroll saw projects and I use mine on Intarsia projects. They are great for sanding contoured shapes.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Redoak49 has the solution for sanding curved parts. If you want to use a scraper as well, I'd suggest investing in one or more of these from Stew-Mac.

Great looking horsies, BTW.


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## horseyhorse (Oct 29, 2014)

Thanks, that sanding mop does look interesting. I've tried the small flap sanders meant for dremel tools and wore it out very quickly. Maybe those tough larger mops will be better…


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I found a sanding mop to smooth out the wood nicely but it did not shape the wood well. Not aggresive enough.
I reciently purchased a Festool sander and it sure is smooth running and light compared to my other sanders. (DeWalt and Porter-Cable) Festool cost about double the others though.


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## EPJartisan (Nov 4, 2009)

wow I've never seen those Stew-mac scrapers before. i will have to try them. thanks Gene. i just got the recent woodcraft catalog in the mail… seems the have more styles, shapes, and thicknesess than ever.
I've also turned old 1.5" chop chisels and flat head screw drivers into scraper style tools for details.


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## mbs (May 8, 2010)

I think the festool RO90 would be perfect. I use it on my rocking chairs. it has a small pad and has two modes - aggressive and fine. It's nice and light too. When it's hook up to a vac there is little dust. The RO90, like all festool products, is expensive. And you can try it risk free for 30 days.


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## horseyhorse (Oct 29, 2014)

Wow, I ordered some inexpensive scrapers and really like them. I mostly love using them on walnut and can't wait to rework the saddle on my walnut horse that has tearout marks that I couldn't reach with the large sander.

Its a little harder to use on oak, and one further question I have is about the more open grain on the oak that seems to stay kind of fuzzy and the pores stay open. I guess I'll find out the results when I go ahead and finish it with a final 400-600 sanding and the oil finish, but does the open grain smooth out ok after a while? I'll try to show in the photo with a pointer, but no matter how much I scrape this open part of the grain still isn't all that smooth. Anyone else notice that or have a solution?


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

One thing you could try is burnishing the "fuzzy" area with polished metal, like a spoon, or a brown paper bag.


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## Woodbum (Jan 3, 2010)

Outstanding work!!! It's hard to believe that this fine work was finished with just that 1/4 sheet sander! Have you looked at the Mirka CEROS sanders with one of their numerous soft backing pads or the Deros, that does not have the external power supply. Or for that fact, a soft pad for the other ROS brands. Card scrapers and sanding mops as were mentioned are good choices too. I would think that you need to be able to exert maximum control over whatever choice you make. Looks like your old method has been successful; though I understand your desire for less sandpaper use, more speed and less dust. Good luck!


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## MARCIOCRM (Nov 3, 2014)

I can't help you about your sanding question but I have to say: "what a wonderfull woodwork!" 
Congratulations!


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## horseyhorse (Oct 29, 2014)

Thanks for all the info and kind words everyone, the whole herd can be seen at my website heartwoodrockinghorses.com


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Those Stew-Mac scrapers are amazing tools. I have used mine on a lot of hickory and have yet to need to sharpen it!

I use sanding mops in an air die grinder to sanding curved/odd shapes.

Your rocking horses are works of art!!!


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