The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Orbital Sander??

So here's the deal, I am going to paint my truck this spring/summer. I am going to get to buy some tools!!! The first thing that I need to do is buy a sander to strip the body. My question is this: what kind of sander should I get??

I am going to buy it where I can find it cheapest but I want to get a good brand and get the right one! Opinions please.

Is an orbital sander what I want? It is going to need to be an electric sander. Thanks!

Kyle

If you've got a compressor, you should get a dual action sander. The old 'da' works great for stripping paint.

I have a craftsman D/A sander that works off a compressor. So the question of cart before the horse is, do you have a good compressor? Because you'll need it for painting. On the other hand there are those HVLP turbine units, but I haven't used one. The HVLP turbine is pretty specialized, and yet a good compressor can run an air hammer for chiseling body panels, orbital (or jitterbug) and D/A Sanders, the paint gun, air gun for blowing the dust off before you paint etc etc etc.

I will second that, Make sure it's a dual action.

I don't know how long an electric one would run. I've heard the dust fron sanding burns out the motors pretty quick.

I've seen some resonabley priced DA at Sears and Northern tool, as I plan to sand on the body of my '50 this spring/summer. I did buy a $10 air grinder from Northern Tool about 6 weeks ago, and so far, so good... but made in China! like the rest of the imports anymore!

Dust from sanding burns out the motor on a SANDER??? Is that true, sounds like electric sanders suck. I do not have a compressor. How good of a compressor would I need to run this thing??

I have a craftsmen 6 hp 33 gallon vertical compressor and it does good runs all my air tools with no problem. I did a lot of looking and thinking before buying mine I thought I would need a 60 gallon and 220 volt compressor to run air tools but you don't and since your not probably looking to do this stuff full time a compressor like mine works great.

when pricing d a sanders check the amount of air required for it. should be printed right on the box. I bought one from Harbour Freight and my compressor will only run it for about 45 sec, before it starts slowing down too much. KInda usless.

I have Porter Cable and Milwaukee sanders and grinders stripped a lot of paint off the 59 with those things. yes I do blow the motors out with air after a days use.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (I do agree that air powered tools are better) Pops

For stripping paint I like to use this http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=9227C with a hook and loop backing pad and either 50 or 80 grit sanding discs. It's variable speed and works nicely. I sometimes then go over it with a D.A., either air or electric. Those pneumatic DA's are terrible air hogs, unless you've got a pretty good compressor.If you purchase something like the Makita, you'll also have a buffer when you're finished painting.
But there really is no one way to do it. I'll use a 4 1/2" inch electric grinder with sanding discs, wire brushes, etc., a small right angle die grinder with 2" or 3" discs, a straight die grinder with a small wire brush, those Strip-It discs that look like a brillo pad, and sometimes it just comes down to a piece of hand sandpaper.

Bob

That Makita sander polisher is something you'll need to color sand after you've painted.

Another option is to have everything sandblasted. I have used the local headstone maker (monument company). They have a huge sandblasting booth and charge by the hour to do it. All in All I paid about $300 to get my entire truck blasted. That was the cab and all the body panels, the frame, springs, etc... everything. After that you can etching primer it before starting on the body work and then a high solids primer. Some will aslo reccomend going over it with 80 grit before etching primer.

I have two compressors- a 25 gallon 5 hp $150 jobber and the one I bought when I figured out that wasn't gonna do it. There are several threads here on compressors. Generally, the consensus is if you are gonna paint, 80 gal two stage. If you don't have enough (volume) air your paint doesn't come out even and nice which means you may have to paint one panel at a time. That isn't a bad thing, just time consuming and possibly will produce slightly different colored panels.

Not all airtools or paint guns consume the same amount of air, shop around and find one that uses less cfm even if it costs more. Not all airtools produce the same rpms, so less cfm but less rpm's isn't apples to apples... All airtools need a couple of drops of oil every time you use them.

Best of luck!

DO A WEB SEARCH FOR SUNCHASER TOOLS AND CHECK OUT THE TOOLS AND STRIPPING DISC THEY USE.THEY ALSO OFFER A SHRINKING DISC FOR METAL FINISHING

graingers
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/productIndex.shtml
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/productIndex.shtml

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/productIndex.shtml

there are SO MANY different sanders for specific problems and contours it would make any guys head spin
good luck in finding one that fits your needs.

Hi all, another new guy question. When using a DA sander, what is the right way to make contact with the body panel? Should the sanding disk be flat against the panel or at an angle? Also, should the pad be rigid or flexible? Any help apprecieted.......trikepapa

if you dont have a compressor elictic will do the job ok