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Andy wrote:
By the way, I tried that sawdust and pva business, what I ended up with
did
not match the boards, it looked like dark shiny goo, and it shrank as it
dried.
I recommend you bin the idea and use either a wood colour acrylic frame
sealant, or, Wickes now stocks floorboard gap sealant in a range of three
colours, light, medium and dark.

Andy, I'm not actually using PVA glue but a product specifically for
this job which the hire shop reccommend.

In response to the previous comment I am using a belt sander along with
a an edging sander.

If you're using some proprietary agent then I have no knowledge of that. I
still think goo in a tube from Wickes will be easier, but that's just my
opinion.

I tried various things when filling gaps. The PVA + sawdust shrank when
drying and was almost a shiny dark brown colour, not a match at all ( NB: a
perfect match is not necessary nor perhaps even desirable ).

I then tried wallpaper glue plus sawdust: this gave a good colour match with
a matt finish and no shrinkage but was brittle and did not cling to the
sides of the gap ( floorboard gaps open and close through the year ).

Eventually I caulked the gaps with twisted skeins of hemp string ( very
fiddly and tiresome and probably unnecessary ) to be on the safe side and
injected Dow Corning natural wood colour acrylic frame sealant into the
gaps. That worked a treat. Each gap had to be masked off either side with
masking tape to stop it contaminating the floorboards when smoothed with a
wet finger.

As to the machines you are using, they sound standard. I expect the hire
shop has told you but go at 45 degrees to the boards with the belt sander
at first, finally along the length of the boards on the finer grades. Get
all the nails out ( or bashed in ) and the staples out first. That black
paint that is often painted on the boards seriously clogs sand paper. Lift
the belt sander off at the beginning and end of each run whilst moving as if
stationary it'll dig a groove.

Same goes for the circular sander, keep it moving else a circular groove
appears. Do not touch any CH pipes with it.

Good luck,

Andy.