We have a mouse sander and a supply of standard pads - not sure what
coarseness of grit.

How long should a pad last before the grit wears off in places and the pad
is smooth and no longer capable of sanding? I've always been very
unimpressed with the life of the pads. I put on a new pad from a previously
sealed pack, and sanded the sides of a length of 4x2" timber (*). Within
probably 1 minute of usage, all the grit had worn off the part of the pad
that had been in contact with the wood and it was down to the bare fabric
backing. Is it a bad batch or a bad manufacturer? What is a good brand of
pads to buy?


(*) Previously used as an imitation "roof beam" in a ceiling, so
bog-standard wood, stained and with traces of foam sealer on the edge that
had been glued to the plasterboard ceiling.

In article , NY wrote:
We have a mouse sander and a supply of standard pads - not sure what
coarseness of grit.

How long should a pad last before the grit wears off in places and the
pad is smooth and no longer capable of sanding? I've always been very
unimpressed with the life of the pads. I put on a new pad from a
previously sealed pack, and sanded the sides of a length of 4x2" timber
(*). Within probably 1 minute of usage, all the grit had worn off the
part of the pad that had been in contact with the wood and it was down
to the bare fabric backing. Is it a bad batch or a bad manufacturer?
What is a good brand of pads to buy?


(*) Previously used as an imitation "roof beam" in a ceiling, so
bog-standard wood, stained and with traces of foam sealer on the edge
that had been glued to the plasterboard ceiling.

It will depend on how much you're trying to deal with and whether you've
picked the appropriate grit size.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

NY wrote:
We have a mouse sander and a supply of standard pads - not sure what
coarseness of grit.

How long should a pad last before the grit wears off in places and the pad
is smooth and no longer capable of sanding? I've always been very
unimpressed with the life of the pads. I put on a new pad from a
previously sealed pack, and sanded the sides of a length of 4x2" timber
(*). Within probably 1 minute of usage, all the grit had worn off the
part of the pad that had been in contact with the wood and it was down
to the bare fabric backing. Is it a bad batch or a bad manufacturer?
What is a good brand of pads to buy?


(*) Previously used as an imitation "roof beam" in a ceiling, so
bog-standard wood, stained and with traces of foam sealer on the edge
that had been glued to the plasterboard ceiling.

My conclusion is: Belt Sander

For just about anything involving surface cleanup or leveling,
I like a heavy grit (50) on the belt sander, and do the
work out on the concrete patio. Even with the dust bag
on the belt sander, dust goes everywhere if you attempt
to do that sort of work inside.

Once that's done (without gouging the work on purpose),
piddly little sanders will last longer.

If I were to use a higher grit on the belt sander (in
an effort to reduce the work of the piddly sanders),
the belt clogs up too easily. With the heavy grit, you can
give it a whack and a lot of the paint chips fall off the
belt. And it's ready for another go.

They come in good-sized packs. This is enough to do a deck.

https://www.amazon.com/IVY-Classic-4.../dp/B0052IPKKU

The other thing you want on a belt sander, is a motor.
I used to have a belt sander with a real motor in it. You
could lean on the work, and it wouldn't slow down. But
that was stolen out of my car one day (car window broken
out with a boulder). The replacement (a different model),
wasn't nearly as powerful, and just doesn't have the same
cutting power. That's what I'm using today.

You can also get a heavier grit than that. I would only
go for a heavier grit, if the brand of belt was clogging
up even with 50 grit.

It's not an angle grinder. And it's still a lot of work
to process wood that way.

Now, the 2HP surface planer in wood shop class in school,
now *that's* how you finish off lumber. That thing was a
champ, even with kids running it :-) (Don't take off
too big a bite on each pass... The instructor will show
you how much to crank the knob before the next pass.)
We had a surface planer with the big motor in it, and
an edge planer for doing the narrow dimension of a
work piece. Much less work to do with a fine sander
later (since shop class, you'd be doing little furniture
grade projects to keep busy). We would get four hours
a week of shop class.

Paul

On 10/06/2020 13:51, charles wrote:
In article , NY wrote:
We have a mouse sander and a supply of standard pads - not sure what
coarseness of grit.

How long should a pad last before the grit wears off in places and the
pad is smooth and no longer capable of sanding? I've always been very
unimpressed with the life of the pads. I put on a new pad from a
previously sealed pack, and sanded the sides of a length of 4x2" timber
(*). Within probably 1 minute of usage, all the grit had worn off the
part of the pad that had been in contact with the wood and it was down
to the bare fabric backing. Is it a bad batch or a bad manufacturer?
What is a good brand of pads to buy?


(*) Previously used as an imitation "roof beam" in a ceiling, so
bog-standard wood, stained and with traces of foam sealer on the edge
that had been glued to the plasterboard ceiling.

It will depend on how much you're trying to deal with and whether you've
picked the appropriate grit size.


and how much excessive pressure is being used.

and the quality of the pads (grit quality/ bonding to the backing
material etc.) On one of my sanders I can get 5x the life from more
expensive Bosch branded pads compared to the generic pads sold by Toolsatan.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Wednesday, 10 June 2020 13:09:34 UTC+1, NY wrote:
We have a mouse sander and a supply of standard pads - not sure what
coarseness of grit.

How long should a pad last before the grit wears off in places and the pad
is smooth and no longer capable of sanding? I've always been very
unimpressed with the life of the pads. I put on a new pad from a previously
sealed pack, and sanded the sides of a length of 4x2" timber (*). Within
probably 1 minute of usage, all the grit had worn off the part of the pad
that had been in contact with the wood and it was down to the bare fabric
backing. Is it a bad batch or a bad manufacturer? What is a good brand of
pads to buy?


(*) Previously used as an imitation "roof beam" in a ceiling, so
bog-standard wood, stained and with traces of foam sealer on the edge that
had been glued to the plasterboard ceiling.

A minute! There are some real junk ones out there. I'd take those back as not fit for purpose.