sanding info pls

[bearheart]

I have a small compressor adequite for spray painting but it doesn't produce enough cfm to run a random orbit sander. Has anyone ever used an electric sander on a car? I've got to get down through a 30 year old bad lacquer paint job and don't want to have to buy a bigger comprssor.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I personally do not use nor recommend a straight sander on any car finsh/metal surface...I use air, big compressor so have never investigated if the dual action sander is available in electric...outside of the DA I think I would recommend using stripper...have you tried to razor blade the paint off..Ihave excelelnt results with this and the 51 Plymouth hood I cut the paint off completely within 45 minutes with the razorblade..not all paint repsonds to the blade equally but worh a try in my book

[Big_John]

You can use these with a 4 1/2" angle grinder.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-1-2-x7-8-Paint-Rust-Easy-Strip-Clean-Disc-10-/280521679635?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

They do the job, but you have to be a little careful about getting the metal hot. They also leave a little more "tooth" to the bare metal when all is done.

[Robert Horne]

I bought a small electric sander at Kmart, about $35 I think, a few years ago that works great. It takes the sanding discs with the holes punched in them. You can hook a small shop vac to it also as to not have to breath the dust. It kicks out a lot of RPM, and does a good job. I would post a photo but microsoft will not let my camera or SD card readers download my photos.............

[steveplym]

I have a small compressor adequite for spray painting but it doesn't produce enough cfm to run a random orbit sander. Has anyone ever used an electric sander on a car? I've got to get down through a 30 year old bad lacquer paint job and don't want to have to buy a bigger comprssor.

You need to use a DA sander. I took off a 30 year old laquer job on my car two years ago. Sanded it all down with a DA and was able to avoid getting into any of the previous body work too much. Had a few places to fix and then sprayed the whole car with ultrafill primer. Blocked it with 400, then sprayed it again. Got rid of all the sand scratches. With an electric sander you are going to have a lot more and deeper sand scratches. Use a DA with 80-120 grit. It should work well.

Once I got the car primed and ready for paint I went with basecoat/clearcoat. Much better than the old lacquer.

[dezeldoc]

Use an electric vibrating sander not a grinder! it will do the same as a da only you won't need air. they are the same thing as a jitter bug sander that has been used for years in the body shops for paint prep work. use a 36 or 40 grit to get it down then finish it off with 80 and prime away.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT TO USE.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=opera&q=craftsman+sander&oe=utf-8&cid=7678757193369003554&ei=EhhmTNq2NZ-YiQTp9_jmAw&sa=title&ved=0CD4Q8wIwCDgA#p

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=opera&q=craftsman+sander&oe=utf-8&cid=3995648107614101387&ei=EhhmTNq2NZ-YiQTp9_jmAw&sa=title&ved=0CCkQ8wIwBTgA#p

DO NOT USE THESE TYPE.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=opera&q=craftsman+sander&oe=utf-8&cid=5660389555006832474&ei=EhhmTNq2NZ-YiQTp9_jmAw&sa=title&ved=0CCIQ8wIwBDgA#p

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=opera&q=craftsman+sander&oe=utf-8&cid=42452786777449242&ei=EhhmTNq2NZ-YiQTp9_jmAw&sa=title&ved=0CDAQ8wIwBjgA#p

Edited August 14, 2010 by dezeldoc

[Fireball]

What dezeldoc said. Your car doesn't know if the power to sander comes from air or electricity. I have used that tool for years on many cars without a single problem. If you don't plan to go through all the way to bare metal I would use 120 grit to break the surface, 240 on the second round. Shoot heavy filler primer and blocksand that with 320 to 400 and you are done.

If the needed result is bare metal then get the car soda blasted.

[austinsailor]

Either of these would work good. I use the 6" version.

5":

Porter Cable 7345 5" Variable Speed Random Orbit Sander

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=random+variable+speed+sander&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10424590577749756670&ei=fKZmTK7wDszUnge5y4zBBQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDMQ8wIwAw#

6":

Porter Cable 97466 6" Variable Speed Random Orbit Sander

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=random+variable+speed+sander+6%22&hl=en&cid=1407761870372142265&ei=ZKdmTNXQDYe4M8a_pZYM&sa=title&ved=0CCMQ8wIwAjgA#p

[james curl]

I have two of the six inch ones, I have sanded one car and one pick up to bare metal as well as the 1921 wood frame house I live in, after removing all of the paint with an infra red heater and scrapping then sanding all of the siding to bright wood before painting. Went through a couple hundred discs. I buy the jobbers size package from a on-line discount house. Have also been through about a dozen hook and loop disc pads, you do not use peal and stick while sanding from a ladder on wood siding. When the disc gets hot the glue lets go and the rubber pad hits the wood with a big jerk, thrills while standing about 20' above the ground.

[kencombs]

They have much more power and run cooler than the palm size units. I've got air DAs, air random orbit as well as electric orbital, random orbital, belt, and disk sanders. The air random orbit is my first choice with the PC electric second. As a matter of fact, I often start with the PC and really coarse paper, since it seems to work better with coarse grits because is it slower than the air, then finish with the air sander.

A DA(like the Chicago Pneumatic that started it all) is not a random orbit. The Dual Action refers to its' ability to be either a circular, grinder type sander OR a random orbit depending on whether the pad lock is engaged. The more common palm grip have no pad lock and are always random orbit.

When sanding lacquer it is important not to let the pad get too hot as the paint will begin to ball up, smear into the grit and clog the paper. Coarser grits don't do that nearly as bad and the slower speed of the electric actually is an advantage.

[Tony_Urwin]

The Porter Cable unit is also great for buffing the orange peel that amateur painters like me always have to deal with. Use a different pad and its great for waxing/polishing.

[austinsailor]

The variable speed part is important because you can slow it down until it doesn't heat the paint. The problem with some sanders is it gets the paint hot, then it clogs up quickly and the pad is done. You can slow these down very slow so that the paint remains dust, not slurry. I learned this on big boat bottom paint, which is much less forgiving.