Floor Refinishing Machines

Drum Sanders

• The workhorse in a floor refinisher's arsenal of machines is the drum sander, which has a rotating drum that quickly removes a floor's surface when fitted with coarse sandpaper. Drum sanders remove material so quickly that they can wear depressions in the floor. To avoid these "valleys" at the beginnings of sanding runs, higher-quality machines have a clutch that allows the user to lower the drum slowly while pushing the machine forward at the same time. Basic machines, which lack this feature, also typically lack weight and bounce as they sand. This bouncing produces chatter marks, which are small ridges that run the length of the floor.

Edgers

• Almost as important to a refinishing professional is the edger, a heavy disk sander that sands the edges that the drum sander can't reach. The powerful disk is angled so that only its front touches the wood when the operator rolls the machine around the floor. This disk quickly removes material, but it works in a small area, and the operator has to keep the machine constantly moving to complete the sanding job. Because the front edge of the disk is flush with the machine housing, the edger sands right next to the wall, leaving virtually no unsanded edge. Its shape doesn't allow it to reach all the way into corners, however.

Orbital Sanders and Buffers

• Drum sanders and edgers can damage certain kinds of hardwood flooring -- specifically parquet -- so a professional refinisher needs to have an orbital flooring sander, which resembles a handheld sander except that it's bigger, heavier and has a long handle. These machines can have either a round or square pad. When the sanding is finished and the first coat of finish has been applied, refinishers use a floor buffer and a sanding screen attachment to lightly sand it before applying the next coat. They typically screen all coats except the last one. For that coat, they replace the screening attachment with a lamb's-wool buffer to polish it.

Other Helpful Machines

• Because floor sanding produces so much dust, some professional refinishers employ a dust abatement system. It consists of a central vacuum -- usually located in a vehicle -- and hoses that connect to the sanding machines. Whether or not a central vacuum system is on the job, a quality vacuum cleaner is a necessity for preparing the freshly sanded floor for finishing. Besides heavy-duty floor sanding machines, refinishers also need a number of handheld sanders, including a palm sander, a belt sander and a rotary tool with sanding and grinding attachments for detailing.