Dropped $180 on a vibrating drywall sander and it's just gathering dust now

Thought it would save me time on ceiling work but that thing vibrates my hands numb after 20 minutes and leaves swirl marks I gotta skim over anyway. Anyone else ditch the fancy tools and just go back to hand sanding?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_burns953d ago

Nah man I gotta disagree here. I picked up one of those cheap Wen vibrating sanders for like 60 bucks and it changed my whole approach. Yeah the vibration is rough after a while but I just run it for 10 minutes then switch to something else. The trick is using the right grit and not pressing down hard at all, let the tool do the work. I get way less arm fatigue than hand sanding a whole ceiling and the swirl marks only show up if you're using too coarse of paper or moving in circles instead of straight lines. Different strokes for different folks I guess but I'd give it another shot with some 120 grit and a lighter touch before you write it off completely.

the_tara2d ago

Yeah but 120 grit on painted drywall is actually getting into pretty aggressive territory for a power sander. If you're already getting swirl marks, dropping down to 150 or even 180 will clean that up way better than going coarser. I learned that one the hard way after ruining a whole closet ceiling.

alexc933d ago

100 grit is where a lot of people mess up, they go too coarse for painted ceilings and then blame the tool. I run my Ryobi orbital with 150 on drywall and it barely leaves anything if I keep moving left to right like a typewriter. The Wen is solid for the price but you gotta change out the paper way more often than you think, like every two sheets of drywall or it clogs up and burns the paint. Also wearing those little foam earplugs helps a ton with the vibration headache, weird trick I picked up from a drywall finisher buddy. Hand sanding a whole ceiling is a recipe for a messed up shoulder, I learned that the hard way on a rental flip last year.