Orbital Sander on Kirby Restoration

[eurekastar]

Has anyone ever used an orbital sander when doing a Kirby restoration? If so, how effective was it? I'm thinking of trying it out on nozzle castings. Some castings are so deeply scratched that it takes a lot of sanding with various grits to get all the scratches removed before the casting can be buffed. And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm looking for something that will be a little easier on my arthritic hands! LOL! I use my orbital sander on wood, and it's great. I'm just wondering how effective it would be on aluminum.

 

[beekeyknee]

Hi Bill,

It might work well with a heavy grade emory paper working down to a lighter grade before buffing. Just a guess. I doubt it will pick up metal dust too well though.

B.

 

[gsheen]

Yes , I use them all the time to get the scratches out before proper buffing, But I wouldn't use it for buffing though. Rather get a buffing wheel and hook it onto your drill

 

[eurekastar]

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll give it a try. Hand sanding gets pretty tedious and mostly tiring! I'm sure I'll do some hand sanding too. I usually start out with 80 grit and work my way up to 2500 grit before using the buff motor. With each change in grit, I sand in the opposite direction of the previous grit.

 

[d-jones]

Just bear in mind

When you sand the surrounding metal all the way down to the bottom of a deep scratch you're very visibly altering the contour of the metal. For deep scratches it's worth considering the option of welding an aluminum bead into the sratch, then sanding the bead down to match the surrounding metal. In most places it shouldn't be too hard to find someone that can do the welding for you.

 

[tolivac]

Orbital sander-yes,you could use it for this task-they were designed to sand large flat surfaces-Like tabletops,cabinet panels,and such.If a flat pad sander is used alot on irregular surfaces-the backing pad will wear out faster.