Hardwood Floors April/May 2019

By the Lägler Team

For parquet oors and other laying pa erns with the same sanding direction, the sanding processes for presanding and ne sanding should be carried out at a 45-degree angle to the wood’s grain direction for the parquet types and layout pa erns shown in Fig. 4. is prevents gouging/so -grain dishout and will allow one to a en the oor easier and faster.

Amultidisc can be run in all directions. It reduces the risk of common issues like cha er and dishout. It also handles multispecies oors much be er. e industry’s leading cra smen are turning to the multidisc as a game- changer, a machine they can use to set their oors apart from their competition’s. Know Your Angle e greatest e ciency comes fromdoing a job right the rst time, and the cut of your angle is one of themost important aspects of oor sanding. e purpose of the rst cut is to a en the oor asmuch as possible and, in the case of a previously nished oor, to remove old nish and stain. For strip and plank oors, the rst cut with the big machine should be at a minimum7- to 15-degree angle to the length of the boards, using the nest grit possible that will a en the oor (Fig. 1). More aggressive angles (up to 45 degrees) may be necessary to achieve a at surface in extreme cases. Wider-plank oors, excessive overwood/underwood (exceeding ”), or uneven ooring systems may bene t from a steeper angle on the rst cut. Subsequent cuts should be parallel to the length of the boards (Fig. 2).

Mosaic parquet, checkerboard designs rst cut follows directly in linewith the board lengths before cu ing at a 7- to 15- degree angle (Fig. 3). Once the large height di erences have been eliminated, the oorboards can be sanded as described earlier. Strip ooring multiple shbone design Panel parquet Co ered pa erns Strip ooring, shbone design Fig. 2: Subsequent cuts should be parallel to the length of the boards. In cases of permanent cupped oors, it is recommended that the bigmachine’s Mosaic parquet, checkerboard designs Strip ooring, shbone design

Mosaic parquet, checkerboard designs

Strip ooring, shbone design

Strip ooring multiple shbone design

Panel parquet Co ered pa erns

Strip ooring multiple shbone design

Panel parquet Co ered pa erns

Fig. 4: Sanding direction 45 degrees to the wood grain direction for all sanding steps.

Quality Abrasives Are Unsung Heroes Quality abrasives are crucial role players on any sanding job. If the abrasives are not up to standard, the sanding results also will be less satisfying than expected, no ma er the quality of machines being used. e materials used inmaking abrasives a ect sanding rates and howmany square feet of life a professional gets out of them. Inexpensively produced abrasives have a shorter service life and needmore frequent changing. e minerals used

Fig. 3: Leveling heavily cupped oor boards. Certain sub oors can lead to swing of the oor covering. Waves and depressions can form at uniform intervals if a drumor belt sandingmachine is used in this case. Inorder to prevent this problemwith conventional methods, the nal sanding step has to be madeon lengthwise-laidwood ooring at a small angle to thewoods' grain direction.

Fig 1: e rst cut should be at a minimum 7- to 15-degree angle to the length of the boards.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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