Hardwood Floors April/May 2024

AT THE SITE My Machine is Leaving Chatter (Continued)

JOBSITE CONDITIONS All floors are not created equal. Structural integrity among the floors getting sanded can vary by a large degree. If the floor is flexing during the sanding process, any expectation of its sand job topography not being affected is probably quite unrealistic. Harmonic vibrations involve listening to what the sander is saying while sanding. If adjustments aren’t made, a good sand job topography could become an The following red flags represent aspects of the sand job that will make a floor more difficult to present a finished product that is pleasing to the eye from the topographical perspective. When any of these red flags are present, all precautions must be taken to avoid bad topographical results. Using a big machine that is well-tuned, sanding at angles, not skipping too many grits, and utilizing a multi-head sander in the finishing stages all are going to offer advantages in the finished product from the topographical perspective. These red flags are as follows: 1. Floor composition: When a wood floor surface is comprised of materials that carry a wide variance in material hardnesses equating to differential resistances to the eroding down effects of sanding, it should be deemed as a “topographically challenging” floor. Common examples include multi-species lay-outs, multi-directional lay-outs, and open-grained species floors that contain a good number of flat-grained boards. 2. Refinished floors: It’s no secret that the sand job topography of any floor begins to suffer a bit more with each successive sanding job over its lifetime. The more material removed from that wood’s wear layer, the less it resembles those flat faces that were cut into the boards with the planer. If there is anything that was less than ideal done on the previous sand job, chances are good that topographical issues from the last sand job could be amplified on the current job. Couple that with an added challenge of breaking-through the existing finish, it is not hard to see why refinished floors belong in this category. over-lofty expectation. THREE RED FLAGS

3. Light source positioning: Sliding glass doors, big floor-to ceiling windows, etc., positioned at the end-match wall should spell it out for any experienced hardwood flooring pro that any of this topographical chatter left behind on the floor is going to be especially visible. OPERATOR ERROR Operator error is a much bigger subject for topographical chatter than it is for complexion chatter. Getting the floor flat and keeping it flat throughout the sanding process is truly one of the biggest challenges in floor sanding. Getting the proper training and adhering to sanding procedures aimed at achieving the best results is critical. All operators of big machines should strive to move their machines about the floor smoothly and at uniform speeds. No jerky motions, keeping your hands off the operating levers while sanding, and most importantly, letting the machine do the work.

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