Hanging & Finishing "Gimmicks"

steve-in-kville

This always wondered me... has anyone tried any of the various power sanders or systems? The kind you hook up to a shop-vac? They are supposed to be dustless and seem like an okay thing for remods, but I see the DIY'ers buying them for their one-time projects.

How about the ripping gadgets out there? I'm tempted to get one to try but can the good 'ol T-square and utility knife be beat?

Thanks!!

steve

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slickfin

power sanders are great in new construction

slickfin

power sanders are great in new construction but on small jobs there not worth the time

D&H

I've used one made by Porter-Cable. It sells for around $800. It is definetly a time saver! In addition to a shop-vac like setup, it has a motorized spinning sanding pad.

Dustless?? Don't think there is such a thing. This one does work very well. Tends to throw out dust only when going along outside corners.

theworx

I rented the Porter Cable sander once and guess I just couldn't get the feel of using it. Just kept tearing the hell out of the drywall paper and leaving swirl marks in my taping... I don't know of any pros I deal with that don't do it the old fashioned way "pole sander"!!! Just like I do..

I bought one of the 26" Johnson "Rock Ripper" t-squares (the one with the slots for your knife every 1/16 of an inch). Tried it on a few jobs and it gives a nice straight cut. But still find I'm much faster with my tape measure and knife. Therefore it has been retired and only used to cut small filler pieces of drywall...

DaveH

Sanding drywall properly is a feel. The rotary sanders have a tendency to over and undersand due to the lack of feel. And if you mud it good enough very little sanding is needed anyway.....

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A buck a foot is not an estimate! It's a crap shoot!

gtcway

I've seen mud put on so think that a 7" angle grinder with 36grit discs would take too long to level out. Some of it was at least 1/2" above the surrounding sheetrock.