[Robin Ray]

Please excuse my ignorance when it comes to wood floor sanding, I have never sanded a floor. I have noticed Rotary/Orbital  machines like the Maxi Orbit coming on the market for use in wood sanding. My question is are these machines a total solution to wood floor sanding or is a drum or belt machine still necessary? Does anyone have any experience sanding floors using an orbital machine? What are the benefits and limitations? ... Thanks

[Kev Martin]

Please excuse my ignorance when it comes to wood floor sanding, I have never sanded a floor. I have noticed Rotary/Orbital  machines like the Maxi Orbit coming on the market for use in wood sanding. My question is are these machines a total solution to wood floor sanding or is a drum or belt machine still necessary? Does anyone have any experience sanding floors using an orbital machine? What are the benefits and limitations? ... Thanks

Robin

The KLINDEX Maxi Orbit does a great job of sanding wood floors.  However, is it as good as a KLINDEX Timba or Laegler Hummel?  The answer is depends on what you are doing to the floor and how bad it is!  There are people out there who swear by the Laegler Hummel!  I supply 4 or 5 wood floor professionals who do wood day in and day out.  They use the Klindex Timba and say they very rarely resort to a drum sander like the Laegler as in their opinion unless the floor is really bad a Laegler Hummel is overkill and slow.  There are reports that the Pallman Cobra is great and others claim that other machines are great.

Ultimately I suppose it is down to the individual opinion, what they want the machine to do and how bad the floors are in the first place.  There are quite a few wood specialists on here and it would be interesting to hear their opinion.  This is just mine

Kev

[Tibi N.]

Hi Robin. I sand wood for several years, but only used Levighetor and planetario. Never tryed a belt sander, only a small portable for small corners and other areas. I've seen wood floors done with a belt sander and I was never impressed. They tend to leave marks if the operator does not have expdrience and knowledge. The final result achivable with a klindex planetario are simply amazing.  It will leave the floor flat and if you stick with the corect steps that klindex recomend, you will be very pleased. Cons : on the really bad floor, aneven floors, it tends to be hard on your hands, first step (24grit). After that it's easy.
I don't know anything about the new maxi orbit, and 9 out of 10 wood floors that I do are at least 40-45 years old.

[Robin Ray]

Thanks Kev and Tibi N.

I have to say the planetary machines look the way to go. The Maxi Orbit looks a great versatile machine though.

[Dan Wileman]

Different machines for different jobs. It will do a better job on some floors than a belt sander and vice Versa. I use the pallmann spider on majority of jobs (planetary machine) and it is great however some floors a belt sander will be a lot more efficient. User expertise is ultimately the most important factor.