If you are going to be sanding drywall compound or refinishing varnished woodwork or repainting over stripes and you need to smooth out the paint ridges, you will need a good shop vacuum system with good sanding attachments.
There are two basic set ups I use for sanding. One for drywall compound sanding and the other for general sanding with the electric sander.
Please read lead paint warning if your house was built before 1978,
While the sanding systems I use are relatively dust free, they are not absolutely dust free. For this reason I do not recommend that anyone sand surfaces that contain lead paint or that may potentially contain lead (any pre-1978 surface may potentially contain lead). Lead paint was banned in 1978 for use in residential housing. Do not sand or disturb any surface that has paint, stain or varnish that dates prior to 1978. Even if subsequent coats have been painted, stained or varnished over the surface since 1978, the underlying paint, stain or varnish underneath may contain lead. Even small amounts of lead dust may be potentially harmful. Only competent, trained professionals should sand or refinish surfaces built, originate, were installed or that date back prior to 1978. View the EPA's lead paint page to learn about the harmful effects of lead and lead paints.
Shop Vacuum Set up
You need a good shop vacuum set up for dust free sanding. This set up consists of 1) a shop vacuum 2) an upstream collection bag 3) a downstream HEPA cartridge filter.
The shop vacuum
I use a smaller six gallon shop vacuum for daily general vacuuming.. The smaller size is convenient because it takes up less room on the truck. For heavy vacuuming days I will bring in a larger and more powerful industrial shop vacuum.
Things to look for in a shop vacuum:
- Can a HEPA cartridge filter be used with it.
- Can a collection bag be used with it.
- The suction power (more is better as a rule), usually stated in HP
- Container size. This is listed as gallons (as it is used for wet pick up). Smaller is more mobile and takes up less room in the truck.
- Hose length. The longer the hose the less you will have to move the vacuum around and you will have better reach.
The upstream collection bag
You can't bypass the fine dust collection bag, if you do your vacuum will clog and lose suction. The purpose of the collection bag is to catch all the bigger stuff so that it doesn't pass on down stream to clog the HEPA filter. I use only the fine dust collection bags, they will catch almost everything except the finest of dust. They are good for drywall sanding dust and other sanding dusts
.
The downstream HEPA filter
The final filter downstream is a HEPA filter. HEPA filters are 99.97% effective down to a particle size of .003 microns. Nothing for all practical purposes gets past the HEPA filter. This prevents the shop vacuum exhaust from blowing back into the environment what you just vacuumed up, keeping it all in the machine - either in the collection bag or in the collection housing.
Drywall compound sanding
I use the Fibatape hand sander attachment and the pole sander attachment for drywall compound sanding. These attachments work superbly in conjunction with the HEPA filtered shop vac. See Dust Free Drywall Repairs.
General Sanding
The two most used sanders by painters are the fine finish orbital sander and the disc sander.
Random Orbital Sanding
The random orbital sander is a good general use sander. It does not leave swirl marks and is good for course (with 60 grit) sanding to fine (with 220 grit) sanding. I use a Porter Cable random orbital sander for most electrical sanding. It has a dust extraction system that can be attached to a shop vacuum which I always use in conjunction with this sander.
Rotary Disc Sanding
The disc sander is used for removing material quickly. For effective dust removal you will want a dust shroud attached to the sander to contain the dust for vacuum extraction. The "Sander Vac" (the type/brand I use) comes with a shroud attachment and attaches to a vacuum hose for efficient dust removal. You don't find a lot of rotary sanders with dust shrouds, so I highly recommend the Sander Vac for rotary disc sanding operations.
Orbital Sanding Chores:
The orbital sander is a fine finish sander.
- Faux Venetian Plaster sanding
- Stripping off varnish (doors, flat surfaces...)
- Sanding down (post 1978) walls - when painting over stripes- ridges, or just general large area sanding.
- Preparing new wood for staining.
- Deglossing -glossy paint
The Porter Cable random orbital sander. The sanding discs come in various grits and attach via "hook and loop" Velcro. The discs have holes to allow for dust extraction. The standard dust collector (shown in this picture) can be removed and a vacuum hose attached in it's place to a HEPA filtered shop vacuum system.
See all random orbit sanders
Note: For specifice information on sanding drywall and minimizing drywall dust See: Dustless Drywall Sanding too.
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Dust Free Sanding
Shop Vacuum, Sanding Attachments and Sanding Tools
