What to purchase to use a PC as a sander?

E

ernman

Member
I have a PC and have always used it for my car. My wife would like to refinish some furniture and I would like it to use it to sand the old finish. Could someone point me in the direction of what I need such as backing plate and type of sanding disks to purchase?

Thank You
 
I think you will be disappointed if you use a Porter-Cable Dual-Action polisher for sanding wood. A wood-specific orbital sander may "fit" that task better.
Besides, I think most backing plates for a PC are hook-and-loop (AKA Velcro) BUT you might be able to find "Smooth" backing plate that will accept adhesive-backed sanding disc, which I assume, is what you will be using for refinishing furniture. Just not sure if you can find one with 5/16-18NC thread on the shaft to fit a PC.

As far as abrasives or sand papers, I would think 3M is the "standard" for wood-working. I do not know if Norton still makes sand paper abrasives or if Mirka makes wood-grade sand paper. Both of those were (past tense) manufacturers of abrasive papers for the auto body and paint shops.
 
Hook/loop backed sanding discs are very common (actually usually easier to find than sticky back). Go ahead and pick some up and go to work
 
ernman said:
I have a PC and have always used it for my car. My wife would like to refinish some furniture and I would like it to use it to sand the old finish. Could someone point me in the direction of what I need such as backing plate and type of sanding disks to purchase?

Thank You
Click to expand...

ernman -- I checked first to see if this is available at the Autopia Store, but it is not..

Here is a link to the correct Porter Cable Backing Plate -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWoHqNw4T5k

Dan F
 
I’ve used my PC as a sander for quite a while now, works great. Home Depot/Lowe’s has the hook and loop sandpaper. That’s a lot easier than using the adhesive discs. Both work fine and most of the adhesive types have the adhesive already on the paper. Not like back in the day when we had to use DA glue.
 
SO, I stand corrected and learned that you can, indeed, sand wood with a Porter-Cable Dual-Action polisher/buffer and that sand paper does come in a hook-and-loop format. Times, they are a changin`!
 
I’ve used my PC to finish several pieces of furniture. I just use regular 5” BP for detailing & 5” hook & loop sanding disks.
 
The Porter Cable, back in the late 80`s, was only marketed as a wood sander. In 1989, we needed a different type of polisher for the just shipped in Infiniti`s, which were swirls big time from the factory.
Over the years other power tool companies jumped in with their versions
 
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PC made easy work of this 100 yr old Hoosier cabinet door. An oscillating tool helps a lot with the corners, and Air Force mini blaster blows all the dust away
 
Actually the PC is a sander that ended up working for polishing cars...I’ve used a lot of machines and it actually makes a much better sander than polisher. Strictly my opinion!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yeah, we`re actually putting the PC back into its original role, one that it fulfills much better. Neither of my PCs` manuals even mention using it for Detailing.
 
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