Big Machine Sanding Path Displacement
This won’t surprise you, given Lägler is a German manufacturer, but the company focuses a lot on efficiency.
Lägler cares about that in its production processes, and we care about helping sanding professionals be the most efficient they can be on the job. Knowing how
to get the most out of their machines – whatever brand they are – in the smartest way (least effort) will pay you back every day.
Efficiency when sanding floors saves wear on your body, your abrasives and machines. It saves you time. And all that saves you money and lets you move
on to the next job sooner.
What is Sanding Path Displacement?
One technique for being more efficient when sanding with the big machine is to find the right line for your sanding path displacement, and be consistent
with it.
A sanding path is the forward and reverse sanding motion on the same path without displacement of the sanding drum, meaning that forward and reverse path
is exactly over the top of itself in both directions.
Sanding drum displacement refers to how far over you move from one forward-reverse path to the next. (That should almost always mean moving
left to right across the room.)
The ideal amount of sanding path displacement is 50 percent, meaning each time you start the forward sanding motion you will be sanding over half the previous
sanding path’s width. Another way to look at it is you move to the right half the sanding drum’s width.
We follow that 50 percent rule because it helps us to avoid visible differences from path to path. If you’re using a Lägler sanding drum, its slightly
spherical shape also prevents edge lines from the drum being cut into the floor.
A lower amount of sanding path displacement causes a higher stripping rate. If your sanding path is only 25 percent, then you are only moving to the right
one-quarter of the drum’s width. In that case, you are sanding 75 percent of what you sanded during the previous path.
Increasing the sanding path displacement reduces the number of paths across a room, but there is a consequence (see the drawing below that highlights the
double-overlap at the outer edges of the drum).
Because at the outer edges, the outer 25 percent of the drum on each side, the floor gets sanded twice as much as the rest of the floor. Higher displacement
reduces the evenness of the wood floor.
Again, the ideal sanding path displacement is 50 percent.
Along with efficiency being a key to success in sanding floors and business, consistency is important. If you are not consistent with your sanding path
displacement, then you will not produce consistent sanding results. That will lead to inconsistent results with final outcomes of jobs.
That will affect your business overall. And that will affect our business. We’re in this together.
Learn More, Earn More
Learn more. Download Lägler’s free manual, “Sanding of Wooden Floors,” online at laegler.com.
Get hands-on training on a practice floor, with sanding path displacement (and so much more). Call Lägler North America to schedule one-day training and
Lägler Premium Sanding Technology (PST®) certification in Denver. You can get a one-on-one session or bring your crew (up to five in a class).
Learn more about PST®.
Schedule your one-day training by calling us at 800-848-6635 (800-8-HUMMEL).
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