Worried about sparks coming out from under the sander?

Hello!

Been a while since I have posted on here so it’s about time I made a post.

This time it’s concerning something that I think quite often scares people when they are trying to sand their floors.

That is sparks coming out from under the machine, whether the floor sander or the edge sander.

Sometimes this is because the abrasives are incorrectly positioned on the machine, but usually its just because you are running over nails, tacks, screws or whatever else there may be on the floor.

I remember when I first started sanding this really concerned me!

Surely if sparks are being produced, they are being sucked up into the dust extraction system where they then sit in a flammable material (wood) with a very high surface area (because its just the dust) and its being blasted with oxygenated air. Any logical person would think that you are working with a bomb.

For whatever reason it just doesn’t work like that and I really have no idea why, fires with these machines are very rare, though they do happen.

If you have been sanding your floor and you have had sparks spewing out the floor as if you are angle grinding on steel, you needn’t worry its normal and it not going to cause a fire (though you should take necessary precautions, I take no responsibility for what may or may not happen, please see terms)

Just be sure that its not because the abrasives aren’t fitted correctly, because the hire company may bill you for damaging the machine.

Nails and such do wear out your abrasives, however, and you will use more because of that so it may be worth getting a nail punch and punching the nails down 2-4 mill. That way you use less abrasives and don’t have to be worried about sparks!

Enjoy!