Yeah I was def not close to 2800 RPM.
There is a warning on the box not to “free spin” the pad because the foam can pull apart - so I’m guessing maybe I spun them too long with too little resistance - not having enough of the pad contacting the board since it was just brushing the laps.
You’re not the only one this has happened to.
So I decided to ‘upgrade’ my sander to a more powerful version from my Harbor Freight $20 special. So I do a little research (the key word is little) and buy a Bosch angle sander. I get it and I’m really excited so I slap on a soft 8" pad, fire up this beast and immediately get hit in the chest and neck with pad shrapnel. I’ve got pieces of the blue pad foam all over my shop; I’m still finding pieces of that stuff today.
As a matter of fact, I’m selling that bad boy sander that has NO speed adjustment on Ebay right now… http://www.ebay.com/itm/122421227746?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
Yeah the irony is the laps were really clean and all i needed to do was hit them once with a block and 80 grit. Thanks for the tips!
I like using a vixen (curved tooth ) file for my laps. I also use a 2 or 3" angle grinder for my laps also. I use the pads from www.southshoremfg.com. Make sure you are running it at the proper RPM. A pad will last me at least three years.
…hello, as Keith Melville mentioned, you do not need to sand the bottom lap. Yes, only in the overlaps and that is done with the air tools showed (with 2") or with an smaller hard urethane pad (6) or harder rubber pads (4) on electrical angular sanders.
You can use a drill too.
Regarding the tear up, is very strange because the only flexpad that you should really take care is the softie.
You need to understand the “triggering” no matter if you have variable speeds on your tool but is not to pull the trigger and just that; is more of touch ups in these cases. At the same time you let the machine “dies” the rpms then again, yes, is heavy for the brushes but is the right technique.
So, seems that you did not tell the complete story here,