Dustless Drywall Sander

[Tool_Freek]

Does anyone have any experience with this Marshalltown drywall sander? I’ve seen this video on it:

I wonder if it’s as good as he says.

 

[tarbellb]

More effective then the more common wand+disc style?

My Bosch 6" orbital is nearly 100%, I wouldnt want to sand drywall all day with it tho

 

[The Cobbler]

my no name sander like the above pictures is virtually 100% dust free. the only time I get dust is when I go off an outside corner. when I first used it I wondered why I took so long to buy it... I was starting to think about retiring.
I never used the Marshalltown like you show, but I tried several similar ones & they all were **** basically.

 

[GaryM909]

I have a Richard one that actually works pretty good. Although not perfect it captures most of the dust.

 

[mike93lx]

I have both the one in post 4 and one similar to post 2.

My preference is post 4's and even more so, a screen on a pole.

The better you get, the less sanding that is needed, so practice is really beneficial.

 

[Beerhippie]

The better you get, the less sanding that is needed, so practice is really beneficial.

"Lay it smooth off the knife"--as I was told. Not easy.

 

[mike93lx]

"Lay it smooth off the knife"--as I was told. Not easy.

Definitely not easy.

Drywall work ***** and it's not something I want to get better at

 

[Beerhippie]

Definitely not easy.

Drywall work ***** and it's not something I want to get better at

For many years, there was no dedicated drywall crew in our area. It was do it yourself or not get it done.

There are now a couple of drywall crews in the valley. It has definitely given the local illicit drug trade a boost! [/stereotyping]

 

[mike93lx]

For many years, there was no dedicated drywall crew in our area. It was do it yourself or not get it done.

There are now a couple of drywall crews in the valley. It has definitely given the local illicit drug trade a boost! [/stereotyping]

Could hang plywood instead, just saying.

 

[dscheidt]

"Lay it smooth off the knife"--as I was told. Not easy.

Drywall guy we hired a few years ago said the difference between a good and a great mudder was the better you were , the less you put on, and the less you had to sand off.

 

[65ranchero]

I have a Richard one that actually works pretty good. Although not perfect it captures most of the dust.

I have the same one and I like it a lot.
When I had my 2 man crew come in and rock and spackle it was their goto tool, hook it up to my 20gallon old school Craftsman vac from the '70 it rocked.
The only thing extra I did was to take and old T shirt and double it up on the exhaust side (because it is also a blower on that side)to act as secondary filter .
very little dust.

 

[Beerhippie]

Drywall guy we hired a few years ago said the difference between a good and a great mudder was the better you were , the less you put on, and the less you had to sand off.

"Modern" drywall tools--mud boxes, banjos, etc. make this a lot easier. We didn't have the fancy gadgets--just a pan and a half-dozen knives.

One lesson I learned was to thoroughly mix the mud--even pre-mix--with a beater in my drill. Add a few drops of dish soap and it really flows off the knife.

Getting a smooth finish when using hot mud was particularly important, as that stuff is like sanding a rock. Lightweight topper compound is a godsend.

 

[Beerhippie]

The only thing extra I did was to take and old T shirt and double it up on the exhaust side (because it is also a blower on that side)to act as secondary filter .

Using a bag inside the canister catches almost all the dust.

 

[mike93lx]

I have the same one and I like it a lot.
When I had my 2 man crew come in and rock and spackle it was their goto tool, hook it up to my 20gallon old school Craftsman vac from the '70 it rocked.
The only thing extra I did was to take and old T shirt and double it up on the exhaust side (because it is also a blower on that side)to act as secondary filter .
very little dust.

If you run a bag and filter, your exhaust will be clean

 

[65ranchero]

Using a bag inside the canister catches almost all the dust.

If you run a bag and filter, your exhaust will be clean

This is so old school that it has a foam filter that fits over a wire framework cage and over that is a cloth bag that is secured to the motor with a big rubber band, yea the cloth bag has seen better days but it functions and I'm running it till it goes the great vacuum farm.

This what it looks like
picture stolen from E-bay

 

[no704]

Lay it down nice, use a damp sponge to “sand” it.

 

[dscheidt]

"Modern" drywall tools--mud boxes, banjos, etc. make this a lot easier. We didn't have the fancy gadgets--just a pan and a half-dozen knives.

One lesson I learned was to thoroughly mix the mud--even pre-mix--with a beater in my drill. Add a few drops of dish soap and it really flows off the knife.

Getting a smooth finish when using hot mud was particularly important, as that stuff is like sanding a rock. Lightweight topper compound is a godsend.

This guy did some repair in the office, fixing an office that was banged up. Replaced sheet or two, holes, and redid a previous repair he thought was ugly. Did everything with durabond 20 with a hawk, trowel and a couple knives. You could tell where he had worked after it was painted, because you couldn’t see the tape joints….

 

[WildBill]

I hired a guy to mud and tape my house after I put up all the drywall, he did not own any sanding tools and said if you need to sand anything you are a hack. He also asked if I wanted it done like normal which would be two Saturdays, or if I wanted it done correctly so it would never crack which would take three Saturdays. He did the taping with minimal mud on the first weekend, then a seam fill the next weekend, and a final feather coat on the third weekend. As apposed to doing a full seam fill with the tape on one Saturday and a feather coat the next.

He did not need to sand at all, just ran a broom across the seams to brush off any little loose crumbs at the feathered edges. Been 22 years and no cracks so I guess he knew what he was doing. And it is perfectly flat everywhere. Was definitely worth the extra $180.

No way I could do it that well or without sanding, but it was very cool to watch him work.

 

[oscarsnapkin]

Definitely not easy.

Drywall work ***** and it's not something I want to get better at

I always sucked at it until I decided I was too cheap to pay someone to remove the disgusting paneling that was in my house when we bought it. For 10+ years we lived with it because I knew it would cost a fortune to have it done correctly. After I lost my job a few years ago I decided I would tackle it. I’m OCD so I needed everything to look good. Lots of trial and error, but I must say I got pretty damn good at it. It’s definitely a useful skill to have. Not saying I could go pro, but I can handle anything my own home throws at me. That being said, I never want to skim coat a wall again.

 

[Beerhippie]

If you run a bag and filter, your exhaust will be clean

And your filter won't clog up. Drywall dust clogs filters FAST.

 

[gizardlizard]

Just run it thru a cheap Harbor Freight cyclone first and then your shop vac. The cyclone works great and then you don’t need to clean your shop vac filter.

 

[jpaw]

I have one that filters through a 2 gallon bucket of water before the shop vac. It works pretty well, any remaining dust falls to the floor. No cloud of dust when sanding.
The only problem is it leaves sanding marks from the screen due to the suction so I finish sand with a sanding sponge.

 

[Tool_Freek]

Thank you for everyone’s recommendations. I ended up purchasing the Marshalltown sander. It works as well as described in the video I mentioned. I’m happy with it. It was very useful for sanding off previous people’s work. As another contributor mentioned about their sander, mine doesn’t work very well over outside corners. To be expected based on the design.