Can a Palm Sander Be Used to Sand Drywall?

A Palm Sander Can Be Used to Sand Drywall – But With Some Considerations (and Downsides)

If you have a palm sander or an orbital sander laying around and are in need of sanding drywall, then the answer is yes. This will leave certain grooves in the walls, however, it is possible to hit them during point up. Use a primer before painting. Primer will fill in any imperfections. Moreover, there are some things to take into consideration while doing this project. First off, a palm sander is not designed for sanding drywall so it will be more difficult than with other tools and may produce uneven results. Secondly, the dust created by grinding down on drywall can cause respiratory problems if it isn’t properly contained which could lead to health risks. Lastly, using a tool that’s not designed for the job at hand means that your chances of damaging your wall increase substantially. So should you do it? I would say no but only if you don’t have any other option.

The downside of using a palm sander on drywall

Using anything other than what is specifically designed for the task at hand may result in damage or uneven results which could lead to needing additional work done later down the road – adding cost and time required.

  • It will be more difficult than with other tools

A proper drywall sander covers more area which means it will take less time. As palm sanders are relatively small, they will take a lot longer to cover the same area.

Also, you would need to apply extra pressure on the sander to do the job properly depending on the type of sander you are using.

On the other hand, a drywall sander is designed to minimize the amount of pressure required to do the job. This means that you can work without getting tired as quickly and your arm won’t get sore from holding it up so long.

  • Dust created by grinding down on drywall can cause respiratory problems if not properly contained which could lead to health risks. Especially if the palm sander doesn´t have dust collection.
  • Using a tool that’s not designed for the job at hand means your chances of damaging your wall increase substantially.

So what should you use instead?

A palm sander may still be a good choice if you need to do some sanding quickly and want to avoid purchasing an expensive tool. If your wall is not too big, the arm fatigue from holding up the device for so long isn’t that bad. And using a power tool with dust collection will help ensure your project stays safe.

However, it’s probably in your best interest to use something else when possible because of all these drawbacks mentioned above. Your overall experience might just end up being frustrating as well since there are other ways out there more suited for this specific task of sanding drywall or plaster walls like tools designed specifically to prepare the wall for painting.

A drywall sander is what you need.

Dedicated dustless drywall sanders are the ideal tool for drywall sanding due to their dust collection and extension poles. This tool will not only make your wall look better, but it will also feel smoother, less messy, and ready for priming and painting with minimal prep work.

In a nutshell

Even tho using a palm sander is possible and does the job, it is not recommended due to the downsides.

Investing in a drywall sander might be a better option since it has specific features that make this tool much-needed for sanding walls without making them look worse than they already are.

Tony

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