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So: I'm in the shop, wearing rubber soled sneakers, on the bench is an unsanded back, in my left hand is some shellac, in my right hand is my new Ridgid freakin' AWESOME random orbital sander.

I like sanding in my finish, and I want to use that ROS to do it.

How safe would I be? Would I fry? If I used sandpaper without the holes in it?
Or is it so dangerous I should have my mother in law do it for me?? :-)

the alcohol is volatile and the vapors can be dense enough to flash. The bad part about alcohol is that it can burn without a visible flame. You can use your ROS as long as you don't plug it in.

There is a safety issue here that the alcohol fumes can ignite and explode. I would not recommend any electric sander for this. Hand sanding or using an air sander would be a better option

Would oil present the same problem? Tru-oil is my finish of choice.

there you may be ok . check to see what the base is . While some oils are flammable they may not be used with a volatile that evaporates rapidly . When in doubt err on the side of safety

I've got an email in to birchwood casey. They've been helpful in the past.

I think it was Bill Cory who posted his experience with a bouzouki maker in northern California who did a finish on his instruments by splashing on some shellac and taking an electric sander to it. Got great finish. I'll try to find that post. In any case I will post birchwood casey's response.

Email I received from Birchwood-Casey: (in response to my question of using a ROS to sand wet truoil to make a slurry and fill pores. I do it by hand now and it works GREAT - but the ROS would be a nice way to do it)

Dave,

We don't think that there should be a problem using an electric sander.
We would just caution you to be careful, and use it at your own risk.
Good Luck!



Best regards,
BIRCHWOOD CASEY

Sandy Ellertson
Customer Service, Sporting Goods
Birchwood Casey

Caution, use at your own risk, good luck!

REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

David L

seriously , I think if you take some of this outside where you can be safe and throw a match on it , if it goes Woosh and a big flame , I may avoid any sparking issue . If is just burns you should be ok.
Let us know , I kinda like Tony's idea.

Dave what are the solvents listed on the product label? I am sure we can find a flash point chart on the Interent -- I saw an episode of Myth Busters where they had a 10x10 plexigalss room filled with "gasoline" mist and they could not get it to explode using a lit cigarette. If I remember correctly they tried several different spark machines -- nothing -- open flame did the trick.