Tried a mini DA sander for door jambs last week and it backfired hard

I figured a 2 inch DA would save me time on those tight spots around the hinges, but it just kept gouging the paint because the pad was too aggressive. Took me three hours to fix the mistakes with filler and primer, which is way longer than if I'd just hand sanded like always. Anyone else swear by a different tool for this kind of detail work, or am I overthinking it?

3 comments

3 Comments

james_bell1mo ago

Yeah the 2 inch is just way too grabby for that work. I tried one on my own car and it chewed through the clear before I even knew what happened. The 3 inch hook-and-loop is the sweet spot for jambs for sure. Lets you get into those hinge pockets without going full sandpaper on the paint. Honestly hand sanding is still king for the really tight spots around the striker plate and latch area. Maybe try a soft interface pad between the disc and the backing plate, that helped me stop digging in on curves.

angelarivera1mo ago

Heard a detailer say the 3 inch hook-and-loop pad works way better for those spots.

ray_williams1mo ago

Spot on, @angelarivera. In my experience, the smaller pads make a huge difference on complex body lines and tight spots where a 5-inch would just skip or leave swirls. It’s one of those small tool changes that makes the whole job go smoother, like swapping to a smaller brush in a hard-to-reach corner of a room.