# Black widow or radius 360?



## miiller (Aug 28, 2012)

What do you guys think about that black widow sander vs the radius 360? Is one better than the other?


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

At first I thought the Widow was the sh!t, but then I started noticing all the scratches in the lightweight mud. Even with meticulous care and storage, the scratches still showed up so I gave the thing up. It's the 360 for me, all the way.

I wish the 360 were as light as the Widow though.......


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

I like mix it up between blackwidow and flex edge. Both work very well. I usually have 150 grit on 1 and 180 grit on the other. I stopped using the 360 radius after a few jobs. There ok for bead and butts they take too much off the edges on seams. That and they dont work very well for corners.


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

I rock the black widow when pole sanding! :thumbsup:
My guys love it too. It's super light! The paper lasts long, covers a good amount of surface and most importantly I can do corners with it as well.
I haven't found it scratches at all. Maybe try a higher grit slim?

I know a couple of guys have had their complaints about the black widows saying how it's a speciality item and you constantly have to special order new paper and no one seems to carry it and so on and so forth.
To those guys I say, when the hell did full circle radius discs become the industry standard?! 
It wasn't that long ago that we were all saying the same thing about the radius discs. They're Velcro...nobody carries them...I always seem to be out..blah blah blah. 
Now that they've been out for a few years, more and more stores carry their products and they're readily accessible.

If that's not the case with Black Widow discs, just tell your supplier to start bringing them in. I'm sure they most likely already carry Trim-Tex beads, so the black widow sanding gear will be just as easy to stock.

IMO they're a superior product. Cheaper, lighter and faster. :thumbsup:


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## DLSdrywall (May 22, 2012)

Do we have any reviews on the full circle trigon looks more functional then the radius 360. 
http://www.walltools.com/trigon-180-drywall-sander.html


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## Kelso (Nov 25, 2012)

Haven't used the black widow but I do use the 360, it's a great sander for scuff sanding but I find the discs are poorly handled somewhere between the manufacture and me ,seems they always have a bit of a wave or bad edges that tend to scratch so I just use my old trusty super sander for finish!!


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

boco said:


> I like mix it up between blackwidow and flex edge. Both work very well. I usually have 150 grit on 1 and 180 grit on the other. I stopped using the 360 radius after a few jobs. There ok for bead and butts they take too much off the edges on seams. That and they dont work very well for corners.


Flex edge all the way baby:thumbup:

Best of all, any foam back sand paper will attache to the Velcro, meaning your not limited to buying THEIR sand paper :thumbup:


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## Bazooka-Joe (Dec 31, 2010)

PrecisionTaping said:


> I rock the black widow when pole sanding! :thumbsup:
> My guys love it too. It's super light! The paper lasts long, covers a good amount of surface and most importantly I can do corners with it as well.
> I haven't found it scratches at all. Maybe try a higher grit slim?
> 
> ...


huh what were you just saying Brian


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

Bazooka-Joe said:


> huh what were you just saying Brian


What?


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

PrecisionTaping said:


> What?


I knew what you were saying

I don't agree with you:whistling2:

But I know what your saying:thumbup::thumbsup:


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> At first I thought the Widow was the sh!t, but then I started noticing all the scratches in the lightweight mud. Even with meticulous care and storage, the scratches still showed up so I gave the thing up. It's the 360 for me, all the way.
> 
> I wish the 360 were as light as the Widow though.......


 A fart will scratch the l/w mud if your standing too close to the wall!:yes:


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## Bazooka-Joe (Dec 31, 2010)

moore said:


> A fart will scratch the l/w mud if your standing too close to the wall!:yes:


Bean trying for years to get you away from those Burritos


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

moore said:


> A fart will scratch the l/w mud if your standing too close to the wall!:yes:


:lol: :laughing: Hahaha!! That made me burst out laughing!


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Bazooka-Joe said:


> Bean trying for years to get you away from those Burritos


 LOL! Joe...I've been playing around with the l/w muds for about a year now. I really don't see a use for it.. period!


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## jcampbell (Aug 26, 2012)

What is the size of the radius sanding disks. Just ordered the sander a few days ago but want to see if my hardware store has the same size in a different brand.


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## miiller (Aug 28, 2012)

Excellent information guys thanks alot! Any thoughts on the full circle Trigon as DOS mentioned? It seems to me like it would work best only for doing corners and not covering as much area as the widow for instance


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## drywall guy158 (Dec 31, 2009)

you guys might think im crazy but.........I got both 360 and the trigon, 360 is really nice but I started useing the trigon for everything and the sand paper for the trigon gos forever....at the very least I get 1 complete house on 1 piece of sand paper for the trigon.

just like someone else said on here before-------just got to scuff it up a little for the paint to stick....


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

moore said:


> A fart will scratch the l/w mud if your standing too close to the wall!:yes:


So true man....

When I see people going to rub their hand across the mud I say "HEY!! Keep your hands off my damn mud!" 

I can't stand the stuff, but last winter I threw a box of regular weight on the wall to see if should go back to that stuff. You can see where this is going right? When I say I threw on a box of regular weight......last winter.....haven't used any since. Sanding was unbearable. Yes, it's hard. Which is good........if you like working hard. Me? Not so much liking of the unnecessarily hard work......

That being said, no widow for me. I've changed my entire coating system so that a very light pass with the 360 is all I need, maybe a little sponge sanding here and there.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

PrecisionTaping said:


> Maybe try a higher grit slim?


All they have at the supply house is 180....that's not the problem. It's the corners, I think. Yeah, yeah...I prepped the pad first. One time I even put a 45 degree bevel on the backside foam so I could get right in the angles without making a gouge 1/2" from the corner. Believe me.....I tried everything to make that lightweight little guy do the trick. No go.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> So true man....
> 
> When I see people going to rub their hand across the mud I say "HEY!! Keep your hands off my damn mud!"
> 
> ...


 I understand what your saying on both points.:yes:


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## Kiwiman (Jun 14, 2008)

SlimPickins said:


> At first I thought the Widow was the sh!t, but then I started noticing all the scratches in the lightweight mud. Even with meticulous care and storage, the scratches still showed up so I gave the thing up. It's the 360 for me, all the way.
> 
> I wish the 360 were as light as the Widow though.......


I hear ya on that one Slim, I got a black widow thinking the sanding pads were like the flexedge only bigger, I can see the widow being good for harder muds but not the softies, the radius 360's would be better if they were made out of plastic too.
Get yourself a flexedge and run it diagonally or nearly sideways.


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## miiller (Aug 28, 2012)

Wow...its hard to decide which one to use...basically have to own all 3 for different purposes! So u think flexedge?


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

miiller said:


> Wow...its hard to decide which one to use...basically have to own all 3 for different purposes! So u think flexedge?


 I would go with the flex edge. Works great for everything especially corners. I use the fine pads on them and basically is just like having a sanding sponge on a stick.


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## miiller (Aug 28, 2012)

Thanks alot for the advice guys!


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## spacklinfool (Sep 23, 2011)

I use both 360, black-widow, and trigon, and they have useful purposes. I have used the trigon on both corners, and nails..It left a slight line as I crossed the seam..


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

I would say if you are still using a 360 for angles and screws you may want to get a flex edge and you can experiment with the grits till you find whats works best for you. Also when hitting angles try a 4" knife and then hit with flex edge. The lightbulb will come on. For my angles I use ap mud for one side but then for next side I use lightweight. Then sand lightwieght side first then ap side. Been doing it this way for years and my angles are pretty damn tight.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

boco said:


> I would say if you are still using a 360 for angles and screws you may want to get a flex edge and you can experiment with the grits till you find whats works best for you. Also when hitting angles try a 4" knife and then hit with flex edge. The lightbulb will come on. For my angles I use ap mud for one side but then for next side I use lightweight. Then sand lightwieght side first then ap side. Been doing it this way for years and my angles are pretty damn tight.


 You hand finish your angles boco?


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

Ya I hand finish my angles. Unless I am doing a commercial job with 8 ft stand up walls then i use auto tools. i Just dont like the way they come out for my residential jobs. I guess i am old school. Its more work for sure untill sand day.


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