Air powered ROS's

[Mike Mastin]

I am interested in buying a new ROS(random orbital sander) and I was wondering if anyone uses any of the air power ROS? The Dynabrade ROS look like they are well made and readily available, but having never used one I was curious if anyone here uses them and if so what are the pluses/minuses of air powers ROS's.

I just ordered a Astro gravity feed HVLP spray gun with a 1.7 tip to play with too. I have never used a spray gun before and from all that I have heard from users of this little gun is that it is a real gem. I want to try out some water based laquers. Any suggestions on brands of water based laquers to try?

[jack duren]

not familiar with the dyna, used sioux in the past. air works great and has a low profile. to me not as hard to hold the sander.

the dyna should work fine as long as you have a good compressor. im thinking you need a constant 17cfm....jack

[John Lucas]

Mike,
Target Coatings has the best reviews as far as I am concerned.
http://www.targetcoatings.com/ Their Oxford Premium Spraying lacquer and retarder will give you beautiful clear finish. They also have a forum which is good reading.

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

Electric just as good: My local cabinet shop has both air powered and electric. The owner prefers the electric.

The best deal is electric with dust collection, preferably the Fien Turbo. I use my Bosch ROS a lot & it produces a lot of fine dust.

Problems with Air Powered ROS

It takes a big (expensive)compressor.
The compressor runs continuosly: Lots of Noise.
I don't think you can add a DC hose.
It ain't portable if you need it on a job site.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I got to use an air powered sander for a few days recently. I think I liked it better because it was light and easy to hold. Not sure it did any better than electric, though.

KC

[Phil Phelps]

Steve Jenkins has been using one for years. Says it's the greatest thing for finish sanding. Personally, I don't like waterbase lacquer, but you may find MH Campbell lacquers to be some of the best products.

[Dave Arbuckle]

Phil, last time I talked to the folks from ML Campbell (at IWF), they didn't have any waterborne products. I'm allergic to acetone, so I have to be interested... :( I haven't used any yet, but Target's products are very well regarded. I've seen some gorgeous samples.

Air powered ROS are neat, but like Zack said take a TON of air.

Dave

[Keith Outten]

I own a Dynabrade ROS and it is an excellent sander. I rarely use it because it just doesn't make sense to run a 3HP air compressor to run one sander. The noise of the compressor is another consideration. I own several Porter Cable ROS's and they are nice units, very light and I have several hoses throughout my shop that connect the PC ROS to my dust collection system.

Large shops who have many employees probably are more efficient using air sanders, I doubt that small shops would fare as well when the electric bill comes due.

[Mike Mastin]

The compresseor part is not an issue. I have a 90 gallon twin cylinder air compressor with high CFM. The Dynabrade is what I think that I will buy.

Someone over on WoodCentral recommended another brand of water based laquer that has a tint to warm up the final finish color of the laquer. Water based laquers used to have a severe blue tint to them I understand, but the Target and this other brand(which slips my mind right now) seem to have overcome the blue color issue.

Respirator is in hand and spray gun is on the way.....can't wait to waste some laquer :-)

[Bill Sams]

Check out Highland Hardware and their "hydrocote" water based laquer's.

[Keith Outten]

Mike,

My comment about running a compressor vs using a small electric sander was based on cost not performance. At the end of the month your electric bill will reflect the number of hours that your large compressor has been running. I have an 80 gallon 3HP compressor that is 220 volt and it definately is more expensive to run than all three of the PC ROS's I own combined.

Concerning laquer, I tried Hydrocote water based laquer years ago and I could never obtain the quality finish I got using Nitro based laquers. I also purchased the tint kit for Hydrocote and was able to get some very nice results as far as color. Mixing custom colors in the laquer made it easy to obtain an almost perfect finish as far as color goes but the water based laquers just don't have the hardness and smooth quality of Nitro brands.

I have also tried several other brands of water based laquers, none have been able to compare to Sherwin Williams Nitro based laquer, it is simply the best...at least for me in spite of the additional safety concerns.