Do I need a Random Orbit Sander?

[John TenEyck]

I've never had nor used a ROS. I've been happy with my 1/4 and 1/2 sheet sanders, and hand sanding, all these years. But I have about 20 frame and panel door frames to finish sand shortly (as soon as they're glued up) and wondered if a ROS offered any advantages. What say you?

[Dave Zellers]

Yes- you do.

A 5".

[Van Huskey]

I would not attempt what you are doing without a ROS. They are the most useful handheld sander ever invented. I don't know wnayone that doesn't love their ROS unless it is a REALLY junky one.

[matt wormmeester]

Yes, I like My PC 5".

[Zach Callum]

I had been using a PC 5", just upgraded to a Festool. Wow, what a difference. I would definitely recommend the Festool ROS.

[Tom Ewell]

Two would be better but one for sure.

[Paul Snowden]

Yes, sanding sucks less with it.

[John TenEyck]

I would not attempt what you are doing without a ROS. They are the most useful handheld sander ever invented. I don't know wnayone that doesn't love their ROS unless it is a REALLY junky one.

Thanks everyone so far for your replies. VH, how would you go about bringing the joints on my door frames perfectly flush? And please don't say hand plane.

[Chip Lindley]

You can smooth all 20 panels, and then, after assmbly, the rail/stile joints perfectly smooth with a ROS in no time flat! Once you use one, your 1/4- and 1/2-sheet sanders will gather lots of dust--NOT sawdust!

[Prashun Patel]

The ROS does a great job at cross-grain intersections like on frames.
They CAN get aggressive, and there is a little technique with it.

[Van Huskey]

Thanks everyone so far for your replies. VH, how would you go about bringing the joints on my door frames perfectly flush? And please don't say hand plane.

Just like Chip and Prashun said. Assemble and flatten the joint, the random orbit action does well at the grain intersection. Easy peasy japaneesy.

[hank dekeyser]

Even the HF ones for $18 on sale dont suck - go ahead and doubt me until you try one

[Mark Blatter]

The real question is do you get an electric one or air powered (sorry cannot for the life of me spell pneumatic with an certainty)?

I have both but really prefer my air powered.

[Brian Kent]

"Thanks everyone so far for your replies. VH, how would you go about bringing the joints on my door frames perfectly flush? And please don't say hand plane."

Hand Plane.

[John TenEyck]

I would not attempt what you are doing without a ROS. They are the most useful handheld sander ever invented. I don't know wnayone that doesn't love their ROS unless it is a REALLY junky one.

I see now that I mis-read your post. So everyone agrees that a ROS is the way to go, and the PC seems like a good unit, on sale at Amazon for less than $100. Thanks everyone for your input. What a good resource you all are.

[Steve Griffin]

Well, I totally disagree with what the others say. Just kidding. ROS's are great.

My only comment is to get a 6". It's easier to sand larger surfaces, like countertops, but it can still handle the smallest 1/4" edge of something.

A 6" has 28.26 square inches, a 5" only 19.63". More work done makes work more fun.

As far as sanding out your doors question--practice first on a test piece. Start by making your doors as good as your tooling allows, then start with 100 or 120 grit. Keep moving as you remove material, and taper your sanding down the rail or stile a bit. The harder you press, the more material is removed, but the more likely you are to raise grain or gluelines. Generally let the weight of the tool do the job, but it's ok to give it a little help with the rough grits. When flat, use 150 grit to remove the 120 scratches. Then do any fitting or routing operations you still need to do, then final sand to 220. Use old 220 disks and a soft sanding block to ease the door edges. (I never buy sheet sandpaper anymore--disks worn out from the sander still have enough life for hand sanding).

-Steve

[Van Huskey]

So everyone agrees that a ROS is the way to go, and the PC seems like a good unit, on sale at Amazon for less than $100.

The PC is an OK sander. I think most people who have used one would give the nod to Festool BUT at half the price my favorite 6" ROS for the money is the Bosch 3727DEVS and it is closer to the Festool than people who bleed green will admit.

[Mike Schuch]

OK, I'll decent. I have 4 Rockwell / Porter Cable 505 half sheet sanders and 1 Porter Cable 73xx variable speed right angle 6" random orbit sander.

For churning through a bunch of flat panels efficiently I will choose the 505's every time. I have replaced the cords on each of the 505's with 15' cords and each wears a different grit. 120, 150, 180 and 220. I put a panel on the bench and work through each grit before turning the panel over and repeating the process on the back side. This is much faster than sanding each panel with 120 then switching grits to 150 and sanding each panel again... etc...

I love the PC 6" right angle random orbit sander and it definitely has its place but I would never want to part with my arsenal of 505's!

The 1/4 sheet PC "mouse" sander is a joke and the PC detail "sander" doesn't really qualify as a real sander in my book. I have a Craftsman 1/2 sheet sander that doesn't even come close to the 505's in productivity.

Of course I would never assemble a door before I have sanded the panel and put the first coat of finish on it... that would just be foolish! And a 505 with 400 grit is perfect for the final sand before the final coat of finish on the assembled doors. Even with 400 grit the pad on the PC 6" right angle random orbit sander is too harsh for a final sand. The soft pad of the 505 is perfect how ever!

By the way... I have a lot more money into the 6" Porter Cable Random orbit than I do all 4 of the 505's combined.

[Paul McGaha]

I used to do almost all of my sanding with a 6" PC ROS, then final sand with a PC 1/4 sheet sander.

Last year I bought a used Delta 18/36 Drum Sander with the intent that it would to a large degree do the sanding I used to do with the 6" ROS.

So far I've done one project with the Delta and its worked out good. Send everything thru the sander at about 120 grit. Maybe one pass at around 150 grit with a ROS and then final sand at 150 grit with the 1/4 sheet sander. I go up to 220 grit for table tops.

The drum sander is very helpful but both the ROS and the 1/4 sheet sander are still needed to me.

PHM

[Rich Engelhardt]

Of coarse ( ;) ) you don't need a ROS,,,but,,they sure make life finer ( ;) )..........

I guess I'm finished ( ;) ) with what I had to say....

[Brian Penning]

Had a PC but gave it away after getting a Ridgid. Found the Ridgid to be smoother, quieter, nice long cord is a nice plus too.

[John TenEyck]

I have a Delta 18X36 drum sander and have considered using it to bring the frame joints dead flush after glue up but am concerned about sanding marks on the rails. Am I worrying for nothing and is this the best way to go?

The panels are veneered MDF and a light hand sanding was all they needed prior to finishing, which I will do prior to gluing them up in the frames. But you guys have convinced me I alos need a ROS, but which one. I like the PC 5" VS because of the low center of gravity and generally good reviews. PC has gone down in quality in many items lately, but I suspect this sander is still of good quality. Maybe not. I have loved every Bosch tool I've ever owned (with the exception of my 12" compound miter saw which was a PITA to get square but cuts beautifully now that it is), but am not too thrilled by the high center of gravity of their models. So, what brand and model do you guys like and why? Thanks again for your help.

[Mike Schuch]

I consider my porter cable 6" right angle ROS kind of half way between a belt sander and a pad sander. I really like it for leveling things... where a belt sander would be just too harsh and a pad sander would take way too long. It is a great sander! (And also puts a very nice shine on my car!) But you definitely don't rest the sander on the work... the motor sticking out perpendicular to the pad pretty much prevents this. Maybe I would use a ROS more for finish work if I had the 5" Porter Cable.

All of the sanders I use are either Porter Cable or the older Rockwell models of the Porter Cables. They have worked so well for me that I have never really considered buying something else.

Do you guys rest your 5" ROS sanders flat on the work piece like you do a pad sander?

[John TenEyck]

I finally decided to make up a test frame just like my doors will have and ran it thru my Delta drum sander, using 120 grit paper. Beautiful. Perfectly level joints in about 2 passes and no tear out on the edges of the rails. A light follow up using 150 grit with my 1/4 pad sannder and the cross grain scratches on the rails are gone. This is definitely the best way to go for this project.

I'll still be looking into a ROS, but I can do so at my leasure now and wait for a really good deal.

Thanks again for all your input. It really helped me think this through.

John

[Don Morris]

I've had a Bosch ROS 5" variable speed for so long they probably don't make that model any more. But I can tell you if it died, I'd get another ROS of some sort. And the 1" dust hose that goes to my wet/dry vac pulls 95+ % of the dust out and that would be a requirement of any ROS I would buy to have that capability like my Bosch. The dust evacuation I also think saves the sandpaper from clogging thus extending it's life. I like hand planes at cross grain joints when it's way off. But when it gets close out comes the ROS.

[Scott Vigder]

Do you need one? No. Do you need two? Yes!

I use my Makita 6" for the bigger jobs. Its weight is perfect for smoothing out joints and glue lines.

I use my Bosch 5" for everything else. Also, you can buy sanding discs in bulk that greatly reduces your overall cost.

[Josiah Bartlett]

The real question is do you get an electric one or air powered (sorry cannot for the life of me spell pneumatic with an certainty)?

I have both but really prefer my air powered.

I love my pneumatic DA sander too but I wouldn't try to run one without at least a 10 ACFM compressor. Another nice thing to have is an air long board sander- great for leveling things up when a hand plane is going to tear out the grain.

Air tools are dirt cheap compared to electrics if you already have a big compressor. However, dust collection is a problem.

[Mark Blatter]

" However, dust collection is a problem. "

3M came out with one about two years ago that had a dust bag on it. Worked great, though there were a bit fragile. With the old ones we used we had to go to 220 grit, but with the dust collector, we found we could stop at 150. Seemed to also be significantly faster as we were sanding the wood and not the dust already made. Discs were about three times the price though.