How many sanders do you use??

[Duane Bledsoe]

I'm getting overwhelmed with the sander choices out there. Palm sanders, random orbital sanders, 1/4 sheet sanders, belt sanders, long and skinny or wide versions too. Then the bench sanders that are available, spindle sanders, belt sanders, or belt/disc combination sanders with belts in everything from 1" wide to 4" or more. Is there one or two of these that will serve most needs, or does a person really need all of these at one time or another?? I was thinking maybe a belt/disc combination on a bench to provide a fair amount of ways to sand small parts, and then fitting a drum onto a drill press for any rounded sanding I may need, which isn't all that much actually and therefore the reason I don't think I need a dedicated spindle sander. I have a palm sander and now a random orbital also to cover a lot of free handed flat surface sanding. What else would a person really need?? A mouse sander to get into corners?? I'd be sander poor if I bought all of these. I actually read about one last night that is called a drum sander, and operates similar to a bench planer. You feed wood in and it has a roller head with a wide drum on it that you adjust to "thickness sand" a board down.

[steven c newman]

I have TWO. A 1/4 sheet palm sander, and a B&D "Dragster" belt sander. Dragster is a 3'x21" belt. That is about all I use.

[Van Huskey]

The longer you do it the more sanders you acquire. I have only a detail and ROS for hand work along with scrapers. Machine wise I have a drum, OSS, edge and disc. I use the disc the least and most people I know don't get a lot of use out of a disc/belt sander, it is somewhat of a red headed step child. I say a good ROS is the most important sander one has, get a good one. The rest especially the machines buy as you find (used) or wait until you know you will need them. Everyone builds different things and builds them in different ways.

[shane lyall]

I have a PC random orbit as my go to sander. A b&d mouse for tight spots. A belt for rapid stock removal. A disk built into my lathe. A PC detail sander that will sand routed profiles. I use it the least but sometimes its the only option. I use most all of them somewhere on about every project except maybe the belt sander.

[Todd Burch]

I hate sanding, so I have several:

Festool ETS (EQS?) 150/3 - this is my primary sander - I keep a full stock of all the popular grits.
Bridgewood 15" open end wide belt sander. Awesome for "right out of this thickness planer" sanding when I am batch cutting face frames or other stock, or after doors or drawer fronts are assembled.
Powermatic 9" x ~135" oscillating horizontal edge sander. Awesome for edges of cabinet doors, frames of all sorts and drawer boxes after box jointing.
Delta benchtop OSS when I'm feeling curvy.
6" disc x 36" belt (I think) combo sander. Skil brand, but it works. It gets most of it's use during Pinewood Derby season.
2 Ryobi 3 X 21" belt sanders
Porter Cable 4 X 24" belt sander - the kind you can ride, for hogging anything down
Porter Cable handheld OSS - bought it when I was making the curvy-edge Bubinga table. Haven't used it since - 7 years ago..
Hand sanding blocks. A dozen or more.

Wish list:
37" wide belt sander. But I would settle for a 8' stroke sander

No desire for a drum sander. Evar.

Sold my 2 Porter Cable palm sanders after I got my Festool. Reason: dust collection sucked (no pun intended).

I have one of those Festool "triangular" sanders. Don't use it very much.

I have a couple pneumatic straight line automotive sanders and a couple 6" DA (dual action) sanders, but don't use them much any more.

I say you need 'em if you do all-around work.

Todd

[Todd Burch]

I think I might have one of those hand-held Porter Cable profile sander thingy-ma-bobs too in my attic... :o

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have a disc and OSS sander, a belt sander, a ROS, a 1/4 sheet palm sander and a profile sander.

The disc and profile sanders don't get used often but they are specialty tools that when you need them, they are worth their weight in gold. The belt sander, palm sander and ROS are my go to tools!

[Duane Bledsoe]

OK, after reading a few of these replies, I have a question. I'm fairly new to woodworking on any level beyond basic carpentry. I've made a few things though, and I'm getting into doing this.....A LOT. But, starting out trying to buy these things is hard, and getting some of them as gifts for birthdays or Christmas has helped, but that's limited too. So.....enough excuses.....this past Christmas I asked for a ROS sander, but not a hugely expensive one (hate to be selfish when asking for things) so I asked for and got a Black & Decker 5" ROS sander with the hook and loop type sanding discs used with it. Is it going to be any good, decent, or just not good at all?? I can return it and upgrade if I need to, but I hate to since it was a gift, and I wouldn't be upgrading hugely since I'd have to add money to it to go much higher, and that's not really possible at the moment. I need a sander though, and if this one would work for a while, I'll keep it and use it. Beyond that, a belt sander could help some, but the ROS would be more help right now.

[Todd Burch]

I imagine it will be fine for now. Get some more experience under your belt - use the sander - learn what you you like about it and what you don't like about it, and next time you are in the market for one, you'll know, first hand, what works for you and what doesn't.

[Victor Robinson]

OK, after reading a few of these replies, I have a question. I'm fairly new to woodworking on any level beyond basic carpentry. I've made a few things though, and I'm getting into doing this.....A LOT. But, starting out trying to buy these things is hard, and getting some of them as gifts for birthdays or Christmas has helped, but that's limited too. So.....enough excuses.....this past Christmas I asked for a ROS sander, but not a hugely expensive one (hate to be selfish when asking for things) so I asked for and got a Black & Decker 5" ROS sander with the hook and loop type sanding discs used with it. Is it going to be any good, decent, or just not good at all?? I can return it and upgrade if I need to, but I hate to since it was a gift, and I wouldn't be upgrading hugely since I'd have to add money to it to go much higher, and that's not really possible at the moment. I need a sander though, and if this one would work for a while, I'll keep it and use it. Beyond that, a belt sander could help some, but the ROS would be more help right now.

It will do for now. Most of us build our woodshops slowly over time. The guys that have 8 different sanders didn't go out and buy them all at once. I know it's frustrating to not be able to use the tools most of the guys "teaching" or "advising" you are, but over time you'll equip your workshop. And yes, you'll wish you had the new tools for your earlier projects, but that's just how it goes. Most of us aren't in the position of being able to drop thousands in one go around to fully stock a shop.

To answer your original question, I now have 3 ROS, handheld belt sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, a multitool with round and triangle pads, and drum sander. The first sander I got out of all of those was a ROS. The second ROS was a freebie I got when I bought another tool. The third ROS is the one I've bought as a more experienced woodworker, after learning what I wanted/needed most. It has relegated the first ROS to rougher work. I would not have thought of dropping the $$ for the 3rd ROS when I bought the first.

The belt sander I got for a specific project.

The OSS doesn't get used as much as I thought it would.

I didn't buy the multitool for its sanding abilities, but the little triangle head is nice in a pinch. Not really for woodworking, but for remodeling/reno/repairs/restoring around the house.

The drum sander gets used A LOT and is one of my favorite tools.

[J.R. Rutter]

5" random orbits, edge sander, 44" wide belt, set of drums for the drill press.

[glenn bradley]

Hand belt sander that I never use on furniture but, I'm glad I have it.
1/4 sheet sander that I never use on furniture but, I would never miss it.
5" ROS that I rarely use on furniture but, I'm glad I have it.
Oscillating belt (Ridgid 4224) that I use more often than I thought I would.
3" x 36" / 6" Belt/Disc that I rarely use on furniture but, I'm glad I have it.
Hand sanding blocks (Preppin Weapon and small rubber blocks) and pieces of high density foam are what I use most for sanding.
Cabinet scrapers, planes and shaves are what I use most for smoothing surfaces.

This will vary widely based on what you do and how you do it. There is no right answer to this quandary, only good discussion ;-)

[shane lyall]

Oh yeah I forgot about those drums that chuck into my drill press. Just ebay cheapos but work fine for limited use.Victor makes a good point above. I started with one sander 20+ years ago and I'm not sure how many I have now. Some of the tools I couldn't live without back then, my jigsaw for example, I rarely touch anymore. Point is, my shop wasn't stocked over night and I still have a few "wants".....Like a wide drum sander if you're reading this Kathy! Sorry guys, you never know!

Back to the OP. Your B&D will work just fine for now. The bigest thing to watch out for with a RO sander is keep it flat and let it do it's job. Just let the weight of the sander do the work and don't lay on it. if you start seeing those tell tell "swirlies" that look like a pigs tail it time to let up a little.