!/4 Sheet Finisheing Sander vs ROS

[George Bokros]

I have a 1/4 sheet finishing sander would it be duplication to add a random orbit sander to the tool mix? I also have a 3/21 belt sander and a 1-32 drum sander.

George

[Gordon Eyre]

My finish sander is my most used of the sanders. It will sand into the corners and I find it easier on the the wood than my ROS. In fact mine is wearing out and I will soon be looking to buy a new one.

[Art Mann]

A good random orbital sander will work much faster than a a typical 1/4 sheet vibrating sander. Whether that is good or bad depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The usage to the two only partially overlaps. After I got used to my ROS, I sold my vibrating sander at a yard sale but it wasn't very good to start with.

[Jeff Duncan]

I do have a small PC 1/4 sheet finish sander somewhere….??? Couldn't really say where as I haven't used it in years. ROS cuts much faster when you need to sand coarse, and with a light touch and fine paper cuts soft enough to scuff finished panels between coats. I just don't have a use for the finish sander in shop anymore, too slow, I think the last time I used it was for drywall compound.

good luck,
JeffD

[John TenEyck]

Pretty much what Jeff said. I resisted buying a ROS for years; finally bought one a few months ago. Game changer. Much faster, much easier, much better than my pad sander. I haven't used it since I got the ROS. I'm sure there are several good ones but, FWIW, I got the Bosch ROS 65VC-6 and am over the moon happy with it. Almost zero vibration, excellent dust collection with the on board canister and, most importantly, super results. Buy the best one you can justify and I really doubt you will ever regret it.

John

[Kent A Bathurst]

Yeah - John 10 is correct again, as almost always.

My 1/4 sheet PC sat in a drawer for dog years. I was using a 5" ROS hooked up to a Fein vac. There is absolutely no way in heaven or hell that you can pick up the dust off of a 1/4 sheet sander. With my setup - there is no way in heaven or hell to even notice any dust spun off from the ROS.

Finally gave it to a friend. Told him: "It is waste to use it, but here you go.............."

He did not get it, at first, but now he does.

For them there corners, etc - I usually sand and finish before assembly, so that is not a problem, When I don't / cant' - I sand by hand.

FWIW - If I was starting from scratch - no ROS, no investment in sandpaper discs - then I would hands down go for the Mirka Ceros, even tho it is 5 bills. I did not do that in my last buy simply because I had 3 bills inventory in ROS 5-hole discs. I was upside down on the transaction, globally defined.

But I did think about it. Very long, very carefully.

So - I went for my new tried-and-true PC 5" ROS. They are all 8-hole these days, but the 5-hole H&L pad is a direct swap-in, so I stole that from my dead PC, and my H&L inventory all works ducky.

But I still wish I could have come up with a deniable, plausible, excuse to get the Ceros....................

Siiiiigh.

Someday, I might not worry about "plausible deniability" and just do what ever the heck I want.

[Bradley Gray]

I use both. My ROS is too aggressive for compound curves or sanding between coats of finish (the ROS tends to sand through on edges) so I use a 1/4 sheet sander. Tip: one can tear a full sheet of paper into quarters and stack all on the sander - just tear off used paper to expose a fresh surface. Klingspore abrasives are the best I have found and elevate both tools.

[John Downey]

I find both types to be very useful. The ROS is good for large flat surfaces, it really needs most of the pad in contact with the surface to stay random. The 1/4 sheet sander is good for edges and curved parts.