2" Random Orbit Angle Sander

[Jon McElwain]

Does anyone use a small random orbit angle sander for turning? Do you have a recommendation? I am considering the Grex 2" 105° sander below. Is it compatible with Vince's pads and disks?



http://grexusa.com/grexusa/pics/AOS368.jpg

[Stephen Walker]

Yes it is compatible, it is my sander of choice. Does a fantastic job, but really uses the air. Forced me to have to upgrade compressors, dang it.

[Reed Gray]

Yea, the pneumatic drills and sanders use a lot of air. It kept my compressor running non stop. I have a 60 gallon tank too, and a 220 motor. I stayed with electric. Just cheaper to run.

robo hippy

[Grant Wilkinson]

I have the Metabo electric one as I don't have the compressor capacity for the one in the pic. It does a fine job.

[Thomas Canfield]

I keep asking every chance that comes up WHY someone (Dewalt, Porter Cable, .......) does not make a small electric ROS similar to the pneumatic one. I use my 5" ROS whenever possible (mostly external or on large flat inside surface like platter). There should be enough demand by turners to make it a marketable product. I would not expect to pay for a super premium like Festool for that application and the Metabo is a little pricy also and has some size limitations for internal work.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Mine is a Chicago Pneumatic, available at Amazon and tons of other retailers. I won't say it is better or worse than the Grex. I chose it because it operates with a trigger as versus the lever with safety. All pneumatic tools sand better and faster than electric tools. They cost less to buy but as Robo mentioned, they are more expensive to operate and require a minimum 5hp compressor and 60 gallon tank. I don't use it for final sanding. I actually use it for spot sanding and to remove scratches in end grain. I use it with the object being sanded in a stationary position not spinning on the lathe.
faust

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Tom,
I believe the answer to your question about an electric ROP has to do with the speed of a pneumatic motor. They run at ridiculously high speed. I suspect it is probably not cost effective to build an electric motor that is fast enough, with enough torque to match the pneumatic tools. The speed is what makes the pneumatic sanders efficient for industrial use.
faust

[Thomas Bennett]

I have two of these and use Vince's paper. If you have the air, go for it.

[mike ash]

I have one and as said over and over again, it takes lots of air!! My 35 gal compressor is running constantly!

[Dave Fritz]

Doesn't a pneumatic spin pretty fast? Can you slow them down so you don't burn out your velcro connection?

Dave F.

[Vince Welch]

Hi Jon,

Here is the low down on ROS sanders IMHO. They work great mostly with higher grits such as 180-220 and up! For the lower grits you need either speed or torque to get the job done and these sanders do not provide either. They offer finesse! Also, as mentioned you need a compressor of at least 60 gallons or more to run these efficiently (per campbellhausfel) who make most compressors in the market regardless of whose name is on the unit. Can you run these with a smaller compressor...yes for awhile but you are derogating the life of the unit! These units use about 10 CFM even if they state they only need 2.2CFM like I have seen on some units. I have offered these units for years and they are great units! You are welcome to call me for more detail info. 1-877-284-8969

[Tony Rozendaal]

Doesn't a pneumatic spin pretty fast? Can you slow them down so you don't burn out your velcro connection?

Dave F.

I have Harbor Freight's 2-inch air sander and run it through a regulator at about 40 - 60 PSI. It still uses a lot of air but seems to calm things down a bit. I agree that it is more effective in the higher grits.

[Mike Goetzke]

I have Harbor Freight's 2-inch air sander and run it through a regulator at about 40 - 60 PSI. It still uses a lot of air but seems to calm things down a bit. I agree that it is more effective in the higher grits.

I recently bought one of these - what paper and pads are suggested for this?

Thanks

[Tony Rozendaal]

I recently bought one of these - what paper and pads are suggested for this?

Thanks
I uses Vince's - he posted just before my original post. Google 'Vinces Wooden Wonders'

I do use an innerface pad with the orbital sander. The pad I use depends on whether I an sanding the inside or the outside of the bowl. I probably use a harder pad than Vince would recommend for the higher grits, but my philosophy is that you loose less of the orbital motion that way.

[Garth Sheane]

I bought an electric right angle drill a few months back for about $60 and I think it has an even lower profile than what you show in the air ROS, allowing me to get into smaller bowls. It isn't ROS in operation, but with the lath running about 120 rpm when I'm sanding, I think I'm getting the same effect. And, it is no where near as noisy as an air tool.

[Tony Rozendaal]

I bought an electric right angle drill a few months back for about $60 and I think it has an even lower profile than what you show in the air ROS, allowing me to get into smaller bowls. It isn't ROS in operation, but with the lath running about 120 rpm when I'm sanding, I think I'm getting the same effect. And, it is no where near as noisy as an air tool.

I fully agree. I was thinking about this thread while I was in the shop this afternoon, and realized that I should have mentioned that for me the air sander is a tool for special circumstances. These circumstances usually involve a situation where I can't put the bowl back on the lathe every effectively for some reason or the other, which means I'm holding the work piece in one hand and sanding with the other.. This afternoon I was using it to finish sand a NE bowl that had been turned green and has gone quite oblong. Another example is last week I wasn't happy with the finish on a completed bowl so used it to take the finish off. The orbital sander doesn't want to grab and twist the work piece out of my hand but still does a respectable job of sanding.

(Which reminds me - I forgot to turn off the air compressor and need to slog back out through 3 inches or so of fresh snow to do so. But, I forgot to bring the freshly sanded bowl in as well, so I can do that as well...)

[Doug Herzberg]

I recently bought one of these - what paper and pads are suggested for this?

Thanks

The HF paper that came with was useless. I got the green disks at CS. I cycle my 80 gallon 165 psi tank every 4 - 5 minutes with it. I reduce the pressure to 90 psi and use the trigger to control speed. I do like the sander, but I use an angle die grinder if I don't need the ROS function.

[Mike Goetzke]

The HF paper that came with was useless. I got the green disks at CS. I cycle my 80 gallon 165 psi tank every 4 - 5 minutes with it. I reduce the pressure to 90 psi and use the trigger to control speed. I do like the sander, but I use an angle die grinder if I don't need the ROS function.

Thanks.

WHAT! Cycle 80 gal. tank in 5 min. - I better look for another sander.


Mike

[Doug Herzberg]

Thanks.

WHAT! Cycle 80 gal. tank in 5 min. - I better look for another sander.


Mike

Mike, I haven't actually timed it, but I think that's about right. What I mean by "cycle" is that I lower the tank pressure to the lower limit of the pressure switch, causing the pump to come on. So 5 minutes of continuous use to drop 80 gallons from 165 to maybe 140 psi. It doesn't bother me, except for the noise.