Older Sears 1/2 sheet finishing sander

[Rick Johnston]

It has the linear and orbital lever on the side. What applications would the linear motion excel at?

Have not used for twenty years. It is beast heavy and the vibration get's your attention.

[Mike Schuch]

Orbital mode will sand faster. Linear won't leave orbital marks. Sand down to your finest grain sand paper in orbital mode then finish off in linear mode.

I use half sheet sanders for large surfaces like table tops and cabinet carcasses.

[Paul Wunder]

I would be very careful if you use that sander on veneer plywood. The sander is very heavy and even a fine grit risks cutting through the veneer. I only use mine rarely and only outdoors because of the lack of dust control. The vibration is also tough to live with. I recently picked up a Festool linear sander for straight line finishing. What a difference!

[Mike Schuch]

I use my 1/2 sheet sanders on large surfaces which means mostly veneered plywoods. I can easily ruin veneered plywood with one of my aggressive random orbit sanders. I find my half sheet sanders much safer because the large half sheet spreads the weight of the tool out and also reduces the tendency to tilt the sander causing a "hot spot" where the sander sands through the veneer. I have three Porter Cable/Rockwell 505 half sheet sanders and they are much more aggressive than my old Craftsman half sheet sander.

I grew up using my fathers Craftsman 1/2 sheet sander. It worked great for several years but one day it finally "bit the dust". Back when EBay was in its infancy I found a Craftsman 1/2 sheet sander listing. Over several days of bidding some A-Hole kept on bidding me up and eventually won the auction. The next time I went to visit my father I was telling him about the sander I was out bid on. My story jogged my fathers memory and he recalled how much he liked that old Craftsman half sheet sander too. Then my father took me out to his garage and showed me his new Craftsman 1/2 sheet sander he won on Ebay even though some A-Hole kept bidding him up on it! LOL!

We laughed about that auction for years! :D