Pneumatic ROS pad questions

[Gabe Tanguay]

I work in a small cabinet shop, and we use pneumatic 5" ROS's for most finish sanding. When I started there a year ago, we were using these beat-up 3/4" soft stikit pads. After learning abit about sanding, I switched up to a firm 1/2" pad, getting better results. My question is, what are the pads with the holes for, and what is the reasons for different pads?

[Wayne Lomman]

Gabe, the holes in the pads are for the vacuum extraction of dust if the sander has dust extraction designed into it. Most current models do have this but older ones may not. As for the types of pads, as a general rule a firmer, flat pad is better for flat surfaces whereas a softer pad will perform better on curved surfaces. Cheers