Must have sanders?

[Dewayne Reding]

Many, many types. Which of your sanders do you find yourself using most often? I don't have any decent ones and I need to start. I figure a 1/4 sheet palm sander is a must. Thinking about a belt sander, but not sure it would get used much?

[Hoa Dinh]

Which of your sanders do you find yourself using most often?
A 6" ROS - Yes, the green & black one :D

[Jeffrey Schronce]

ROS (Random Oribital Sander) should be the first in my opinion. They are vastly superior in sanding quality than most 1/4" sheet sanders. The Bosch 1295 is a great little 5" ROS that can be had for around $60. The Porter Cable 333 VS is quite popular as well and is in the same price range. Most people would agree that belt sanders tend to sit on a shelf and have little use in fine woodworking.

[Gary Keedwell]

I would say a 5" Random Orbital sander....any color...

Gary K.:rolleyes:

[Dewayne Reding]

Guess I left a detail out. I do a fair amount of auto restoration. I have a couple of DA sanders. I plumbed air into my basement shop. Will that suffice for a ROS? Or are we talking about an electric ROS that works a little different?

And BTW, I'm into yellow portable tools generally. But I gotta admit the green and black ones look very fast. :)

[Jim Becker]

A 6" ROS - Yes, the green & black one

Ditto!!! A must-have for me, too...

[Anthony Anderson]

Since you are into automotive restorations, if you have top quality DAs, some of the nicer Hutchins, will work nicely. They are much smoother than their woodworking counterparts. I have a Hutchins that I use for fine finish sanding on flat surfaces, it is a very good machine. I also have a PC 333VS. It is a good little sander, and I believe PC has recently redesigned the dust collection. Whatever you decide make sure that you get a variable speed. I also have a PC 3X21 VS belt sander. It is a good all around machine that is not too big. If you are doing a lot of flat glue ups, then you might want a bigger belt sander, or upgrade to a drum sander later. The Performax 22-44 Plus is a nice machine in a reasonable price range. I really like it when sanding cabinet doors. Works great. HTH. Regards, Bill

[Mike Cutler]

A 6" ROS - Yes, the green & black one :D

I gotta try one of these. I have a Makita, 1/4 sheet palm sander and it is horrible. I do everything I can to avoid using it. :eek:
I also have the PC 3x21 inch sander. A great workhorse.

[Jim Becker]

I gotta try one of these.

Just remember this is the flat-work equivalent of "abysseration" in the turning world... :D :D :D

[Mike Cutler]

"abysseration"

Well, now there is an interesting word, and I see that our own Andy Hoyt is a modern day Daniel Webster, according to the internet.:D, ;).

Seriously though, I'm in the same boat as Dewayne. i would like to find a nice sander that doesn't make me afraid of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, and feel like a swarm of bee's is vibrating my teeth.
I may go see the folks at Woodcraft in Warwick tomorrow. Does this mean I've been "abysserated"?:eek:

[lou sansone]

5 inch dewalt variable speed ROS is the one I reach for first. I do also have a 6 inch bosch, but that is used for larger surfaces
lou

[Dewayne Reding]

I have a Hutchins automotive DA. Never tried it on wood before. I suspect I'll have to keep it turned down very low.

[Don Stanley]

I stumbled on to a real good deal for the PC 340 1/4 sheet orbital sander. Free is always a good price! In any case, I didn't get around to trying it out for several months. Understand, I had never owned an orbital sander before! I just love this sander! I quit using my old Craftsmen 1/2 sheet sander.

-Don

[Dewayne Reding]

OK, a an orbital sander than uses 1/4 sheet. That's going to cut the sandpaper price in half over a round sticky discs that an automotive style DA sander uses. Not to mention ten times the selection of sandpaper styles and grits when using traditional square paper.

[Joe Mioux]

Last night I stopped in the STL Woodcraft store. They had a Festool ETS 150\5 RO set up with vac for a customer demo.

I turned it on and ran it across the Red Oak and I really couldn't tell the difference between that and my PC Ro that I have hooked up to my Shop Vac. I was amazed at how much vibration I felt in my hands using the Festool.

Granted, I only played with it for a few seconds. What makes Fes. RO so much better than my current PC RO?

[Al Willits]

You green and black people must have way more disposable income than this poor blue collar worker...:D :D
Ya, they sure look nice, but I ended up with a Mikita 5" ros sander that WC had on close out.

But I'd say some sort of ros would be nice, the air powered DA works well too, but wondering if running the compressor is a bit spendy for just short runs on the sander?
I found it was easier to just plug the electric one in, than fire up the compressor.
Maybe if I had a lot of sanding to do.

Also thinking of the little belt/spindle sander Ridgid has, a little small in the stationary belt sander world, but at $200 might be worth it.

Al...who's still a newbie though....:)

[Per Swenson]

[quote=Al Willits]You green and black people must have way more disposable income than this poor blue collar worker...:D :D


Nonsense, even though you seem to jest.

I duct tape my boots, drive a 89 f350, darn my socks like Eleanor Rigby,
and haven't gone to see a new movie since Mary Poppins.

But my work has to be darn near flat and perfect so I can outsell
the cheap redneck down the road.

FESTOOL FLAT.

Per

[Al Willits]

Feisty bunch aren't ya...:)
Yes I jest, and know all about getting what ya pay for.

Kinda like Snap On tools, others will do the same job, but they're just nicer and probably better built.

Al....who's ducking the incoming now...:D

[Jim Becker]

Last night I stopped in the STL Woodcraft store. They had a Festool ETS 150\5 RO set up with vac for a customer demo.

I turned it on and ran it across the Red Oak and I really couldn't tell the difference between that and my PC Ro that I have hooked up to my Shop Vac. I was amazed at how much vibration I felt in my hands using the Festool.

Granted, I only played with it for a few seconds. What makes Fes. RO so much better than my current PC RO?

If the vac was turned up to full speed, that could account for the chatter. Otherwise, there should have been little or no vibration, Joe. My 150/3 can be in my hand for hours without the numbness I used to get from the PC in about 15-30 minutes. I think that something was amiss in the store!

[Russ Massery]

Festool, 150/3..........

[Jim Dailey]

Dewayne,

Having literally spent 1,000's of hours with a sander vibrating in my hands I don't come at this in a vacuum. In fact "back when" not a single sander was available with vacuum pickup. And the sanders available where very heavy, fine if you where working with the sander resting on the surface... Try one over head, with dust raining down on you... Didn't I mention vibration.... All makes of sanders regardless of color have come a long way. All the major players are making "good" sanders.

I started with Rockwell & Craftsman, then moved to PC. Burned up a bunch of Rockwell/PC Speed Blocks along the way. And the added sanders with vacuum pickups when they became available... That was then...

Today I have gradually switched my entire line up of sanders to Festool or as I call it Fes"kewl". Why? Not $$$.... 'cause they are not cheap, make that they are expensive. They work. And most importantly make me work less with virtually NO DUST. Today I now have 9 different models of Fes"kewl" sanders. I can go from rough grinder like sander to finest finish (4000 grit if necessary) from flat surfaces to profiles to details.

My recommendations; If you want "good" pick a color. If you want the "best" pick Fes"kewl". You mentioned a 1/4 sheet. The RS400 replaced my all time favorite Speed Block. Light enough for overhead, small enough for corners yet amazingly powerful. I often use this to blow thick layers of varnish off boat woodwork with 40 grit. Another sander in the Fes"kewl" lineup that can go from removing material like a belt sander to fine finish or would a excellent buffer for your auto work is the RO 150. Jim Becker & someone else mentioned the 150/3 finish sander (the "3" is for 3/32nds random orbit). The 150/3 is a wonderful low vibration (sorry Joe but I don't agree with you comments, I also believe you didn't get it dialed in properly; speed of sander rotation to proper level of vacuum suction). The 150/3 uses the same 6" paper as the RO 150. A note on the Fes"kewl" paper, the stuff last & cuts. It does take a while to get use to the names (Brilliant, Rubin etc.) but the Fes"kewl" extra center hole really does make the paper last thus makes the paper cost effective. Each of the other sanders in the Fes"kewl" lineup have their place or nitch thus every model is not as beneficial to all users needs. However as with the rest of the Fes"kewl" products the sanders do work as a system.

Hope this helps, jim

[John Terefenko]

This is a question that as you see can be answered many ways depending on the work you do. I will say this in every project I do more than one type sander comes into play. The Performax 16/32 is always a player. the PC bloc 1/4 sheet sander, the pc 6" orbital sander, and at times the Clayton oscillaing spindle sander comes into play and I would be hard pressed without any of them. I am now looking into the oscillating side belt sander which I will get at the next woodworking show in Feb. You will build a collection of sanders over time if you are a serious woodworker just like routers. I bet 9 out 0f 10 people have more than one router.

[Mike Buelow]

I have the same B&D "Sandstorm" that I bought 10 years ago in college. The one that can switch from ROS to the pointed pad. I keep it in ROS mode.

This is from back when B&D was green, not orange, and save for the lousy dust bag it does fine.

Anybody rig up an adapter for this for an external DC hose?

[Dan Clark]

6" RO 150 FEQ.

Flip it to RO mode, crank your DC back to about 2/3 speed and you can easily guide it with one hand to get a nice smooth finish. Change it to Rotex mode, add a good 24 grit-50 grit paper, hold on with BOTH hands, and blast through almost anything.

It's very flexible and, with a good DC (e.g., Festool CT or Fein vac), you'll see no dust.

Great sander and worth every penny, IMO.

Dan.

[Matt Meiser]

Most woodworking sanders have dust collection that a DA probably doesn't have (maybe I'm wrong?) That alone in my mind makes it better to get a dedicated WW sander. I've always had RO sanders, first a PC 333VS and a Ridgid 6". I sold both of them and replaced them with a Festol 150/3 which does the job of both of those. I do have a 1/4 sheet sander which I've used just a couple times. The main reason I have it is that Lowes had them for $49.99 with a $50 mail in rebate. I also have a B&D Mouse sander I virtually never use and a belt sander that I use once in a while.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have a 4 x 24 " makita track sander It's served hard duty for better than 20 some odd years and still in great shape.

I have two PC Speed Bloks. They have no DC but they are great 1/4 sheet sanders.

And I have a very - very modified Craftsman 6 x 48" belt sander. On it's own, it is the single worst piece of garbage I ever bought (but I only paid $40.00 for it). I say that because it simply would not work - period. I couldn't get the thing to track for more than half a minute. After modifications I can easily get the belt to track & remain straight.

[Noah Katz]

"I am now looking into the oscillating side belt sander which I will get at the next woodworking show in Feb."

Do you mean an edge sander or is this something new?

[glenn bradley]

I have an old C-man VS-ROS that was like $30. Still going. I do feel the need to upgrade however. The Bosch gave the most uniform pattern in a recent mag review. Aside from that I think the B&D (yes, B&D) dragster is an un-sung tool. I love mine due tot he light weight, small from wheel and flip-away front cover for reaching into tihgt spots. A lot of times it depends what you do as to what is best. I would shudder at taking my C-man to $100 worth of material that I just glued up. It works well but is a bit unrefined for 'expensive' work. I use a scraper to finish off the good stuff. That is why I'm 'shopping' in my mind.

[glenn bradley]

I have an old C-man VS-ROS that was like $30. Still going. I do feel the need to upgrade however. The Bosch gave the most uniform pattern in a recent mag review. Aside from that I think the B&D (yes, B&D) dragster is an un-sung tool. I love mine due to the light weight, small front wheel and flip-away front cover for reaching into tight spots.

A lot of times it depends what you do as to what is best. I would shudder at taking my C-man to $200 worth of material that I just glued up. It works well but is a bit unrefined for 'expensive' work. I use a scraper to finish off the good stuff. That is why I'm 'shopping' in my mind.