Why do most woodworkers deal with using electric random orbital sanders?

[Glen Butler]

Wow. Didn't expect that. Sorry I have offended a few of you for my list "Right or wrong as they may be".

I own three electric ROS's that have a dust collection gimmick and clearly are not optimized for dust extraction, and couple pneumatics. I prefer pneumatics because the dust is the same, either way I am wearing a mask (I hope you are too), and the pneumatic is faster, smaller, less tiring.

Johnny, obviously there are numerous things you can't sand using a draft table - thus mask - lets be reasonable here. I hope you sand with a mask even with your super duper dust extractor.

[Peter Quinn]

Card scrapers are a life saver for flat objects.

I too am waiting for a price cut or knock off to jump into the mirka typa sander. For curved work I like my goose neck scraper! Takes out most of the major problems and reduces sanding to a minimum for me.

[Carl Beckett]

I have a little autobody experience and some (older) autobody tools, including a jitterbug and RO air sander. I prefer using the electric (have a Bosch - with a half decent dust collection setup - I hook it to my house central vac, which is basically a cyclone type dust collection vented to the outside). Coupled with a down draft (hooked to a 2hp dust collection in an adjacent room), it works very well.

Convenient, fast, reasonable dust control. I use it on home projects as well.

The reason I dont use the air tools more is first, water. I find that after extended bouts of sanding I can get a spit of water through the lines which really gums up a sanded surface. Yes, I need better dryers for the compressor (a half decent emglo 2 stage)

Then the other thing is, that my air hoses dont reach all over my house the way my electrical outlets do. Another complication, is that I have my shop split between a one car garage and an external building - the air compressor is in the external building, and although I can move it to the other shop if need be, its not as convenient as the electric. (and long air hoses dont work well due to pressure drops, ESPECIALLY at high cfm required to run an air sander well)

So although I DO own some air sanders, I DONT use them, but COULD. This leads me to conclude that yep, I lazy, or old and an ever increasing creature of habit, or that the electrics just work better for me given my current work mode and type of projects.

[michael gates]

sander 004.jpgsander 003.jpgDust ports are no gimmick on the Dynabrade, they work great. Some have been interested in the Festool Air sanders. Here is the Festool compared to my Dynabrade, it is huge. Both are 6 inch.
You can hardly find any info on the Festool air sanders because they are not very popular and are very expensive to set up with the extra hose and hookups needed to get them running.

The Festool uses a multi air type pad which has a lot of holes, not only does the paper cost more it doesn't last as long as normal paper and doesn't sand as fast since there are so many holes in the paper.

Hope this isnt too far off topic.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The OP asked WHY most woodworkers deal with using electric ROSs.

The most likely reasons are the expense of a large air compressor, the cost of the tool and the noise involved.

There is no right or wrong. Choose the method and tool that you determine suits your purpose and is within your budget.

Keep in mind....not all woodworkers have the same preferences. I have large hands. I prefer large tools. I am a large guy.

Pneumatic sanders have their pros and cons.....electric sanders have their pros and cons.

Use what you determine is right for you.

I have both. I use the one I determine more satisfies my current requirement for a sander.

There surely is no reason to be to be argumentative about it.

[raul segura]

FUNNY, I purchased an old electric Makita non orbital square one, about 20 yrs ago.
Just puled it out of the cobwebs. Its got a bag collector on it and found dust pick up to work rather well, (at least for clean/not lungs). Quite surprised with it. I'm sure not half as good as new models, but sure beats sanding with muscle.

25 gal comp. runs to much for many air tools, very noisy and I puddle my pants when it kicks on if I'm working quietly into the night (LOL).
Mostly its about economy,subject and how much use will it be in the long run.
Yes money. Ill have to get one of those orbitals soon.

[David Goodnuff]

...The Festool uses a multi air type pad which has a lot of holes, not only does the paper cost more it doesn't last as long as normal paper and doesn't sand as fast since there are so many holes in the paper. ...

You're not using it right. The extra holes allow for better dust collection and if you use it with dust collection it runs cooler, sands better and the paper lasts significantly longer than other paper.

[michael gates]

You're not using it right. The extra holes allow for better dust collection and if you use it with dust collection it runs cooler, sands better and the paper lasts significantly longer than other paper.

I am aware of what it is supposed to do, unfortunately it doesn't. I actually own both sanders as well as several others, I can clearly see how they work! I don't use the Festool because it took about 5 seconds to see and feel the Dynabrade is better.
The Festool system is pretty much the same as the Norton multi air, which I also feel has too many holes and not enough paper, resulting in paper being worn out quicker than a normal piece as well as slow sanding since you are actually loosing so much of the sand paper to the holes.

[Chris Merriam]

FYI for those considering the Mirka system, my local Woodcraft has it setup for testing along with a couple other sanders. Your store may have it as well. I tried it out, but never having used a pneumatic sander, I can't really compare it to anything else. It definitely seemed nicer than my $70 Dewalt!

[David Hostetler]

To answer the OP's original question, at least on my behalf. A large enough air compressor that would be sufficient to drive an air sander would be cost prohibitive, and utilize an unduly large amount of shop floor real estate, which in my situation is a precious commodity. I have a smallish 2HP 8 gallon compressor that drives my nailers, and even impact wrench and ratchet, but a sander just takes too high of a hit on CFM for this little machine...

An electric ROS really for me isn't that much of a problem. They aren't that heavy, nor do I find vibration to be troublesome. And I have a cheap sander...

Another issue is the exhaust air from a pnuematic tends to make dust collection difficult at best. All that exhaust air blows the dust everywhere into the air, where you need to be protected from it. Electrics can be hooked up to a vac and that nasty dust sucked up before it gets into the air... YMMV depending on make and model of sander of course... I am sure there are well designed pnuematics, and I KNOW there are badly designed electrics...

[raul segura]

So to run a sander and other air eaters. What is a reasonable time % to have a compressor run vs machine relative to shortening its life.
Looks like this is relevant to owning such a tool. Keeping in mind that all tools / compressor set up are different.
I'm usually easy on my machines, when I can be.

[michael gates]

A decent compressor has a 60% duty cycle.

[Joe Calhoon]

Michael, you might already know this but the paper in Festool sanders lasts a lot longer if the vac is run at half speed. We also found the Klingspore Festool pattern to last as long and much less money. As far as compressors, if you do this for a living and want to use air sanders you will need a good one with a drier.

We used air sanders only for 20 years and did damage to other air operated machinery by getting oil and water in the lines before getting a good unit. As Ken said, there are uses for both types. In our case the dust free Festool is worth a lot to me. On the other hand if faced with sanding out a pile of interior doors that had a poor wide belt sand I would be reaching for the more aggressive air sanders and ready to eat some dust.

Joe

[johnny means]

sander 004.jpgsander 003.jpg
it doesn't last as long as normal paper and doesn't sand as fast since there are so many holes in the paper.

The pad surface area lost to holes is less than a half percent. I doubt this has any discernible affect on sanding rates or paper life.

[Rick Fisher]

I agree about the Festool sandpaper. It is far superior to the red chinese sandpaper, but I prefer SIA or Klingspor. Having said that, its fine, just not my first choice, especially in the super fine grits.