Testing Palm Sanders - Was my pricey Mirka type worth it?

[Patrick Irish]

I splurged couple years ago and bought an Air Advantage e-sander. It’s nearly identical to a Mirka Ceros. 7k-10k rpms, 5amps, good dust collection, replaceable pad.

Sometimes when I sand, typically endgrain boards, I feel the Air Vantage isn’t doing a fast enough job. I then go back to my $60 ridgid and feel it does a better job. The ridgid does go up to 12k rpm so maybe it just feels it’s doing more.

It could also be the 5” sanding discs I’m using, klingspor brand, they don’t clog but are 4-5 years old.

I’ll figure out a way to conduct a test.

I wouldn’t mind the Bosch 5” or 6” geared dual mode sander though.

[Robyn Horton]

You'll have to see what orbit each of those sanders has. A small Orbit say 3mm , 3/32 will be less aggressive than a 5mm Orbit. The small 3mm are more for Finish sanding.

[Jerome Stanek]

Funny you are talking about Mirka products as I just finished up a job for their trade show booth Friday

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I put quite a few miles on my 6" Deros this weekend, that thing always impresses me. Comparing it to the Dewalt, Bosch, and Makita I've had around over the years is night and day. I'm using Autonet and on #5 setting it is extremely fast for a ROS. I'm good at tearing up mesh on corners, but I'm blaming me, not the sander for that. Not familiar with the e-sander, but if it's similar it could be bad paper.

[Patrick Varley]

It could also be the 5” sanding discs I’m using, klingspor brand, they don’t clog but are 4-5 years old.

I'd try it with some Abranet (or similar). Perhaps not getting as efficient dust extraction from the surface and limiting performance.

[Tom Bender]

My projects are generally small so speed is not important, control is. These work well, normally dialed down to lower speed. One with 80 grit and one with 320. Intermediate grits not needed. Sanding time for a flat square foot of Oak is less than 2 minutes each. Knots, tear out and glue joints take longer.

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