Finish sanders?

[Jim Becker]

Do the Festool, etc have lock-on button on the switch? That is key to reducing hand impacts IME.

Yes, you can lock it "on" while sanding so you can focus on moving the tool around without holding the trigger.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I have not used Mirka sanders but I am a big fan of my Festool ETS EC 150/3 as a finish sander and for all lighter duty work. Dust collection is, of course, top notch with a proper extractor, but the reduced vibration is night and day better compared to more budget oriented sanders. You do have to pay a price for this type of performance, though I would argue that it’s easily worth it if 2 of your biggest factors are dust collection and vibration sensitivity.

[chuck van dyck]

Cordless Makita 1/4 sheet sander is great and easy on the hand. Good dust collection with a festool vac and does an amazing job prepping for finish.
Also often included with the awesome promos Makita launches a few times a year. I an a Makita guy through and through though I do have the big bosch 6” rotex thing when needed.

[Carl Beckett]

I also upgraded to the Festool ETS (I went with the /5) and their vacuum. It has made a tremendous difference. Dust collection is excellent. Expensive being the only negative I can give it.

Combined with padded gloves?

[Lee Schierer]

I had problems with numbness in my hand when I first stated using my Porter Cable ROS. I determined that I was gripping it too hard and applying too much down pressure. When I relaxed a bit and let the weight of the sander do the job, I had less swirl marks and a smoother finish.

[Alan Lightstone]

I am finishing that end table I started several years ago. Two days ago, I made a couple discoveries in the process about my aging body. One, I am now somewhat allergic to wood sanding dust ...

Might also be time to change the cartridge in your respirator and think about improving the air filtration in your shop. I always date the filters on my air filter and respirator, and sadly forget how long they've been on there. It's impressive how long they seem to perform well, but it only takes a microscopic amount of an antigen to trigger an allergic reaction, so you need to be super over-the-top about this. I always keep my respirator on until the Dylos reads ambient. You might need to keep it on until you reach far lower levels - again, it takes only tiny amounts of the antigen to trigger the allergy.

And having a good vacuum with HEPA filters attached to the sander would be a good idea too. Isn't it nice how we all like to vicariously spend other peoples money?

[Justin Rapp]

I know many mentioned festool and some other brands. I went to festool for the dust collection and reduced vibrations. Sanding now isn't a a nasty painful job, even fun sometimes. However if you do want to avoid machines, I sat through a finishing seminar and while not sold on hand sanding, I was amazed at how easy it really was to hand sand using the proper sand paper and a good sanding block. The sanding block I have is the 7 dollar POS from the big box store. However I did buy a powertech hand sander (festool style knock-off) and it works really well. The sanding block used in the seminar was from Bush Products https://bushproducts.com/products/sanding-blocks but has no dust collection.

The only downside, instead of slight vibration from the festool sander, now there is repetitive motion in the shoulder and elbow that could cause some issue.