UKC

Hi,

I've got a couple of projects coming up - doing up some old furniture (pulling the old paint off and either having a nice wood finish or repainting), and possibly building a boat, and I'm realising I'm going to be in need of some kind of sander. The questions is what type or types of sanders will be best for my job? What are the differences between them? I was thinking initially just getting a delta sander a with the furniture there's details and corners that I'll need to get into, but would a delta sander just take forever? Would a random orbital sander be better as an alternative or do I need both? I was thinking about a belt sander for speed, but I suspect it would be too aggressive, and hard to control for the relative fine stuff I want to do.

In any event, I'll be doing the work in proximity to a building with power, so was planning on a corded version, and probably with some kind of dust extraction too.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

In reply to Green Porridge:

Hi, I'm a wooden boatbuilder (for 17 years) I also make some furniture and sculpture with my wife. I own all the sanders you mention and there is a simple answer to your question....
Buy a good quality random orbital. As well as an orbital action the random will spin at the same time, this makes for more efficient cutting and reduces the "pigtail" scratches that orbital sanders can leave in the wood surface. Extraction is essential in my view, Alto do great vaccum extractors that you sander will plug into, this removes the dust through the machine (the sanding discs have holes in) not only reducing dust in your workshop but will allow the paper to cut better and last longer. I like Makita sanders with a relatively coarse orbit, cheap sanders will only be a waste of money and usually have too fine an orbit. I would advise staying away from Festool, expensive and actually not very good. Use Mirka discs either the "Gold" or the twice as expensive but longer lasting "Abranet". I don't use my standard orbital sanders at all anymore, my belt sander occasionally and never a delta sander, detail is done by hand. I use my 150mm sander most and I have a 125mm for smaller work.
I hope that is of help,
Jb.

In reply to Green Porridge:

I'm a furniture maker and have build 1 boat.

I've got all kinds of sanders. Belt, random orbital, delta and Rotex.

If I could only have 1 I'd keep my Festool RO90. It's a rotary, orbital and Delta sander that switches between modes and performs each function pretty well. The dust extraction is very good. It is expensive however.

If I didn't want to spend that kind of money it would be a 125mm disc-type random orbital. Maybe add a cheap delta if I had a job with lots of corners.

In reply to John Mcshea:

Excellent advice there, thanks.
There is a benefit to having speed variable sanders as at high rpm some finishes melt on to the sanding pads and make a gloppy mess, but keeping the revs low stops this.

I have a rather lovely Makita ROS and a half sheet sander, plus a big f-off belt job that is good for rapid shifting of large wood volumes (especially tidying up poorly cut ends!). I'd say expect to pay >100 for a decent ROS (Makita, DeWalt, blue Bosch etc) with variable speed and get a mix of discs - cheapo ones for when it doesn't really matter, and more expensive, across the grit grades.

b

In reply to all:

Thanks all - that's just the sort of advice I was looking for. It looks like a random orbital sander will be the best option. From what you say, it'll do most of what I want it to - for the detail I'll give it a go by hand, and if I don't get on with that buy a cheap/ borrow a delta sander for those bits.

Is there anything I should particularly look out for when buying a sander? It'll have to remain relatively budget as it'll only be used occasionally so taking a little bit more time on what will be relatively small jobs anyway is not worth the extra money. Is power a particular issue? Do a few Watts either way make much of difference, or is it more a question of buying quality discs? What kind of surfaces tend to melt?

Thanks for the help!

In reply to Green Porridge:

Depends if your ploughing over biggish flat areas or working in awkward places. I swap sanders depending on the one-handedness, a 150mm Festo is a fair lump but a 110mm? Bosch a comfortable size. Mostly it´s the 125mm I use.
Make sure you can easily get replacement pads (not the discs, the pad they stick to) and preferably in different hardnesses, for curved stuff it´s important. And variable speed as mentioned before.

In reply to John Mcshea:

Festool. Not very good?

You must be kidding.

I've got a no.3 orbital and its the best sander I've ever had .

Festool tools are slowly filling my van .and there's a reason for that. They are excellent.

In reply to Green Porridge:
Unless by furniture you mean a dirty great oak sea chest then get a smallish random orbital for now, I can't really advise on brands though. I would definitely second the comment about needing extraction as a sander is second only to an angle grinder for generating huge volumes of dust. Depending on where you are working I would suggest the cheapest and probably best option is sticking a homemade cyclone onto your hoover unless you have a lot of cash going spare.

In reply to Green Porridge:

I got a Titan ROS from screwfix. Reviews are good and it is the bomb about the house. Not much more than 40 bar. Not a tradesmens tool for sure - but occasional use and for those on a budget...