Replies

1. 
   Elcoholic | Jun 11, 2002 10:42pm | #1

   Orbital palm sanders run in a fixed orbit and therefore leave an orbital scratch pattern which is more visible than the random pattern left by an RO.  I have 2 RO's and 2 oribital palm sanders.  I use them for getting into corners and on round overs.  I use them before the RO.  On the RO's I use hook and loop disks.  On the orbitals I use the Trimite PSA papers that come on rolls.

   John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

2. 
   RLMillard | Jun 13, 2002 03:25am | #2

   RO sanders are a vast improvement over orbital sanders. I have used both, much more than I’d like to. The RO sander is more aggressive, but has less of a tendency to leave swirl marks, than an orbital sander. I use my orbital sander to level sand between coats of varnish, where its being less aggressive is a blessing, other than that I have no use for it. I have three rules for all finishing sanders, 1 never use anything more coarse than 180 grit paper, 2 move the sander slowly, and last but not least, don’t think of a sander as a tool to remove stock, doing so always results in substandard work. One exception to this last rule is I use 320 grit to break sharp edges, as I do the final sanding before finishing.