I am sanding with the grain using two Festool sanders (R2E and RTS400EQ) on white pine panels. I’m using 100 through 180 grit and not skipping grits, vacuuming and wiping the surface with mineral spirits between grits. I have tried sanding with light and heavy pressure and with and without a vacuum attached to the sanders.
The following problems occur:
the sanders will follow the grain like a train on a track, sometimes jumping violently across the board, usually when encountering a knot but not always.
the sanders leave a trail of swirl marks across the wood.
Please tell me what I’m doing wrong and how I can correct these problems.
Thank You
Bob
Replies
Hi Bob,
Swirl marks or as some people call them, pigtails, with a random orbital sander is common. It's one the reasons I stopped using them altogether and instead plane my wood with a hand plane. Then I sand with 150-220 with a 1/4 sheet palm sander. No matter how hard I tried, either relaxing the pressure on the random orbital or switching sandpaper discs rapidly, I could never overcome the swirls. Even 220 grit paper left swirls that would telescope once I put the finish on. Frustrating!
Bob,
Do these sanders have mode selection switches? The problem could be that the orbital motion is locked out. You seem to be doing everything right otherwise.
Good luck, Tom.
Bob,
I'm not familiar with either of these models and I could only find an image of the RTS400EQ on the web. This looks more like a pad sander than a more traditional round random orbit sander. I've had this problem with a 1/4 sheet pad sander but I'm surprised that the Festool sanders are doing this. Is there any friend you can borrow a 5 or 6 in. r/o orbit sander from? I would try the 150 grit, light pressure, slow to medium speed if the tool has speed selection, and no vacuum attached. My guess is that the swirl marks will disappear. Perhaps you could have a friend try sanding using your sanders to see if they have the same problem. If so, contact Festool.
Best of luck,
Mark Schofield.
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