Replies

1. 
   gb93433 | Jun 27, 2008 05:01am | #1

   What do you want to be able to do with it and how much money do you want to spend?

1. 
   genecoder | Jun 27, 2008 08:25pm | #2

   I want to do the general sanding of the wood and making it smooth and the other general stiuff woodworking. I do not want to spend that much but I do want quality.

    

   Thank You

1. 
   gb93433 | Jun 27, 2008 09:45pm | #3

   Generally size and quality of the machine go along with the cost. Could you give some more details about what you will be doing. For example are you looking for a belt sander, a random orbit sander, or a palm sander?

2. 
   [email protected] | Jun 27, 2008 10:06pm | #4

   There are several types of sanders.  Which one you want will depend on what you want to do with it. 

   Belt sanders are typically larger and made for removing large amounts of material, to flatten large surfaces, or cut down an edge.  They require a belt form paper, and are available from 30-grit through about 150-grit.  (The larger the number the finer the grain size)

   The random orbit sander is good for general smooting of a surface, and can be used for finish sanding with the appropriate grit of paper.  They all use round, precut sheets.  You can usually get papers for them down to 320-grit. 

   Orbital sanders are typically finish sanders.  They normally use 1/4 of a standard 8.5X11-inch sheet of sand paper.  Thus they can readily be used with grits up to 1200, and if you have a good supplier or shop online polishing papers with grits down to 1.5-micron can be used. 

   I have an ancient straight line sander that moves the paper just forward and back in a straight line.  I don't know of a currently produced one that is electric motor driven, but there are several air drive ones.  These are typically used for fast stock removal similar to a belt sander. 

   For general purpose use, I would recommend an random orbit sander.  You can sand most wood working projects with one to the final grits. 

   As for brands;  All but one of mine are Porter-Cable, but that is mostly because all of my Porter Cables all have the same 1-inch diameter dust collection hose hookup, and that matters to me.  I have found that sanding is virtually dust free, if I always run them hooked up to the shop vacuum. 

3. 
   flairwoodworks | Jun 27, 2008 11:39pm | #5

   For an all-around useful sander, I'd recommend a random orbit.  Most of the material I work with goes into the sanding phase relatively smooth (from a plane) and therefore does not require much material removal (belt sander).  For my final sanding, I sand by hand with the grain, which is relatively quick and painless provided I work the random orbit sander up high enough in grit.  A word of advice on sanding in general:  don't be lazy and skip grits - it ends up taking longer as you try to remove coarse scratches with fine sandpaper!

   Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com

    - Success is not the key to happines.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

4. 
   Sean2112 | Jun 29, 2008 05:53am | #6

   Gene-
   I have used many many sanders over the years. A random orbit sander will give you the least amount of "pigtails". However, finding grits finer than 220 at Lowe's or HD will never happen. That's where an orbital sander comes in handy. The Dewalt orbital is noisy and vibrates a lot, but the DW random orbit is smooth and powerful. The Bosch 5" RO has a great scratch pattern, but dust collection is horrible. I also have a Festool 150eq (WOW!). Great sander with superlative dust collection, but all abrasives are mail order, at least they are for me.
   Hope this helps,
   Sean