Anybody polishing with random orbit sander? If so how ya doing it?
I am looking at a 6" electric made by Fein tools
You can get all sorts of pads,abrasives and compounds so it gets confusing.
I polish boards with Milwaukee polisher but it is to aggressive for furniture.
Cleanlines- Are you talking about their MSf 636-1 Random Orbital Sander? If so, I think your choosing the wrong tool for the purpose.
Fein makes great tools (I use one of their Multimaster Tools both in my construction business & when I build boards(great for sanding down laps), but a ROS hardly spins when it comes into contact with the surface( the more you put pressure down on the surface, the less it spins). It mostly just oscillates, which probably wouldn’t be very effective with a bonnet & compounds.
If your Milwaukee doesn’t have variable speed control, I would suggest buying a variable speed control unit like the type they sell @ Rockler.com (Rockler Router Speed Control - Item #25278) first. I’ve used mine with both my router & a diegrinder, so I know they work.
Hope this helps.
Yea I have a Milwaukee varispeed that I use for sanding and polishing surfboards.Been doing it for 40 years’
This lacquer thing is a bit more tricky. Lacquer is thinner and u can burn thru in a heartbeat. I realize this is a surfboard forum but maybe someone out there knows something.
In furniture and musical instruments, the tradition is to apply multi coats of lacquer FINELY sanding between and finishing with a wool polisher and compound. In later day furniture, guys coat lacquer with a polyurethane to finish to a polish. For a fine lacquer wood finish go to: stewmac.com. Stewart MacDonald guitar materials. They have everything you want for finishing.
Hi Roger, Festool and Fein sanders are very similar (including the high cost). The combination rotary + random orbit models are primarily for the solid-surface countertop industry, and they use them out to 1000+ grit then polish with the same tool. RPM’s are way too low to polish resin, but fine for countertops. We use a Festool 6" mostly for ding business and rails on new boards, Milwaukee for everything else.
I use random+ Forced rotary (when you want like festool) bosh pro sander connected on vaccum for everything from hard sanding to polish. When you find which grit to use ( start coarser than with rotary polisher) it’s as effective if not more and dust free. I start to use it after i work in a hi tech composits factory, they laugh at me when i show them my rotary sander/polisher and explain me how to use a “real” sander. Most of parts were carbon made in vaccum bag but they sand prep and finish a lot.
i’ve had a festools rotex with vacuum for years, its a good tool like the fein.
I think fein and bosch are made in the same factory
but i really like my new mirca sander with their sanding screens
so much better than paper
in fact i used to just use the mirca abranet screen on an homedepot ROS before it died and I switched over to a portercable
I think that porter cable finish sander with a felt pad would work
mirca has some 6" 2000-12,000 grit pads as well
I discovered mirca abranet from my wood turner’s forum
i also have a milwaukee and makita vaiable speed which are good for powering flats not so sure about workworking though
never seen a woodworker use a milwaukee on a dresser or piece of furniture its usually a ROS or finish sander for lacquer finishes
I inherited a couple really old single speed sears polishers that work well for polishing lots of torque
love this sander, quiet no pressure required and dustless
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbx7Q7gFUSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsNAx-H_xMs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRoqfKesmp0
Impressive, Oneula. Can you really use it indoors? As in my shop? I’ve been doing all my sanding outside with my Dewalt and mirka pad. I would love to move that back inside.
i tried the mirka and the fess tool, i ended up with the fess tool Ro150feq and midi vac as it was nicer to hold however i did make a adapter as the side handle mount is not centred with the shaft. There is also a nice clip on mount that goes on the front which is nice for some applications. The only thing i wish is that they did it in the 180 size as 150 is a little small. The fesstool paper is ok (not quite as good as indasa) the abranett is nice too but not sure how compatible it is with the fess tool pads. Dust free sanding is so nice though its well worth the investment in a good filtered vac system
I have the bosh 150 pro on vaccum cleaner, when pad is fully connected to surface you can sand without mask. On rails or with angle there are some dust, but they can be limited if you have a really powerfull vaccum cleaner. If i remenber well Mirka ceros sander is an orbital sander, my bosh like the festool one is a roto orbital where you can forced rotation for hard sanding, wich is nice for first sanding, just hard to keep sander in hand sometimes with hard pad and agressive grit, need to use body to stop board projection out of stand.
i have the adaptor pad for the rotex but I had to cut out more holes to maximize the vacuum flow
you can also attach the screens direct to the festool rotex but pad wear would be an issue those festol accessories cost a mint
I don’t like the rotex handle for extremely long sanding periods and I still get carpel tunnel issues with the rotex even though they say it has low vibration. In one of the videos it shows a comparison among sanders in both noise and vibration.
I have a milwaukee and makita if I need to do heavy sanding which in my opion requires the weight of a milwaukee to get the flats right. I think the term is to let the sander do all the work and not apply pressure.
but the mirca screens cut so quickly you don’t need to apply allot of pressure/ I like a tool that cuts fast that you have to use a light tough and more finesse with.
I don’t know of anything 100% dust free I thought the festools was good but the mirca screens with a strong vacuum blew my mind, They use festool setups in home remodeling jobs so it can be used in home I guess
I once heard a theory by my pops that if you really want it done right do it by hand using wet sanding only but that was back in the early 70’s. Something about feeling the surface of your creation