For those that use one; Which make/model and why?
Best regards to all.
Old School
Porter Cable 330 Speed-Bloc Sander
New School
Mirka 5" Deros orbital sander
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuqbI3EOL_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsNAx-H_xMs
I love my mirka with the abranet screens
I have a festools Rotex but its a monster compared to the Mirka
I have only heard great things about the porter cable from ding repair folks it seems indestructable
Oneula; Thanks for the input. My Porter Cable 7336 is giving me problems (gear & pinion are worn). It probably has 30 hours on it…but warrantee is expired. Looking for parts and a back up (non PC).
Festool Rotex smooth and quiet but pricey. metabo sxe 450 6", very smooth. Hard to find. There was a metabo-built same exact sander in orange instead of green, sold as the ridgid r2610… if you can find one, buy it. not the same as the ridgid R2611 which is a cheap knockoff and not the same quality. Bosch makes a 6" sander the 1250dves which has a very aggressive setting, if you are a sander in a hurry. Otherwise I’d pick one of the others. If cheap is important the ridgid r2611 is cheap but don’t expect a long life out of it, unless you get lucky. Lots of used and rebuilt ones but rolling the dice on those.
The Porter Cable 330 is a palm sander, not a random orbital. I’ve been using an older Bosch 1207 for years. The one with the D handle that flips down. It seems they don’t make them any more and the newer 1207 doesn’t have the handle. Kinda sucks. Another random orbital I’ve used a lot was a Porter Cable that looks like a small sander/polisher. Not sure of the model number but it was well built, stable, and efficient. I used that one in a cabinet shop where I used to work.
$129 for a 6" R/O sander polisher with polishing pad.
https://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-7346SP-6-Inch-Random-Polishing/dp/B002EQ96MG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1507986329&sr=8-2&keywords=7346+porter+cable
I have a SpeedBloc that has been a workhorse for over twenty years. And that is working as a carpenter and putting it through the paces many times over. I hope the newer models are as robust as the oldies. Ereplacementparts.com should have most parts you need for Porter Cables and many other brands as well.
I’m not really a fan of random orbitals for surfboards.
I think you would be happier with a disk sander/ polisher, and then a vibrating sander. Not a 1/4 sheet palm, but a good heavy half sheet. Porter Cable 505.
There are many RO sanders out there, but it’s not the type or brand that is important it’s what you intend to do with it. If you’re sanding full boards, they are not efficient in fast removal and especially getting things flat compared to a pure rotary. This is primarily due to the small pad size. Sure, if you’re a great glasser and can start sanding hotcoats at 220 you possibly could use this tool, but I’ve never seen any pro with that skill level use one. Another problem is the grit that has to be used. In general very coarse grits need to be used (as compared to rotary) or else the area you’re working on will heat up really fast (due to the inefficiency) which will create more problems. If you have ever used a Festool Rotex this inefficiency is immediately apparent as this tool can switch between RO and combination rotary/RO. I use this tool in combo mode for rails only, and it is the preferred tool for production repair since it has a 6" pad and is much more efficient than just RO but not overkill on a 2" ding as a Milwaukee would be. But unless you’re getting some revenue from what you build, that Rotex will cost you $900 (3 Milwaukee’s). Despite how good that sander is, I’ve tried doing full boards and it isn’t the right tool. There are probably many people out there sanding boards using everything from belt to orbital sanders or doing it all by hand. When it comes to sanding less is more; you don’t want to be sanding 3-4 hours if you could do this in 30 min. or less. So if you want results like production shops, use the same tools and develop the skill to use them.
Pro sander rotative+orbital mode with vacuum connected is a polyvalent tool specialy if you work with epoxy where dust can be dangerous. Many composite pro shop use those tools. I use bosh 150 turbo, not cheap but efficient and compatible with all sandpaper scratch grit.
For me dust control takes priority over speed, whether epoxy or poly (or wood for that matter). Dust is nasty stuff.
I ha e a super cheap one - don’t know the brand, probably paid 40 bucks for it.
I use it for 400+ grits on my gloss coats and it works great! - no swirls and a very nice finish.
Sander/polisher for heavy sanding and anything up to the gloss coat.
I’m wanting to try one of these. You can get them at Lowe’s for 90 bucks every few weeks or so.
nothing beats the Mirka direct drive sander air or electric powered
instant on instant off almost no vibration
with abranet mesh sheets and a strong vac almost zero dust
I have a 5" rotex and vac setup
its more powerful but no competition to the Mirko
you want to power through and get real flats you need something heavy with lots of amps like a milwaukee
the mirka is for a fine touch but it can cut with the right screens
We use the big 1/2 sheeters. They make boards buttery… fast.
We have 2 Milwaukee 4410s
And these 3 Makitas.
Pete’s right about there being a time and place. If I a beginner I suppose a 1750 RPM Sander/Polsher might make me nervous. But once you’ve become accustomed to using a thumb dial variable speed sander/polisher an Orbital doesn’t have much significance. Don’t get me wrong; They can be used for things like dings, removing swirl marks as a result of overly corse grit and poor sanding, dust control etc. although for dust control I noticed recently that Home Depot carries a “dust bonnet” made by Dewault that can be used on any seven inch sander/polisher. I have an older model “blue” Ryobi set up with 3M pad that I use exclusively for burnishing my wipe-on sealer on my sanded finish boards. I occasionally use one to sand or fine tune my wooden tailblocks. But a Die Grinder could handle that task just as well if not better. Hot coats, wet & dry sanding, rub outs and gloss & polish really should be done with a sander/polisher. Lowel
I know a lot of production guys who run the half sheet Milwaukee’s for finishing. I had the 2 4410s in a box. After watching guys at 2 shops I took them out and added the Makita. Totally steps up the finish per board in a matter of minutes.
Some clarification: All random orbit sanders have round pads, oscillating sanders have rectangular/square pads. RO sanders both vibrate and drive the pad in eccentric circles but don’t spin it. Oscillating sanders essentially just vibrate the pad. There are 3 exceptions when it comes to RO sanders: (1) Bosch has one that will drive in two forms of eccentric circles, normal and turbo, (2) Festool makes one that spins with RO, (3) Mirka “direct-electric” is just an RO but has a brushless motor which delivers more power to the pad so it’s very efficient with less vibration. Other common RO sanders are generally considered only finishing sanders. Those 3 exceptions bridge the gap between heavy stock removal and finish sanding, but all cost $400 USD and up. In my opinion, no RO sander comes close to a rotary for heavy sanding (i.e. fins, longboards) and this has to do with max pad size, rpm, tool weight. But if you want real dust collection built into the tool, then RO and oscillating sanders are the only option. There are dust hoods for rotary sanders, but they only work on flats and even then not efficiently. I’ve tried them and you really can’t see what you’re doing.
Pete, I spent the money for a hood for my 7 1/2 pad and it was a mess. Too many hoses and too inefficient. I thought it was just me, but relieved to see you agree with the inefficiency.
all the best
The turbo mode of my bosh is a forced rotary (ie spins?) combined to the excentric. At 2.4 kg this tool is not so light, my sander/polisher is 2.9kg, but more agressive in turbo mode. First time i use it, it turn my hand need to take it both hand firmly but it projected board out of my stands. Know i be carreful to use my body to keep board in place.
