um is a random orbital sander any good for sanding a whole board ,seems kinda slow on ding repairs…shame i spent like 80 bucks on itnnow its too late to return doh!
Bob, Don’t throw it away. Random orbit sanders are great for smoothing out small areas and the edges of repairs. You may not have had a coarse enough grit on the paper if it’s going too slow. Try 80 or 100 grit. Doug
Yea Bob… that’s 80 bucks though. It’ll do a whole board, but it might not do 4. I bought one for my first board, it was cheaper though, probably on $40 - it was burnt out by number 3. Ended up spending (another) $30 at Harbour Freight for a disc sander - ten times faster, more consistant, and no signs of problems after 6 more boards. But it comes with an 18 month warranty just in case. Take Doug’s advice, save it for repairs or gettin in small areas.
Bob, There are things to remember with a random orbit. As Doug said, try it with coarser grits. But probably the most important is to not put much if any downward pressure on the tool - let the tool do the work. The more you bear down on it, the less effecient it is. A light touch will give great results. As with any sander, keep it moving. I think it’s great for sanding concaves. Where a power pad would oversand the highs and not get in the concaves, the random orbit - with a light touch (can’t emphasize that enough)- is my personal favorite. But, they are not good going around tight curves so I would not try to wrap it around rails. Stick with the tried and true and sand the rails by hand.
yeah thanks, i guess it sounds ok then…i guess one plus is that it might be harder to accidentally sand too deep.
Actually you can sand through the weave pretty easy with the RO the disk is relatively rigid so it will burn through around rails noses etc. Check out the “other” grinder sander thread and get the 25.00 model discussed with a powerpad. Save yourself the money on advil and fiberglass patches later.
its funny how the power pad costs more than the sander
What exactly is a power pad? Thanks; Frank
Frank, Look here. Scroll down. http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/ShapingTools/shapingtools.html It’s a soft pad for a rotary sander. Eric J http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/ShapingTools/shapingtools.html