Randon orbital sander

[ozwinner]

Hello Gentlemens, and how are you today?

When I go through the grits with the ROS, up to 1200 grit, I still get these annoying little swirls from previous grits.
I'm sure that I sand well enough between grit changes.
What am I doing wrong?

Is it a rogue grit on the paper?
Contamination from one paper to another?
Loose grit left on the timber? ( this is my first choice )

Thank you for your input.

Cheers, Al the Swirler.

[allan01]

hi, i used to get the same thing with my triton ros, i've been told that it's small dust(wood) particles that get traped under the sander. at christmass my wife let me (after alot of nagging) bye the festol rotex sander, problem solved.

[Driver]

Al

Gotta agree with allan01 for exactly the same reasons. I used to have this problem with my Triton ROS. Doesn't happen with my Festo. Without doubt part of the reason for this is that it's coupled up to a vacuum that pulls almost all of the dust out from under the revolving pad.

The other solution, of course (before the rest of the handplane aficianados jump into this one) is to use a well-tuned smoothing plane: a Stanley 4 or 4½ will do nicely. This will leave a beautifully polished finish that needs no sandpaper. Of course - if you want to get really sniffy about it, you could go the whole hog and track down an old Norris or Spiers infill smoothing plane - or take out a second mortgage and buy a new Holtey.

Regards

Col

[ozwinner]

Hi guys
Iwas thinking about the Festool.
But which one, the 3mm or the 5mm rotation, or is there no difference?
Cheers, Al the Enlightened.

[derekcohen]

Al

If you consider that a ROS will be your main finishing tool, get the Festo 3mm. The 5mm has a more aggressive cut, but frankly in practice (with high grit sandpaper) I doubt that you would be able to tell one from another.

Both Col and I have the same. earlier Festo model, which has a 3mm cut, and it is capable of very high quality work. I do not consider it a tool to hog off material, which the Triton is better suited to. Keep the Triton for coarser grits (below 120) and move to the Festo for 120 and above.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Sprog]

Originally posted by ozwinner
Hello Gentlemens, and how are you today?

When I go through the grits with the ROS, up to 1200 grit, I still get these annoying little swirls from previous grits.
Cheers, Al the Swirler.

Clean off your work between grits, use a tack cloth or compressed air.

[ozwinner]

Hi Guys
Well heres something interesting, I sanded some timber today outside and it was blowing a gale, and I got no swirlys............whoooo.
I also started the sander off the timber.
Both of which seemed to help.

Cheers, Al

[derekcohen]

Al

Out of interest, what grits are you using? I would be very surprised if you were swirl-free with even high grits on the Triton. And if you are using lower range grits, then we are talking on a different level. The Triton it is just too coarse a sander to produce fine finishes. This may only show up after a finish goes on. I am not knocking the Triton, per se - I have one and used it a lot (in pre-Neanderthal times) - just noting its limitations.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[ozwinner]

Hi Derek
I dont have a Triton sander, I use a Hitachi 125mm Z series.
I start at 60 grit and work down to1200.
I sanded some Huon today, and applied some PianoOil, I dont own an Organ, otherwise I would use OrganOil.
Anyway, after putting on the finish, no swirls.
So I figure its rogue grits comeing loose and contaminating the next size grit.
I also polish rocks as a hobby, and contamination is a big problem there too.
Cheers, Al

[derekcohen]

Al

You're certainly better using the Triton than I ever was. I owe you a drink, I think. Well done.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Neil]

Put some dark stain on the houn and wipe it off, Then you will see how good it worked. If you have been plagued with swirls on all your past work I'll just about bet they still there, you just can't see them in the light colour of the wood.

Cheers - Neil

PS 60 grit..... Bloody hell! What are you sanding??

[ozwinner]

Staining Huon!! bad boy.
I used 60 grit on a belt sander rather than wack it through the thinneser. I didnt want to waste a skerrik of this precious timber.
What is a skerrik anyway? I didnt see it in your book.

Cheers, Al

[bitingmidge]

I have always considered a Skerric to be equal to two Bees Dicks.

I understand that a Poofteenth is a bit bigger than a Bees Dick, while a smidgen is smaller, but I don't know by how much.:confused:

P

[RETIRED]

A gnats

[soundman]

With any random orbit machine forced dust extraction is a must.
for two reasons
1. it improves performance & makes the abrasive last longer
2. its sooo clean because the dust extraction works so well.

if you are looking at the good ramdom machines

the metabo duo is well worth the look it has switchable orbit size & is a great machine currently under $300 at any decent supplier.

I and two mates have them & we are happy.

I'd like to stack up the festo, the metabo & the bosch side by side just for interest.

ps
you will always have swirls but hopefully they will be sooo small you cant see them.