Thread: Random Orbital Sander questions

Silent, first thing first, get the Metabo because I have one so you must buy it too. Seriously it is a great machine.

Now the disks, $30 for a pack of 25 is too expensive. It is more like $12 for a pack of 20.

I only use 80 grit, 100 grit and 180 grit. The coarse ones don’t last long but the 180 grit ones last forever. Forget about cutting the disks yourself unless you are prepared punch 6 holes every time.

Is this the one you've got?



It looks nice. $399 at my local power tool shop.

That's also where I got the price for the disks. It's still expensive compared to my palm sander though. I could buy a new foot for it for about $50 and keep on using paper from the roll I bought in 2006. And it sounds like one of those model aeroplane engines. So soothing...

Oh that is a sexy model. No, I bought mine before that one came out.

This is her big sister


She is a few years older but just as hot.

A pack of 100 grit sanding disk will last me a year and you know how much woodwork I do in a year don't you? C'mon they are not that expensive.

SilentC,

I borrowed my mates Metabo Duo for a while, then I went and bought the Duo Tec which you've shown above, it's an excellent machine.

For paper get it from this guy in Brisbane - the paper is cheap and the quaity is top rate.

http://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/

I bought mine before that one came out.

So if I buy one of them, I'll have something better than you? Where do I sign??

Do you buy your disks online or in Chatswood Mall?

For paper get it from this guy in Brisbane - the paper is cheap and the quaity is top rate.

OK, so it's $50 for 100 disks.

I still want to know what they do with the corners. I could have used that for fiddly little bits, you know. They should give it to you instead of chucking it out.

I got mine fomr Chatswood Mall.


OK OK I bought the disk from that sandpaper bloke at the show. I can't remember his wedsite but I can find for you tonight.

It wouldn't be The Sandpaper Man by any chance, would it?

Originally Posted by silentC

It wouldn't be The Sandpaper Man by any chance, would it?

Don't worry Wongo's a bit slow today. Finding out that others have newer models of things has knocked him for 6.

I didn't know he was the sandpaper man and I didn't know he was from Brisbane. Let's just call him fat Albert OK.

BTW, I am not slow. According to my daugher's Nintendo DS, my brain is very healthy. Yesterday night I did 100 maths questions in 74 seconds.

Originally Posted by silentC

I've never owned a ROS and I'm thinking about buying one. I've got a Makita palm sander, which is wearing out and needs repair or replacing. I've checked the prices etc and it looks like a 150mm unit is the go. Probably Makita or Metabo.

However, my question relates to the sanding disks. They seem expensive to me at a price of around $30 for a pack of 25. At the rate I use paper in the palm sander, I'd go through that in a month. I can buy a whole role of the paper I use in the palm sander for around $30 and that lasts me at least a year, probably two.

So there are two questions I have:

1. Do you find that the disks last a lot longer than normal paper?
2. Can you buy the stuff in bulk and make your own? I suppose that's problematic because the things are round, which means a lot of waste. But I might as well have the waste for my own use rather than pay for it and not get it.

I have found that a company in Perth is just fantastic for the discs. They come with a 7th hole (in the centre) which adds life and effectiveness. They are called "Revcut" and they are blue in colour.

The beauty of this is that they come in all grits from 40 (FEROCIOUS with the Metabo Duo on 'turbo' cut) down to a quite remarkable 1200 grit, which would probably make a baby's bum shiny, but it wouldn't hurt the baby.

I bought boxes of these things recently in quantities of 50 for the heavy duty 40 grit and 100 to the box for the finer grits. Price for the boxes of 100 is $48 GST inclusive.

Great people, great service, and freight on these things to other parts of the country wouldn't be much at all. I'm in Perth and there's an office here, but they are also in Melbourne and Brisbane by the looks of it. Here's the website:

http://abrasiflex.com.au/

You can email them at: [email protected]

As for the lifespan of the abrasives, that would of course depend upon what you are doing with them. Pine clogs. Period. Hardwoods are no problem and you get long life from the discs. But the key is to apply basically no, and I mean NO pressure when sanding. It's always tempting, but believe it or not, the abrasives cut better when there's no pressure on them. I've been guilty of using the edge of the things to get a blemish out, but that's human nature.

The real key is to proceed through the grits in a disciplined way. Don't skip more than one grade. I typically will go 40 (if necessary) then 80, 120, 180, 240 and then for a fine piece, 400 or more. But in the finer grades I prefer to hand sand unless dealing with a big surface like a dinner table.

Finally, do use a mask when sanding! I have a great Fein shop vacuum which activates when you pull the trigger on the sander, and there is basically no dust in the air at all. It's amazing. But when I'm dealing with particulates that are produced by fine grits, I wear a mask as well. You only get one set of lungs as a rule. Protect them!

Hope that helps.

Michael

Thanks for all the info, Michael. I will check those guys out too.

It's also looking like the consensus is that the Metabo is one to get. I would have instinctively gone for the Makita but, having a look at them today, I thought the Metabo looked the better unit. The sales guy (if you can call him that, we don't really have sales people here as such) raved about it.

I still need to weigh up the costs. I work almost exclusively in hardwood. I actually don't use a sander all that much. For frame parts I tend to plane and/or scrape and then go straight to wet and dry hand sanding. I use the sander on panels and tops. I gather an ROS will eat those for breakfast.

Originally Posted by silentC

Thanks for all the info, Michael. I will check those guys out too.

It's also looking like the consensus is that the Metabo is one to get. I would have instinctively gone for the Makita but, having a look at them today, I thought the Metabo looked the better unit. The sales guy (if you can call him that, we don't really have sales people here as such) raved about it.

I still need to weigh up the costs. I work almost exclusively in hardwood. I actually don't use a sander all that much. For frame parts I tend to plane and/or scrape and then go straight to wet and dry hand sanding. I use the sander on panels and tops. I gather an ROS will eat those for breakfast.

SilentC, you're right. It's horses for courses. I love the Metabo, and the only real competition comes from the Festool mob. I don't have pockets that deep. It comes with something like a 5 year warranty, it's made in Germany, and hey, these days I like subsidising economies that are not immediately due north.

I'll add a rave here, but also say that this is an extraordinarily useful tool and I use it a lot. You can get rid of glue lines in a flash, polish out a blemish without planing and scraping, and with the sophistication of these machines, the scratch patterns that used to be the real issue with pad sanders is virtually non-existent. You won't be unhappy that you bought it. I promise. But do consider a shop vac that you can plug your machine into. The Fein one I bought is absolutely fantastic, and not that expensive either. long, long hose and no bags inside. Just a quality, German built machine.

Good luck, and happy sanding!

Michael

What they have all said

If you are able to connect it to a vacuum or dust collector they are even better, cleaner and discs last longer.

I connect mine to my Sturdee mini cyclone.