Sanders choices?

[tom-ky]

Got some Tongue and groove pine inside of the man cave I want to smooth out some before finishing it. Would a 1/4 orbital or random orbit sander be best?

 

[dnschmidt]

Random orbit is the replacement for orbital. Orbital died the day Porter-Cable released the 333 random orbit model. Been this way for over 25 years now.

 

[trainer]

Random orbit. Not a good tool to cheap out on, even it it is for one job. Cheap ones generally have low powered motors and the orbital bearing may not spin as freely as better ones.

It makes a huge difference on the quality if finish and rate of production.

a belt sander with a fine grit and lignt touch may be better , depending on how much you plan to sand.

 

[aptdweller]

I have (and have used) a lot of different random orbital sanders. They are all pretty similar, with the exception of the Festool version. Assuming you don't want to spend $500 on a sander, I'd recommend the Bosch variable speed model. I've had it for a few years and don't have any complaints.

 

[tarbellb]

Go Makita or Bosch...RO is a great all around sander to have.

 

[the gypsy]

The orbital sander is now call the 1/4 sheet sander as it has a very small circular pattern only noticeable with rough sandpaper but not noticeable with very fine sandpaper. The random orbit work fast and can be tricky. If you start the sander off the piece you want to sand the fact that it spins in a circular motion with no load it can be tricky to put it onto the workpiece without gouging the wood a little. I always start the RO sander on the piece I wish to sand. I personally like some of the old Black and Decker 1/3 sheet sanders with the dual action, choice of orbital or front to back motion. Providing the sander is in line with the grain of the wood it will look like it was hand sanded. So in this situation you can use a rougher sandpaper. In the case that you want to stain the wood, the wood will absorb the stain better with the rougher surface.