Random Orbital Sander

Tim Good

Tim Good

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Don't have one or ever used one but I've been told it's the tool for th job for sanding back teak after I've recaulked it and also sanding back my Iroki Capping rails before re-varnishing.

Has anyone has any experience with cordless versions and are they good or better to get a 240v version that has more meat to it?
 
Hi northcave
My opinion don't even bother with a cordless one . get a mains either 110v
Or just for home use a 240v
Check the orbit size . Some of the larger orbits will leave swirl marks if you look close
Some sanders have dual orbits .my favourite is a metabo 450 there is a new one out to replace it but unsure of the next model. depends what u are looking for industrial or occasional
 
The concept of random orbital sander has always had me intrigued. Now an orbital sander simply has a motor with a weight on the shaft that is off centre and off balance such that in rotating it it shakes the body with the sand paper attached. This gives a circular motion to the sand paper. Fine but how do they make it "random" or is that just a sales hype? The orbital sander I have does a nice smooth job but is not good at taking bulk material off. A belt sander is much better for heavy work. olewill
 
I've just bought one (Makita) after 30 years of owning a Bosch rectangular jobbie. The difference is quite incredible. Hook and loop paper is the icing on the cake. No detectable vibration to my hands. Quiet. Catches most of the dust.

It seems that the rotation is not positively driven, in that it will spin like mad when unloaded, but slows down to almost nothing under load. But frankly, even if it's got elves and fairies inside it doesn't matter. I'll never use the Bosch one again, and can't stop kicking myself for not trying one sooner.

Edit. Mine's mains, but I'd go cordless if I could afford enough batteries.
 
Rechargable may be good for very small areas but if you are doing a deck you will need a mains unit. The money spent on a good quality one is worth it. I would also make sure you can attach a hoover for dust extraction. I have had great service from my 125mm Ryobi but was even more impressed by the 150mm sander owned by John Morris of this parish - with any luck he will be along soon to tell you the make. I suspect it may have been a Makita.

Yoda
 
Ryobi is an excellent make. Can I suggest for the toe-rail a 'full' orbital sander could be a bit powerful - think of the Ryobi (or similar make) for a Palm Sander. A 'full' Orbital would benefit from adjustable speed. By the way with Teak and Iroko, don't go for 'standard' varnish, go to Woodfinish - preferably Epifanes but International do one. Varnish doesn't breath Teak or Iroko, Woodfinish does which benefits the species. It looks like varnish, is more wearing (footfall and UV) and much longer retaining. Epifanes Woodfinish also benefits from needing sanding between the coats of Woodfinish.
 
tillergirl said:
Ryobi is an excellent make. Can I suggest for the toe-rail a 'full' orbital sander could be a bit powerful - think of the Ryobi (or similar make) for a Palm Sander. A 'full' Orbital would benefit from adjustable speed. By the way with Teak and Iroko, don't go for 'standard' varnish, go to Woodfinish - preferably Epifanes but International do one. Varnish doesn't breath Teak or Iroko, Woodfinish does which benefits the species. It looks like varnish, is more wearing (footfall and UV) and much longer retaining. Epifanes Woodfinish also benefits from needing sanding between the coats of Woodfinish.
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Thanks. In fact I did exactly that last year and spent weeks taking off the old varnish to replace with International wood skin. It was terrible. Firstly it doesn't actually protect the wood and so anything that rubs on the cap rail like a warp, just rubs the wood skin off, and also it disappeared in places after 1 year leaving dark water stains where water had got in the wood but under existing patches of wood skin.

I also had inconsistent colours and international replaced the tins I had as some come out light and others dark, even in the same piece of capping rail.

I may try it again and may try 7 coats rather than the recommended 3 but I don't hold a huge amount of hope for it.
 
A word of warning regarding Ryobi. They make B&Q "specials". The only Ryobi tool I've had problems with is the Drills made for B&Q. The Batteries died within 18months (out of Guarantee) and Ryobi had no spares. They did have compatible batteries, but they cost more than the drills and they honestly advised me it would be cheaper to buy new drills.
 
northcave said:
Don't have one or ever used one but I've been told it's the tool for th job for sanding back teak after I've recaulked it and also sanding back my Iroki Capping rails before re-varnishing.

Has anyone has any experience with cordless versions and are they good or better to get a 240v version that has more meat to it?
Click to expand...

I went away from a random orbit sander due to the swirl marks. I now use a Festool linear sander always sanding with the grain.

http://www.festoolproducts.com/power-tools/festool-sanders/festool-567852-ls-130-linear-sander.html
 
I've found Ryobi tools excellent value for money but I am just a casual and occasional user so don't need to buy professional quality for regular hard use. If I did it for a living, I'd get Makita.
 
When I re-sheathed my plywood coachroof with epoxy impregnated fabric I bought a Metabo 150mm random orbital sander to rub it down before and after sheathing. It saved a lot of work but the Metabo sander had two things that could have done with improvement
1. The dust collecting cassette was useless. I think they have since changed the design.
2. There was no brake so when you switched it off you could not lay it down straight away.



.
 
I recently removed, what I think was 28 years of varnish build up from my holly and teak cabin sole.
It was so gunged that the white holly stripe was hardly visible.
I have a random orbital called a Pro sommat I bought several years ago from B and Q. It has a fantastic hoover attachment that lets you work totally dust free.
My ordinary orbital sander and my palm sander just did not have the grunt, and was getting me nowhere, so reluctantly I got out the old random orbital sander.
Using 40 grit discs, I let it run very slowly with little pressure down the grain of the board. It was like magic as the clean wood emerged from under the disc as it went along.
I applied 3 coats of Sadolin 2 part varnish and I am very pleased with the results.
 
northcave said:
Thanks. In fact I did exactly that last year and spent weeks taking off the old varnish to replace with International wood skin. It was terrible. Firstly it doesn't actually protect the wood and so anything that rubs on the cap rail like a warp, just rubs the wood skin off, and also it disappeared in places after 1 year leaving dark water stains where water had got in the wood but under existing patches of wood skin.

I also had inconsistent colours and international replaced the tins I had as some come out light and others dark, even in the same piece of capping rail.

I may try it again and may try 7 coats rather than the recommended 3 but I don't hold a huge amount of hope for it.
Click to expand...

I have no experience of the International product but the Epifanes Woodfinish has proved to be excellent. All my cockpit is not Woodfinish and I am progressively converting all the brightwork over to Woodfinish. In contrary to your experience with the International I have found the Epifane to be hard wearing, easy and attractive.
 
tillergirl said:
I have no experience of the International product but the Epifanes Woodfinish has proved to be excellent. All my cockpit is not Woodfinish and I am progressively converting all the brightwork over to Woodfinish. In contrary to your experience with the International I have found the Epifane to be hard wearing, easy and attractive.
Click to expand...

Interesting... did you try the gloss or mat? The Internstiknal wood skin is matt only
 
The Epifanes is only gloss. Clearly the product is akin to the International but different. I am just changing the handrails from standard varnish to Woodfinish. They are Iroko and over 25 years maintaining varnish for them has been hard work - max UV and heavy usage. So here goes. The first coat is recommended up to 25% - it soaks in very nicely; that's as far as I've got with the handrails. The all iroko cockpit - sides, locker tops has now been in use for 3 years and it is much better wearing that standard varnish which again is high UV exposure and wear. I like the product but have not used the International. For the spars I use standard Epifanes clear varnish. It builds beautifully - one built up to ten coats, annual service has been one coat.
 
Until I sold my joinery business in 1999 I employed between 12 & 25 joiners. You can understand that sanders got a hammering & we got through a lot over 25 years of abuse. I found that the Makitas were the best of the bunch. I do not recall that they had hook & loop attachment then as we always bought rolls of abrasive paper or cut paper from the main sanding machines; hook & loop being expensive for the quantity we used. We did not bother punching holes in the pads.
One of the things we looked for was sturdy paper attachment clips. A couple of the Makita ones I still have have metal bars but I think that they have reverted to spring clips again. These often broke due to abuse. The other 2 problems were bent plates - due to undue pressure or constant dropping, some makes of plate just sheared off when dropped ( forget which ones)- & the 4 rubber bushes behind the plate to absorb vibration & hold the plate square would come out- not expensive & easy to replace.
We did buy some Bosch ones with a smaller plate than the Makita & I still have one & these did quite well.
Generally the motors on the Makita were the most reliable & I often changed the plates but found it quicker to just bin them after a while. Home users could have repaired them easily enough. The makita was the preferred model for comfort to the user
However, that was 17 years ago so sorry if no longer relevant.

Other types of sander such as top heavy designs are not so easy to use, so we avoided them & we found sanders with larger pad sizes not so useful for smaller shapes plus it puts greater load on the motors & if abused they soon burn out in a commercial environment.

Belt sanders are a different beast & need care in use. Heavy ones are better for large flat areas but not really good for any shaped work in the hands of those not used to them.
 
Topcat47 said:
A word of warning regarding Ryobi. They make B&Q "specials". The only Ryobi tool I've had problems with is the Drills made for B&Q. The Batteries died within 18months (out of Guarantee) and Ryobi had no spares. They did have compatible batteries, but they cost more than the drills and they honestly advised me it would be cheaper to buy new drills.
Click to expand...
Interesting - Were they Ryobi branded or B&Q branded? I bought a Ryobi 18v one+ drill from B&Q some years ago and it's been superb - it was on special offer complete with 2 batteries and with my oap discount was good value. Since bought a second bare drill off ebay and that has been excellent. Used on an extension in 2012 and batteries have lasted, unlike the previous Bosch drill ...
 
William_H said:
The concept of random orbital sander has always had me intrigued. Now an orbital sander simply has a motor with a weight on the shaft that is off centre and off balance such that in rotating it it shakes the body with the sand paper attached. This gives a circular motion to the sand paper. Fine but how do they make it "random" or is that just a sales hype? The orbital sander I have does a nice smooth job but is not good at taking bulk material off. A belt sander is much better for heavy work. olewill
Click to expand...
the random orbital is a different kettle of fish to a orbital much stronger cutting power and even large orbits DONT leave swirl even at 60 grit , providing the disc is not used if it clogs, larger random orbits rarely clog unless the substrate is really sticky
 
PetiteFleur said:
Interesting - Were they Ryobi branded or B&Q branded? I bought a Ryobi 18v one+ drill from B&Q some years ago and it's been superb - it was on special offer complete with 2 batteries and with my oap discount was good value. Since bought a second bare drill off ebay and that has been excellent. Used on an extension in 2012 and batteries have lasted, unlike the previous Bosch drill ...
Click to expand...

I have 2 (the one batttery type fits all lithium) and had them in constant use daily still hold charge but the keyles chucks can be a pain . the brake on stop tends to loosen them and you,oh all right ,one has to watch the bits dropping out
 
anoccasionalyachtsman said:
I've just bought one (Makita) after 30 years of owning a Bosch rectangular jobbie. The difference is quite incredible. Hook and loop paper is the icing on the cake. No detectable vibration to my hands. Quiet. Catches most of the dust.

It seems that the rotation is not positively driven, in that it will spin like mad when unloaded, but slows down to almost nothing under load. But frankly, even if it's got elves and fairies inside it doesn't matter. I'll never use the Bosch one again, and can't stop kicking myself for not trying one sooner.

Edit. Mine's mains, but I'd go cordless if I could afford enough batteries.
Click to expand...

I'm a Bosch man too, with all blue Bosch kit ( currently 10)....except the Marita sander, which is amazing.
 
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