Hello,
Can anyone tell me: what is a belt sander used for? Is it more powerful than other types of sander or are they all pretty much the same; is a 120 grit a 120 grit no matter what machine it's attached to?
I have a 1/3 sheet orbital sander which is pretty good but for stripping paint it can be slow, I thought a belt sander might be quicker?
Thanks.
Orbital sanders are really quite lame - they remove material very, very slowly, only slightly faster than hand sanding.
Belt sanders remove material much faster, but because of the linear travel they can mark the surface.
Random orbit sanders are IMHO better than orbital and belt. They remove material pretty quickly, but with much less chance of marking the surface.
I know that there will be those that disagree but the hand held belt sander has limited use as it is a pretty fierce tool. I have one that I bought cheaply to sand a limited area of a corridor floor for varnishing; that was three years ago and I don't think I've used it since.
The problem is that the belt effectively only goes one way and ends up sandiing relatively unevenly - the edges dig in, etc. Stripping paint is the only thing that I think that they would be good for other than floor sanding - just make sure it's not lead based.
As they often can be had for quite a small number of beer tokens, get a cheap one and see how you get on. I'm sure the one I got from Lidl/ Aldis was noticeably less than Screwfix and has worked fine.
Now if someone would offer some comments on the static ones with a disk sander I would be interested in that.
Rob
They are useful for a variety of purposes.
However.....
It's important to get a good quality one which has the option of a sanding frame (e.g. Makita, Bosch, Festool have these) because it allows an even application of the sander to the surface in a controlled way.
For paint stripping, you can reasonably use a belt sander without such a frame to begin with and then use the frame for the final stages.
Some background comparative info here:
With a coarse belt they are very fast and aggressive - they can remove wood almost as fast as planing. If you use finer belts then you can get a nice finish, but the trick is to keep the thing moving or else you will risk cutting marks and groves in the work. The sanding frames will help if you want a flat finish on bigger areas.
Quicker certainly, but probably less controllable and more likely to cause damage unless you are careful. A Random orbit sander (see FAQ above) may be more appropriate for this task.
As others have said they can be very vicious things. They'll remove the target material very quickly (as well as whatever the target is attached to if you don't concentrate).
A highy skilled carpenter once suggested I give my belt sander to someone I didn't like very much :-) He described them as 'the fastest way to ruin a piece of wood'!
I hardly ever use mine.
120 grit on a belt sander is completely different to 120 grit on an orbital sander.As others have said random orbit sanders are the way to go.
Yep - very aggressive, useful only for coarse material removal but very good in that niche function.
Also good fun to put down whilst still running - can usually make it across the room before stopping.
Good for fine removal and finishing too specially if you have a sanding frame. You work through the grit sizes just like any sanding system. Most useful on bigger areas e.g. I've done sycamore table tops with belt sander for finishing off, no probs.
cheers Jacob
I have a Rexon jobby & it's the dogs IMO. Really useful for 'slight adjustments' to wooden components. Hard to describe, but very ueful for woodwork.
I have a small one of those in my workshop (the Perform one from Axminster, part no 400071).
I must admit that I find it very useful. The disc part will remove material very quickly, and by virtue of the table / fence in front of it, very accurately as well. For example you can use it to mitre small sections of beading for frames etc more quickly and easily than sawing. Prior to have this machine I had never thought of sanding as being a viable primary machine technique.
The belt part is very good for giving a final lick to all sorts of parts when making stuff, taking arises off etc. (it will take burrs of steel just as well).
If you hook a vacuum up to it then it catches a fair amount of the dust.
Thanks for the replies. That's an interesting page.
I am surprised that random sanders are more powerful than orbital sanders. I had always thought that a random sander was just an orbital sander that rotated. Why is the latter more powerful? Is it that the random sander has a stronger motor?
I wanted to strip some paint of my garage fascia. I don't think anyone will notice if a belt sander leaves a few lines on the wood up there. I suppose the problem with random sanders is that being circular, they can't get into corners?
Thanks again.
If you need something more aggressive than a random orbit sander but less so than a belt sander, have a look at "dual-action" sanders:
Not especially - just a different action.
If you want one of those, I can thoroughly recommend the Metabo 450
That's why it's important to match sander to job
That's one.
If you need something for detail type work and especially fiddly bits in corners, there's nothing better than a Fein Multimaster for this and a whole load of other jobs.
As others have said they have their uses! I use my cheap LiDL jobbie for taking off large amounts of material or smoothing wood (where I should really use a plane :-)) and also rounding ends of bits of wood and smoothing end-grain.
I also have on eof these
OTOH I am not going to be able to run the length of the fascia in one go, as I was planning on using a ladder rather than scaffolding to get up there. I'm worried that if I start and stop, I might produce an uneven finish. Perhaps I'd be better with a random after all?
Not so much more powerful, they just have a more effective sanding action. They are indeed a combination of orbital and rotary motion. Its the rotation that constantly shifts the patten of orbits.
Something like the Bosch PEX400A is a good choice for a basic mid price ROS. The Metabos are very good at the top end.
You may be right... If you are working up a ladder it probably pays to get a decent belt sander - the cheap ones can be great hulking beasts.
Tis true, you need some other way of doing them
Ditto, I have the Clarke cheapo
I suppose that I should not be surprised: an orbital sander just orbits, whereas the random rotates and orbits so because it has two actions I should expect it to be more effective.
I can see used for both the belt and the random sanders. I wonder which to buy (first) ;)
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