Dynabrade sanders - non vac, self vac, or external vac?

[Steve Turner]

I'm just about sick of messing with electric random orbital sanders and I'm in the market for one of the air powered Dynabrade 5" PSA sanders (yes, I have plenty of compressor power to handle one). I'm thinking of going with the "Spirit" model rather than the "Supreme" since they are about 1/2 pound lighter. The only thing I can't decide is what type of vacuum system (if any) to get. A buddy of mine has one and he mentioned in passing that he wouldn't mess with the vacuum model (I need to quiz him further about this) and I can see how it might get in the way, but I REALLY don't like the idea of kicking up a bunch of dust and a downdraft table isn't really an option for me. I have a good shopvac I can use with the sander, but I'm wondering how well the "self vac" versions work. Can anybody give me a review of the various options? Thanks.

[Tom Plamann]

Steve

I have a couple of the 'self vac' Dynabrade 5", and they work great. The hose doesn't seem to get in my way. And yes, once you use a Dynabrade, you will never go back to an electric sander.

Tom Plamann

[Steve Turner]

Well hot dang, if it's good enough for Tom Plamann then I'm sure it'll be good enough for me! :-)

I don't really relish the idea of lugging along the shop vac every time I want to fire up the sander, and that self vac system looks nice and lightweight. I guess I was wondering if that system might rob any appreciable amount of air or horse power from the main task at hand, but you didn't mention that so perhaps not.

Have you tried both the "Spirit" and "Supreme" models and can you comment on the weight difference? Some of the stuff I do has me standing on my head and reaching up and around at crazy angles, and the weight of those electric sanders is a killer.