Sanders

[Jay Pique]

Had some real trouble sanding some cherry today. The 1/4 sheet PC seemed to be leaving massive swirl marks, so I swtiched to the 1/2 sheet (PC505H) and I'll be damned if I didn't get the same thing. What I ended up doing was letting the machine get fully up to speed before putting it on the work surface, and taking it off before releasing the trigger. I also don't put any pressure on it at all - just the weight of the tool. Lastly, I became very careful about where I set the sander when not in use, as maybe it was picking up pieces of grit from the bench or something.

Is this pretty much SOP for you veterans out there? Any other ideas as to what may have been causing the swirls?

Lastly, anyone use the Grizzly electric palm sander? $16 a piece seems awfully *cheap* to me....

JP

[Leon]

Yeah, your are learning... ;~) Don't set the sander on the work unless it is running and don't turn it off unless it is in the air.

At first it seems cheap... Get a good one and it will be even cheaper in the long run. Take a look at the PC SpeedBloc. About $80.

[Toller]

"Understanding Wood Finishing" says you should have orbital sanders running full speed before sanding; in contrast to ROS which should be started on the wood. Anyone do it this way? I always turn my ROS on first.

Anyhow, my advice would be to get a ROS; they are better in every way.

Haven't used it, but the $30 Ryobi ROS is crap; and I expect a $16 Grizzly is worse.

[Jay Pique]

....the hard way. I'm the man with no fingerprints right now.

Will do. Thanks.

JP

[Young_carpenter]

I often sand in a "pattern" overlapping in various directions finishing with the grain (back and forth) coming to the corner I sand right off the project. BTW it works differently if you are using a ROS Disk sander

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I'm not sure why, but I've had the same thing happens when my sander got old. I now have a PC and a DeWalt ROS and I'm very happy with both of them. About $60. Faster and better.

[Anthony Diodati]

[JGS]