Does a belt sander work faster than an orbital sander?
And does it need special sanding paper as opposed to an orbital sander. :-)
Andy
- posted
8 years ago
Belt vs orbital sander
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- posted
8 years ago
Define special sanding paper? A belt sander requires a belt sandpaper. It's a continuous connect loop of sandpaper whereas a orbital sander uses a disk sandpaper. Either one has a variety of grit.
Using the same grit on both sanders, a belt sander will sand down wood at a much faster speed than an orbital sander.
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- posted
8 years ago
Does a belt sander work faster than an orbital sander?
And does it need special sanding paper as opposed to an orbital sander. :-)
Andy
It all depend how do you use it and for what purpose. Orbital sander dose not have option to be use cross the grid or down the grid while belt sander dose and what type wood you use it on???
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- posted
8 years ago
Not to mention what material is being sanded... wood, metal, fiberglass etc...
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- posted
8 years ago
If you have to ask you don't want a belt sander.
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- posted
8 years ago
Javoe, mein herr.
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- posted
8 years ago
Random orbital sanders use round discs and squares, depending on brand. A square piece fer sqr orb sanders can be cut from any sheet of sandpaper, including a "belt", and are usually held to the machine via pressure bars. Round discs fer rnd orb sanders usually have some sorta glue to attach the sandpaper discs.
Disc sanders obviously use round sandpaper discs. ;)
nb
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- posted
8 years ago
You use a belt sander when you want to remove a lot of material. You use an orbital sander when you are looking for a very uniform finish. I have both.
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- posted
8 years ago
+1 on that. I bought one to do one job of 'flushing' the overhang of the bottom of a built-in cupboard to fit a slightly oversize fridge in my kitchen.
The job was done in about 20 seconds.
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- posted
8 years ago
Hope you have used it since or you should have rented it. Buying a tool my rule is, if I can never see myself using it again, rent, else buy.
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- posted
8 years ago
Belts are generally faster, but they don't give as fine a finish. Most woodworkers use both for different purposes.
The belt with a course grit can remove a lot of wood and can give you a long straight edge,can be used to tweak the dimensions as you sneak up on the pencil mark.
Orbital is better for fine work. I have one I jeep loaded with 100 grit, the other with 220 grit.
Paper selection depends on the job you want to do.
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8 years ago
Meanie wrote ... on Thu, 07 Apr 2016 18:51:06 -0400 ...
I've had both and I can't stand orbital sanders.
Lots of people do fine with cross-grain sanding and it's good for corners and non-flat areas.
But, if my kid asked me "Daddy, which sander should I get first", it would be a belt sander, hands down, first choice.
(Nothing wrong with a few extra tools so go ahead and get that orbital, but get it when you need it.)
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- posted
8 years ago
FrozenNorth wrote ... on Thu, 07 Apr 2016 19:46:31 -0400 ...
My rule is slightly different, but it has similar effects.
- If you *know* you'll use a set of tools, buy them on sale (if you can).
- If you *need* a tool now, then consider renting.
Things that are "big" are often often better rented than bought, e.g.,
- Wood chippers
- Tillers
- Steam rollers
- Steam cleaners
But smaller stuff is often better bought, e.g.,
- Belt sanders
- Bench grinders
- Chainsaws
- Lawnmowers
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- posted
8 years ago
You are real helpful. NOT !!
:-)
I will chalk up your response to a bad day.
Maybe a belt sander fell on you today while it was running.
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- posted
8 years ago
My orbital sander uses a 1/4 sheet of sandpaper.
I am quite sure that a sandpaper loop is quite a bit more expensive.
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8 years ago
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8 years ago
Yes, and they are a lot more fun. Lock the trigger and set it on the ground. You'd be surprised how far it makes it before pulling the extension cord out of the socket. We used to have belt sander races on slow days.
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- posted
8 years ago
Damn, that's quite a record! (Quite dangerous too).
I recall when I was in HS shop class, one of the kids taped the switch on a belt sander and launched it off a workbench. The teacher was not pleased and the kid got suspended for a day or two. Of course the rest of us thought it was really funny....
The stupid things we do as kids!!!
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8 years ago
Ever shoot boards with a radial arm saw ? 7th grade shop class held the record , almost a hundred yards - thru the front window of the shop , across the lawn and the street in front , and landed in the field across the road . Coulda been ugly if a student or car was going past just then ...
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- posted
8 years ago
Are you sure that square *random* orbital sanders exist?
As far as I know, the square sanders, AKA Palm Sanders or Sheet Sanders are orbital sanders, but not *random* orbital sanders.
If square random orbital sanders do exist, AFAIK they are a very small subset of the square sander world. A quick Google search did not reveal any square random orbital sanders.