Palm sander or random orbital?

Indeed. A final hand sanding is a must, bringing you closer to the wood, looking and feeling for blems, splinters, and sharp edges.

Do you wipe the entire project down with lacquer or paint thinner to check for blems and degrease it? It can be a godsend.

I've prefinished a few projects prior to assembly, and that can be very handy, too.

-- Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Great minds and all that rot... fools etc.

BUT!... I keep grabbing this thing: Bosch 1297DK. Not as aggressive as a ROS, but it always sits on my bench, ready with a sheet of fresh 120 and I just love that little thing. (I also own 3 Festool sanders and a variety of bigger and smaller stuff.) With the adaptor, it is as dust-free as it gets, considering. 90%? If I HAD to have just one sander for smaller work, that Bosch would be it. I just wish it fit my hands like a SpeedBloc, but..*cough, cough*

"Swingman" wrote

Where can I buy one of these "by hand sanders"?

I've pretty much decided that a 1/4 sheet palm sander is what I will buy. The Bosch is one I am considering, but I have seen several reports of problems with the sandpaper clamps. Mainly that the rubber on the front clamp fails and will no longer grip the paper.

Have you seen any problems like this with your Bosch?

Thanks, WayneJ

I use a quarter sheet Makita plam sander (about 15 years old) and the one feature I would look for again (I had to be shown this by others) is taking multiple sheets at a time. You prepare and mount three or four sheets and when one is "dull" you tear it off and keep going. The motor hardly comes to a rest.

When you have measured and got the perfect size sheet ready you make four at a time and they are stored right on the unit. Back to work.

Have you seen any problems like this with your Bosch?

Thanks, WayneJ

No I haven't. In all fairness, I don't do a lot of sanding although I would think that if those rubber grippers were going to fail, they would have by now. They are very easy to take off and put on.. just tried that. No worries.

That's my normal method. Not only is the sanding and finishing a lot easier, any glue squeezed out is easily popped off.

I have trouble even imagining why anyone would finish after assembly.

Of course, I do need to do the occasional touch up to fix something I scuffed/scratched/dinged during assembly, but if I'm careful I can usually avoid that.

Wrapped around your main grounding rod and the boys, I expect?

-- A smile is the shortest distance between two people. -- Victor Borge

Robatoy wrote in news:09672e90-cf38-4124-98bd- snipped-for-privacy@29g2000prb.googlegroups.com:

I went out and bought one of these tonight. Thanks for the suggestion, Robatoy. There's very little vibration at my hand (which has been one of my biggest problems with sanders) and the dust collection is pretty good. I used to use a B&D Mouse (no dust collection) and expected everything to be dusty when I got done.

Puckdropper

I bought mine at Lowe's in Port Huron MI for just 49.00 USD. I did wait a long time for that adaptor though. Glad you like it. I bought a bundle of hole punches at the local HF equivalent and stuck the (IIRC 7/16"?) in my drill press. I then used a supplied pattern piece of sandpaper and, with the DP running, I punched a whole lot of sheets, 4 at the time and made a supply of them. I don't like the supplied punch that much, although it works fine.

For me I prefer to finish after assembly except for rare occasions where a project may have different stain colors. I prefer to not have to worry about keeping the finish off of the sopts that will be glued. On the flip side of your comment. ;-) can you imagine painting a house before the walls are erected?

And that is another reason, I don't worry about the scratches, they all get taken care of during the final sanding just before the finish is applied.

BUT!.. If you spray your finishes. Blowback is NO fun when doing a cabinet or drawers...much easier to finish first then assemble with care. It makes for a much crisper assembly, IMNSHO. Also, IMNSHO, stains go on much nicer in long swipes than having the rags/brushes bunch up whenever it hits a shelf, or a back...

They also don't paint cars after they're fully assembled [I know, stupid comparison.]

IIRC $25

Beat me too it.

That is what I was going to say.

Finish before machining, too, Big L.

Sure, why not? Do all the siding and trimwork before hanging. Much easier.

-- A smile is the shortest distance between two people. -- Victor Borge

Per month on a -how- many year loan?

-- A smile is the shortest distance between two people. -- Victor Borge