What's the catch with this Grizzly sander?

[Eldon Armstrong]

Received an email offer from Grizzly for the G9910 ROS sander for only $18.95. Is this sander any good?

[jo4hn]

No experience with the ROS, but I bought a pad sander (G5970) for under

20 bucks (IIRC) close to a year ago. It gets sporadic if sometimes heavy use and is still going strong. I was thinking about getting it just to use for a different level of paper than my PC. mahalo, jo4hn

[AArDvarK]

Catch? Maybe the availability of the circular velcro discs is an issue? Alex

[RonB]

I received a G9910 as a promotional gift when I bought my Grizzly 1023S cabinet saw a couple of years ago. It has had a fair amount of use and does a nice job. Turned up to full speed, it has a lot of wood removal power and I use it to shape and sculpt. It hasn't been around long enough get a reliability vote.

The Pads are readily available at Lowe's HD, etc. Kinda pricey but I buy them in quantity.

Ron

[Rumpty]

Are the sanding discs 5" 8 hole?

[Norman D. Crow]

If you follow the links to the proper catalog page & click on the "assorted sanding pads", they come up listed as "DeWalt" sanding pads. Actually, I have more trouble finding the PSA 8 hole pads for my Crapsman(Ryobi) 5" ROS. Lots of hook & loop pads out there.

[Norman D. Crow]

Yes

[jo4hn]

That appears to be the case. j4

[RonB]

Yes they are.

[Ram]

Tell me what does the 9910 really do? Is it (i) Orbital only (ii) Random orbital with no active rotation of the disc (as with most ROSes) or (iii) orbital action AND rotation of the disk as with a disk sander? I am looking to buy a decent machine that does (iii) for rapid stock removal with [random] orbital action and if this does it I sure want to buy it. thanks - Ram

[Norman D. Crow]

It is (ii), a random orbit with no "active" disc rotation. I may be wrong, but I think if you're looking for a type (iii), you'll be looking at an air sander. Can't think of the exact name right now, but my SIL does some auto bodywork and has one. It has a random action, plus you can lock out the random for straight disc sanding. They ARE real air hogs though!

[Norman D. Crow]

I'll let you know more in a couple days. Ordered mine over the weekend, and expect it today or tomorrow.

[James Cubby Culbertson]

According to Grizzly's tech support, the sander is orbital only with no Random rotation. I suppose it's an OS vs. an ROS. Cheers, cc

[Norman D. Crow]

Got mine this afternoon, just tried it out, it is definitely ROS.

[Ram]

That's a great first hand update and its curious Grizzly's tech support does not believe it is ROS! So to conclude can we say it is Type (ii), i.e., "Random orbital with no active rotation of the disc" (i.e., the disc rotates in a freewheeling fashion as with all the "usual" $60-90 ROSes? Then the $18 would be real value for money.

-Ram.

[Norman D. Crow]

Yep. I tried it out with the supplied 80 grit on some pressure treated porch railings to smooth them up a little bit before painting, works just fine. I think it's a good value for the $18.95. I ordered the sander, along withpacks of 5 discs each in grits 80, 120, 180, 240, 280, 320, and 400 @ $1.79 ea. Total cost with shipping(to here) was $38.93.

[Tom Watson]

The most recent in many stories about unpacking new tools.

Hey Nahmie, didja win da lottery?

(hope you did)

Regards, Tom.

Thomas J.Watson - Cabinetmaker (ret.) tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)

[Norman D. Crow]

Nope! Just couldn't pass up 'nuther ROS for that price, and it works fine, so I'm happy.(Let's see now, Crapsman(Ryobi) PSA ROS, Griz H & L ROS, Griz G5970 1/4 sheet palm sander, B & D 1/3 sheet finish sander[where IS that? Oh, youngest daughter!] PC 361(?) 3" x 21" belt sander. Guess that covers it. Nope, forgot Right Angle air die grinder with 2" 3M Rolock discs!) Guess I'm approaching what could be called "sander poor".

[bridger]

naaahhh..... you don't even have a fein detail sander in there, not to mention the performax....

[Norman D. Crow]

Thankx for reminding me. I also have one of those Ryobi detail sanders. Definitely not a Fein, but it does serve it's purpose occasionally. Performax! Don't I wish, but first comes a better tablesaw, and then someone to tell me how to make my sho^H^H^basement about 100 square feet larger.(LOL)