On 2007-05-10 20:40:09 +0100, said:

On Thu, 10 May 2007 15:02:36 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

I am surprised that random sanders are more powerful than orbital
sanders.

Not so much more powerful, they just have a more effective sanding
action. They are indeed a combination of orbital and rotary motion. Its
the rotation that constantly shifts the patten of orbits.

I suppose that I should not be surprised: an orbital sander just
orbits, whereas the random rotates and orbits so because it has two
actions I should expect it to be more effective.

I can see used for both the belt and the random sanders. I wonder
which to buy (first)

If you are going to buy just one, then go for a good quality random
orbit one like the Metabo 450. This one has variable speed and also
allows you to set two different orbit sizes - 3 and 6mm which also
affect the agressiveness of the sanding action.