wrote:

Some background comparative info he

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/sander.htm

(I take it we are talking hand held belt sanders here and not the bench
mounted tools)

Can anyone tell me: what is a belt sander used for? Is it more
powerful than other types of sander or are they all pretty much the
same; is a 120 grit a 120 grit no matter what machine it's attached
to?

With a coarse belt they are very fast and aggressive - they can remove
wood almost as fast as planing. If you use finer belts then you can get
a nice finish, but the trick is to keep the thing moving or else you
will risk cutting marks and groves in the work. The sanding frames will
help if you want a flat finish on bigger areas.

I have a 1/3 sheet orbital sander which is pretty good but for
stripping paint it can be slow, I thought a belt sander might be
quicker?

Quicker certainly, but probably less controllable and more likely to
cause damage unless you are careful. A Random orbit sander (see FAQ
above) may be more appropriate for this task.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:
wrote:

Some background comparative info he

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/sander.htm

(I take it we are talking hand held belt sanders here and not the
bench mounted tools)

Can anyone tell me: what is a belt sander used for? Is it more
powerful than other types of sander or are they all pretty much the
same; is a 120 grit a 120 grit no matter what machine it's attached
to?

With a coarse belt they are very fast and aggressive - they can remove
wood almost as fast as planing.

Yep - very aggressive, useful only for coarse material removal but very good
in that niche function.

Also good fun to put down whilst still running - can usually make it across
the room before stopping.

On 9 May, 21:27, "Steve Walker" wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
wrote:

Some background comparative info he

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/sander.htm

(I take it we are talking hand held belt sanders here and not the
bench mounted tools)

Can anyone tell me: what is a belt sander used for? Is it more
powerful than other types of sander or are they all pretty much the
same; is a 120 grit a 120 grit no matter what machine it's attached
to?

With a coarse belt they are very fast and aggressive - they can remove
wood almost as fast as planing.

Yep - very aggressive, useful only for coarse material removal but very good
in that niche function.

Also good fun to put down whilst still running - can usually make it across
the room before stopping.

Good for fine removal and finishing too specially if you have a
sanding frame. You work through the grit sizes just like any sanding
system. Most useful on bigger areas e.g. I've done sycamore table tops
with belt sander for finishing off, no probs.

cheers
Jacob

On 2007-05-10 08:59:46 +0100, said:

On Wed, 09 May 2007 18:32:49 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Some background comparative info he
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/sander.htm

[snip]

A Random orbit sander (see FAQ
above) may be more appropriate for this task.

Thanks for the replies. That's an interesting page.

I am surprised that random sanders are more powerful than orbital
sanders. I had always thought that a random sander was just an orbital
sander that rotated. Why is the latter more powerful? Is it that the
random sander has a stronger motor?

Not especially - just a different action.

If you want one of those, I can thoroughly recommend the Metabo 450



I wanted to strip some paint of my garage fascia. I don't think anyone
will notice if a belt sander leaves a few lines on the wood up there.

That's why it's important to match sander to job


I suppose the problem with random sanders is that being circular, they
can't get into corners?

That's one.

If you need something for detail type work and especially fiddly bits
in corners, there's nothing better than a Fein Multimaster for this and
a whole load of other jobs.




Thanks again.

Steve Walker wrote:
Also good fun to put down whilst still running - can usually make it
across the room before stopping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLKsAUxiL9E

--
LSR

wrote:

I am surprised that random sanders are more powerful than orbital
sanders. I had always thought that a random sander was just an orbital
sander that rotated. Why is the latter more powerful? Is it that the
random sander has a stronger motor?

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.

Something like the Bosch PEX400A is a good choice for a basic mid price
ROS. The Metabos are very good at the top end.

I wanted to strip some paint of my garage fascia. I don't think anyone
will notice if a belt sander leaves a few lines on the wood up there.

You may be right... If you are working up a ladder it probably pays to
get a decent belt sander - the cheap ones can be great hulking beasts.

I suppose the problem with random sanders is that being circular, they
can't get into corners?

Tis true, you need some other way of doing them



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

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.

Andy Hall wrote:


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.

And will cost you £140.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2007-05-10 23:00:15 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

Andy Hall wrote:


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.

And will cost you £140.

Worth every penny.

Consistently well reviewed on both sides of the Atlantic.

You might remember previous threads about jigsaws in terms of the
substantial difference between the decent and the cheap and nasty.
Before I investigated that, I was of the opinion that all jigsaws were
of limited value.

I did the same comparisons with RO sanders as well - tried several out.
I wouldn't claim that the difference is as marked as with jigsaws,
but there is a valuable difference between the £30-50 jobs and (say)
the Metabo and Festool.

I didn't think that the Festool ETS150 ROS was worth the price tag of
£240 vs £140 for the Metabo SXE450. Festool have two models with 3 and
5mm orbits and Metabo does it all in one product which I think is a
really useful feature.

I recently looked at 1/2 sheet finishing sanders. In this case, the
Festool RTS200 was quite a lot better than Bosch and Makita in terms of
the finish quality, paper fixing and dust extraction, so I went for
that.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-05-10 23:00:15 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

Andy Hall wrote:


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.

And will cost you £140.

Worth every penny.

Consistently well reviewed on both sides of the Atlantic.


But the OP only wants to strip some paint from his garage fascia............


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2007-05-10 23:47:10 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-05-10 23:00:15 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

Andy Hall wrote:


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.

And will cost you £140.

Worth every penny.

Consistently well reviewed on both sides of the Atlantic.


But the OP only wants to strip some paint from his garage fascia............

Yes.... However, if one is going to buy one tool and the choice was
between a belt sander and an ROS, then one would also want it to be
versatile.

A belt sander is similarly priced to a good ROS anyway.

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-05-10 23:00:15 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
said:

Andy Hall wrote:

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.
And will cost you £140.
Worth every penny.

Consistently well reviewed on both sides of the Atlantic.


But the OP only wants to strip some paint from his garage fascia............



Probably cheaper to replace the fascia

On May 11, 10:12 am, Stuart Noble
wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

But the OP only wants to strip some paint from his garage fascia............

Probably cheaper to replace the fascia

What, and throw away what might be perfectly sound wood that's miles
better than the usual cheap stuff found in the sheds?

For sanding multiple coats of paint, _personally_ I would get the
worst off with an 80 grit zirconium resin fibre disc in an angle
grinder. The guard should not be more than slightly proud of the disc.

Only then would I use a ROS/belt sander to get the rest of the paint
back to bare wood.

If the OP is stripping paint of an older garage, it would be well
worth using the right dust mask for toxic dust in case the paint
contains lead.

cheers,
Pete.