Hello,

I was asking about random orbital sanders a month or two ago. Thanks
to advice here, especially John Rumm, I took the plunge and bought a
green Bosch one. They seem to be disappearing from the catalogues but
I know Bosch is trying to make its green range "prettier", so I expect
it will be relaunched soon with black rubber handles. Personally, I
liked the look of them as they were.

I tried the sander and thought it was useless; then I realised it was
on speed number one. Turning up the speed made it work perfectly. I
understand the sander can be sued as a polisher; perhaps that's what
the lower speeds are for?

The speed dial is on the handle so it can occasionally get knocked in
use ;(

THM recommended 40 grit discs. I haven't found these anywhere yet, so
I ordered 60 grit from Toolstation. The first pack were wonderful but
the second pack just kept falling off. I ordered a replacement pack
and this third pack is doing the same. Surely I have not worn out the
Velcro already? Perhaps it's my fault for ordering cheap discs?

Anyway it stripped the old paint from a window sill that I wanted to
redecorate in no time at all. It was wonderful. So notwithstanding my
disc issues, it has been a great purchase; I wish I had bought it ages
ago. Thanks everyone for recommending them to me.

On Oct 6, 11:33 pm, Stephen wrote:

I ordered 60 grit from Toolstation. The first pack were wonderful but
the second pack just kept falling off. I ordered a replacement pack
and this third pack is doing the same. Surely I have not worn out the
Velcro already? Perhaps it's my fault for ordering cheap discs?

I managed to find a cheap Velcro pad that fitted my Bosch sander.

On 6 Oct, 12:34, Matty F wrote:
On Oct 6, 11:33 pm, Stephen wrote:

I ordered 60 grit from Toolstation. The first pack were wonderful but
the second pack just kept falling off. I ordered a replacement pack
and this third pack is doing the same. Surely I have not worn out the
Velcro already? Perhaps it's my fault for ordering cheap discs?

I managed to find a cheap Velcro pad that fitted my Bosch sander.

Where - I keep buying new ones as they don't last long

Jonathan

Stephen wrote:

THM recommended 40 grit discs. I haven't found these anywhere yet, so
I ordered 60 grit from Toolstation. The first pack were wonderful but
the second pack just kept falling off. I ordered a replacement pack
and this third pack is doing the same. Surely I have not worn out the
Velcro already? Perhaps it's my fault for ordering cheap discs?


I've got the Bosch PEX 400 AE - bought a few years ago. The Velcro works
as well now as when bought. I have used fairly cheap discs - and a few
slightly more expensive ones. Just about to try some much more expensive
Hermes as on coarser grades the cheaper discs have not been lasting at
all well.

I wondered why I had put up with standard orbital sanders for so long.

--
Rod

On 6 Oct, 13:36, Rod wrote:

Just about to try some much more expensive
Hermes as on coarser grades the cheaper discs have not been lasting at
all well.

I wondered why I had put up with standard orbital sanders for so long.

You'll wonder why you put up with cheap abrasives too! Especially if
you buy the Hermes anti-clog-coated stuff

On Oct 7, 1:31 am, Jonathan wrote:
On 6 Oct, 12:34, Matty F wrote:

On Oct 6, 11:33 pm, Stephen wrote:

I ordered 60 grit from Toolstation. The first pack were wonderful but
the second pack just kept falling off. I ordered a replacement pack
and this third pack is doing the same. Surely I have not worn out the
Velcro already? Perhaps it's my fault for ordering cheap discs?

I managed to find a cheap Velcro pad that fitted my Bosch sander.

Where - I keep buying new ones as they don't last long

Mitre10 in New Zealand

On Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:40:04 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

The choice of speed is not always as intuitive as you might expect -
depending on what you are sanding and the type of abrasive, you can find
that slower works better than faster in some cases. Sometimes a speed of
2 - 3 will get the fastest removal rate, other times you want more.

I found with the setting at one that it didn't rotate properly but
perhaps that means I was pressing too hard? I think after those first
few minutes I learned to apply less pressure.

As long as you have not overheated the velcro pad, or worse, tried
sanding with it without a sanding disc, then it should be ok. How
difficult is it to pull a paper off the disc? IME they get quite a
strong grip.

When I first attach a disc it holds; it flies off after a few minutes
use. That's the strange thing: if the velcro was worn, surely it
wouldn't hold the disc at all? Why throw it off halfway through?