"SS" wrote in message
...
I have had a b & d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?



I agree with the suggestion that Random Orbital is the way to go. I bought
a Makita 125mm with variable speed. Not cheap but is nice to use and does a
good job.


mark

I have had a b & d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

In article ,
SS wrote:
I have had a b & d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

IMHO, the only type worth having is a random orbit one. Look out for the
Lidl one - it's very good.
Or if you really need to shift stuff a belt type.
The orbital ones a waste of time - hand sanding is quicker.

--
*Always borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 15/08/2011 23:16, SS wrote:

I have had a b& d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,

Par for the course in my experience of B&D orbitals. Even a green Bosch
will be significantly better.

sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

Vibration on a decent one is not too bad. Removal rate is moderate.
Random orbit are better in most respects - although can't go into corners.

More on sander:

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



--
Cheers,

John.

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

"SS" wrote in message
...
I have had a b & d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

I have a 12 year old 4" one bought from Lidl and a 6 year old 5" bought from
Aldi, both have done quite a lot of work. The only time I had the type of
problem you describe was when the off centre bearing in the Lidl one seized.
I pulled it apart, cleaned it out and it was fine again.

Talking of Aldi I have just bought one of there "fishing caps" I never go
fishing but could not resist a baseball cap with an array of LEDs in the
peak. Hat come head torch brilliant :-)

Mike

"MuddyMike" wrote in message
om...

"SS" wrote in message
...
I have had a b & d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

I have a 12 year old 4" one bought from Lidl and a 6 year old 5" bought
from Aldi, both have done quite a lot of work. The only time I had the
type of problem you describe was when the off centre bearing in the Lidl
one seized. I pulled it apart, cleaned it out and it was fine again.

Talking of Aldi I have just bought one of there "fishing caps" I never go
fishing but could not resist a baseball cap with an array of LEDs in the
peak. Hat come head torch brilliant :-)

Mike

Orbital Sander inefficiency
If one uses dry abrasive paper clamped into sander front & rear, then its
difficult to get it really tight and its very easy to have 1/8 inch slack in
paper.
If orbit of machine is 1/4 inch then 50% of efficiency is lost, ie bed of
machine doing 1/4 " orbit, abrasive doing 1/8 " orbit (or even less
depending how poorly paper is clamped)
Self adhesive abrasive sheets or 'Hoook & Loop' (velcro type) abrasive is
the way to go - machine orbit 1/4", abrasive orbit 1/4 " - it makes a world
of difference

dfrog

On 16/08/2011 19:19, dfrog wrote:
wrote in message
om...

wrote in message
...
I have had a b& d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

I have a 12 year old 4" one bought from Lidl and a 6 year old 5" bought
from Aldi, both have done quite a lot of work. The only time I had the
type of problem you describe was when the off centre bearing in the Lidl
one seized. I pulled it apart, cleaned it out and it was fine again.

Talking of Aldi I have just bought one of there "fishing caps" I never go
fishing but could not resist a baseball cap with an array of LEDs in the
peak. Hat come head torch brilliant :-)

Mike

Orbital Sander inefficiency
If one uses dry abrasive paper clamped into sander front& rear, then its
difficult to get it really tight and its very easy to have 1/8 inch slack in
paper.
If orbit of machine is 1/4 inch then 50% of efficiency is lost, ie bed of
machine doing 1/4 " orbit, abrasive doing 1/8 " orbit (or even less
depending how poorly paper is clamped)
Self adhesive abrasive sheets or 'Hoook& Loop' (velcro type) abrasive is
the way to go - machine orbit 1/4", abrasive orbit 1/4 " - it makes a world
of difference

A good point, and well made! ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

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

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 16/08/2011 19:19, dfrog wrote:
wrote in message
om...

wrote in message
...
I have had a b& d orbital sander for must be 20 years now any time I
used
it it was hard going trying to hold it down with all the vibration,
sometimes it will try and veer off in one direction. I got a new one a
couple of years back and same thing. Currently having to do a lot of
sanding (new house and old gloss) It is so bad (the orbital) that I
have
reverted to using a circular rubber thingy with sand sheets attached.

is this normal for orbitals or can they go `off balance` or any other
reason?

I have a 12 year old 4" one bought from Lidl and a 6 year old 5" bought
from Aldi, both have done quite a lot of work. The only time I had the
type of problem you describe was when the off centre bearing in the Lidl
one seized. I pulled it apart, cleaned it out and it was fine again.

Talking of Aldi I have just bought one of there "fishing caps" I never
go
fishing but could not resist a baseball cap with an array of LEDs in the
peak. Hat come head torch brilliant :-)

Mike

Orbital Sander inefficiency
If one uses dry abrasive paper clamped into sander front& rear, then its
difficult to get it really tight and its very easy to have 1/8 inch slack
in
paper.
If orbit of machine is 1/4 inch then 50% of efficiency is lost, ie bed of
machine doing 1/4 " orbit, abrasive doing 1/8 " orbit (or even less
depending how poorly paper is clamped)
Self adhesive abrasive sheets or 'Hoook& Loop' (velcro type) abrasive is
the way to go - machine orbit 1/4", abrasive orbit 1/4 " - it makes a
world
of difference

A good point, and well made! ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

Thanks John,

From an ex- coated abrasive salesman - who used to demonstrate the product
so that the buyer could convince himself :-)
dfrog