"WayneJ" wrote in message
newsp.voqs8hlgnatzq9@dellilah...
Hi all,

I need to buy a new sander, primarily for finishing. I was set to go get a
palm sander, but a couple of friends are telling me I should get a random
orbital instead. They claim that they can be just as good for finish work
and better for coarser things. I question whether they are really as good
for finish sanding, and I already have a straight disk sander for rough
work.

I need to keep the cost reasonable, but I don't want to buy junk either.
I'm looking at brands like Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, etc. the money for
brands like Festool isn't there. I think a 1/4 sheet palm sander or 5 inch
random orbital sander, is what I'm looking at.

Does anybody have thoughts on this, and any recommendations in the price
range I'm limited to?

Thanks,
WayneJ

--


The trouble with a ROS sander is that it will not get into tight corners.
Do you want to hand sand there?

I have never seen a finish sander perform as well as the PC SpeedBloc, the
bell shaped sander. That sander is a well tested design that has been
around for many many years. It IS NOT a toy. I have owned 2 in the last 21
years.

Having said that I now own and exclusively use the Festool Rotex and Festool
finish sander. I use them exclusively because I was/am tired of dealing
with dust. With a vac less than 1% of all dust escapes either of thse
sanders. The Festool finish sander is approximately twice the prce of the
$90 PC SpeedBloc sander. Both Festool Sanders are great but the PC
SpeedBloc will out perform the Festool finish sander if you don't mind the
cloud of dust.

So Leon,

I went looking at the festool online.
I don't see where they sell an adapter to a vac hose. I only see dust
bags accys. If I buy a Festool RTS 400 EQ, will I need to buy something
else to attach it to my shop vac hose?

On 1/5/2011 3:17 PM, Leon wrote:
wrote in message
newsp.voqs8hlgnatzq9@dellilah...
Hi all,

I need to buy a new sander, primarily for finishing. I was set to go get a
palm sander, but a couple of friends are telling me I should get a random
orbital instead. They claim that they can be just as good for finish work
and better for coarser things. I question whether they are really as good
for finish sanding, and I already have a straight disk sander for rough
work.

I need to keep the cost reasonable, but I don't want to buy junk either.
I'm looking at brands like Dewalt, Makita, Milwaukee, etc. the money for
brands like Festool isn't there. I think a 1/4 sheet palm sander or 5 inch
random orbital sander, is what I'm looking at.

Does anybody have thoughts on this, and any recommendations in the price
range I'm limited to?

Thanks,
WayneJ

--


The trouble with a ROS sander is that it will not get into tight corners.
Do you want to hand sand there?

I have never seen a finish sander perform as well as the PC SpeedBloc, the
bell shaped sander. That sander is a well tested design that has been
around for many many years. It IS NOT a toy. I have owned 2 in the last 21
years.

Having said that I now own and exclusively use the Festool Rotex and Festool
finish sander. I use them exclusively because I was/am tired of dealing
with dust. With a vac less than 1% of all dust escapes either of thse
sanders. The Festool finish sander is approximately twice the prce of the
$90 PC SpeedBloc sander. Both Festool Sanders are great but the PC
SpeedBloc will out perform the Festool finish sander if you don't mind the
cloud of dust.

"tiredofspam" nospam.nospam.com wrote in message
...
So Leon,

I went looking at the festool online.
I don't see where they sell an adapter to a vac hose. I only see dust bags
accys. If I buy a Festool RTS 400 EQ, will I need to buy something else to
attach it to my shop vac hose?


IIRC the Festool uses a 1" OD hose that fit over the sander manifold.
Don't let that confuse you. ;~) If I had to listen to a typical shop vac I
might consider a mask and not use the vac. I do use the Festool shop vac
which is very quiet, more quiet than the sander in fact. there are lots of
adapters that would probably get you going.

I do use a Fein adapter to adapt my Festool vac hose to my Kreg PH jig. If
you have a Woodcraft or Rockler, or Festool dealer near by take your hose
into he store and perhaps they will have a solution. I would not think that
a 2" hose running up to the sander would be very easy to use, FWTIW.