Which sander to buy?

[John Stevens]

I just got home from sander shopping. I was set to buy the Porter Cable orbiting sander. I saw that the Dewalt had a different kind of bag and multiple vac hose sizes but PC didn't. The PC had a hard canister type bag. Is that better for sanding glass? The Bosch had a filtered bag but with a square nozzle I can't hock a vac up to it. Rigid was a variable speed. Do you guys use a shop vac hooked to your sander or just use the bag? Do I need variable speed? Which bag is best?

TIA,

John

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[adla]

Your glass looks great!

i use a random orbital sander made for use with a compressor without the hose/shop vac attachment most of the time unless i am doing a big job...but i am also the person that spreads epoxy without gloves :roll: ... but i always wear a mask (3m specifically for fiberglass sanding)

it doesn't look like you will have to do all that much sanding there...the lay up looks really nice.

a.

[John Stevens]

Thanks but the picture actually makes it look smoother than it is, lots of drips. I get the feeling I'll be sanding for days, but I hope not.

Fun project though!

John

[Arnie Eaton]

I have the Porter Cable, model 333VS. Has Variable Speed. Also I have the 10 foot hose model 39332. Both work great

[adla]

i got some drips too but eliminated them on the second coat...by just knocking them down a little and using a foam roller. Also, it is real easy to take off the excess by using the sander at a 45 or so and the extra glass just slides right off.

a.

[Kudzu]

Bosch must have changed their design. I have a 5 year old Bosh and I am very impressed with it. I would not be without the variable speed feature!

Have not done glass with it but when I do I will hook up the shop vac for sure!

[Frank Hagan]

Generally speaking, Porter Cable sanders are very good quality. I don't know about DeWalt and Ridgid. I have a PC and its been a great sander. The dust pickup is very good into the hard dust catcher.

I haven't used my shop vac hooked up directly to the sander, but I do set up my el-cheapo "furnace filter on a 20" box fan" set up nearby, which seems to keep the shop cleaner.

I have improved on this since ... I actually buy the right sized furnace filters and mounted little clips on the fan to hold the filter on (previously the fan suction held it on).

Ray has the best idea though ... get a cabinet scraper, carbide scraper or even use a single edged razor blade to go after the drips. Hold the edge at almost 90

[P Doug (WA)]

I have a DeWalt varible speed orbital sander, my friend has Porter cable VS. Personally I think his is better. The Dewalt does pick up more dust using just the bag (probably because it has 8 holes the PC has 5) but the PC is more comfortable to handle and seems to me it does a better sanding job. What ever you get I think you want Hook and loop and varible speed.

[capt jake]

I have a PC RO 5" sander which I had to re-build a few times during construction. All said I love the sander! ) I wish iIwould have gotten another one on a recent event, but no dice.

I would buy another in a heartbeat. thump, thump!

Vacuum attachment, yes sireybob! Easy to pop of the hard filter and adapt. Only buggar is that danged vacuum hose trailing about. Oh well!

[John Stevens]

Thanks all. I bought a PC 333 this morning. Hooked it up to my vacuum and sanded the entire boat today. Looks like I'll be filling and sanding for a while now.

John

[capt jake]

Looks like I'll be filling and sanding for a while now.

Looks like I pass the sanding torch once again..... I hope it doesn't come back to me. LOL

[Mike Pennington]

Well guys I hope you only have to do it once. Myself I got to do some bottom repairs and a heap of sanding. I got an old belt sander I about wore out, but I was thinking of getting an orbital sander. I have never used one and I was wondering how they compare with a belt sander?

I got a leak in the stern that I couldn't fix upright so I and the crew roled the boat today. It took mabe five minutes, including the pause for a few pics. 8)

In three seasons I have made and found a few rough spots I missed so I've stripped her down and it's time to get serious.

Do I need an Orbital sander? Oh, please say yes.

[Frank Hagan]

You'll never regret getting a ROS. The "random orbital" business keeps it from digging gouges like you can get with the belt sander, yet they can hog off a good amount of material ... much faster than a pad sander.

[P Doug (WA)]

When my old beat up Craftman belt sander finally died, I replaced it with a ROS. Wasn't long before I bought another beltsander also. There are things you can do with each that you can't do with the other. You don't want to us a ROS to smooth the edges of plywood, for instance. For finish work and flat surface work you can't beat a ROS (IMO). I would think for the type of work you are facing on your boat repair a ROS would be the ticket.

[Mike Pennington]

Oh good, I get to go to Home Depote, Sears and Alaska Industrial Hardware I got to shop around right? I will check out these PC ROC's the guys are talking about. My belt sander will work for the plywood edges still.

[Barry Pyeatt]

One thing to consider with electric ROS in general. Sanding Epoxy will pretty much wipe out any of them in short order. The dust is so much finer than wood dust that it gets into everything on the sander. We've gone through a couple of them on a boat sanding everything that needs to be done.

I found that getting Factory Reconditioned ones saves you quite a bit and they are a little scratched on the outside but new on the motor and parts that seem to be breaking down with this kind of use.

I've had PC, Bosch, several other makes and air powered ones. The air powered ones are the only ones that keep on going and going and going. But then you need a big air system to use them.

[Phil Gowans]

Barry's right on that one.

I used a electric ROS to prep for painting and it was shot within a couple weeks. I looked at the manual and it said not for use with epoxy. I had it reconditioned and it lasted less than a week. I bought an air powered DA (dual action, like the autobody shops use). It was wonderful. I borrowed a portable compressor, and though it worked, the DA takes so much air the compressor could not keep up. It's a great way to sand though!

[capt jake]

Yes a DA would be optimum, though they require a huge amount of air. You will need an air compressor capible of supplying the use of the DA.

On a side note, the rebuild I performed on my PC was done in house (by me). Only needed to buy the parts. They are a very simple machine.

[adla]

i run a 6 horse / 27 gallon compressor when i sand with my ROS at about 65-75 psi and it works pretty hard to keep up...but then again...i can keep moving and the project is more enjoyable because the sanding isn't such a chore...

a.

[Charlie Jones]

Barry- we've got a pair of Porter Cable 2335 ROS machines with no dust pickups. That's the kind that look like an angle grinder. Mine use Stickit discs rather than hook and loop .

The pair are around 10 years old now and have had the living crap beat out of them in the shop. Used almost daily on furniture work plus they've been used almost exclusively working on 6 epoxy covered boats in the last 3 years AND three interior rebuilds using polyester and fiberglass.

I've changed the switch in one of them and replaced the brushes in both (twice in one machine) and both of them are still going strong. Of course I've run through innumerable pads but they are only about 12.50 and I expect them to wear out.

One thing I do religiously is every couple of weeks or so I use the air nozzle and blast all the crap out of the innards. Maybe that's what keeps them running? My Dewalt on the other hand has major problems keeping dust out of the switch. And it's supposed to be sealed. But a good blast of air restores that also The pads are much harder to find for the Dewalt (for me) since I can get the PC pads locally OR mail order- the Dewalt pads have to be ordered from a Dewalt parts center. Of course that's much more important for me than it might be for a hobbyist boatbuilder or woodworker. My machines HAVE to run.