Popular Woodworking 2000-11 № 118, страница 55

Reduce your sanding time

by picking a tool that is aggressive and easy to handle.

here are many types of sanders on the market, but if you're going to own only one kind, it should be a random orbit model.

These high-tech marvels excel at smoothing flat surfaces for finishing. The sanding pad both rotates and moves in an orbital fashion. The result is that you remove material quickly, and the scratches (or swirls) left behind are often smaller than those left by other types of sanders and less noticeable because of the randomness of the scratches.

There are four types of random orbit sanders:

• Palm Grip: These sanders are small, lightweight and inexpensive. The motor is mounted directly over the pad and you grip the top of the motor (as above).

• Inline: These sanders look like the palm-grip models, but they have extra handles on the front, back or both to make them easier to grip.

• Right Angle: These resemble an angle grinder and are the most powerful random orbits on the market. They excel at flattening tabletops and leveling joints. You'll wear yourself out if you use these on a lot of vertical surfaces, however, because they are heavy.

• Pneumatic: These small sanders are powerful. The only downside is that you need a big compressor to run them and they aren't made with pad brakes, which slow down the pad as it comes into contact with the wood. Without a pad brake, you have to be careful not to gouge or severely scratch the wood. These sanders

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14 Popular Woodworking November 2000