Popular Woodworking 2001-10 № 124, страница 53

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High-tech random-orbit sanders are the only way to go. They make a bad job almost bearable.

If you think sanding is a dreadful job now, just be glad you weren't my grandfather. After he died, I was assigned the job of going through his workshop to separate the useful stuff from the rubbish. In one cabinet I found three sleek-looking electric sanders that looked like they were of a 1950s vintage. Intrigued, I tried them out.

All three had the sanding power of an electric razor. The pad didn't

move; instead the electric motor merely vibrated the pad. Essentially, these tools were big sanding blocks that made your fingers tingle. Thank goodness for random-orbit sanders.

These high-tech marvels excel at smoothing flat surfaces for finishing because the sanding pad both vibrates and rotates in an orbital fashion. The result is that you remove material quickly, and the scratches (or swirls) left behind are often small-

SHOPPING GUIDELINES

for random-orbit sanders

• Variable-speed tools cost a bit more, but they are also more versatile when you need a light touch.

• Pad brakes help prevent you from gouging the wood when you put a spinning sander on your work. You can do without, but it takes a light touch.

• If you're a home woodworker, buy a machine that takes hook-and-loop paper.

• Whichever tool you choose, be sure to pick up the attachment that allows you to attach your shop vacuum to your sander. Sanding dust is quite unhealthy.

Inline sanders are basically palm-grip sanders that have a larger motor and an additional handle or two added that make it more comfortable to use during long sanding sessions.

Right-angle sanders look more like angle grinders than the other random-orbit models. These are the brutes of the bunch, packing more sanding power (and weight). These excel at sanding flat, horizontal surfaces.

er than those left by other types of sanders and less noticeable because of the random scratch pattern.

There are four types of random-orbit sanders:

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

• Inline: These sanders look like the palm-grip models with 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 table-tops 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 are rarely found in home shops and aren't covered in our charts.

Power is Paramount

The most desirable random-orbit sanders will have lots of power and allow you to vary the speed of the pad, so you can slow things down when you're sanding veneer, for example. To determine how aggressive a tool is check three things: the amperage, the offset (also called the "orbit" or the "pad movement") and the number of orbits per minute.

Amperage is a rough measure of

10 Popular Woodworking October 2001