orbital sander and belt sander; which to buy?

[kooshball]

I would like to purchase an orbital sander and a belt sander but the choices seem endless and the prices have a huge range. Any recommendations for a good value orbital sander and belt sander?

Thanks

 

[Canuck]

My family treated me to a new Porter Cable ROS a couple of months back. This one...

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/Pr...24065&ss=577b8550-b99a-49a0-ae57-35d0dff8871b

It is a nice sander with variable speed and a low center of gravity so it is easy to handle.:icon_thum

If you are having to do heavier sanding on smallish projects, Porter Cables new 2.5" x 14" belt sander is great. I find it easy to control and more than enough power. (I find that the larger 4" x 24" sanders are a little too big for the projects I do.)

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/Pr...21181&ss=577b8550-b99a-49a0-ae57-35d0dff8871b

Shop around a little and you may fine a better price on these two.

Wayne

 

[jhreed]

I agree with Wayne, You cannot go wrong with the new brushless Porter Cable ros. If I were you, I would purchase this first. You may decide you do not need the belt sander, In which case the $125.00 becomes cheap indeed.
James

 

[Travis Porter]

I too would get the ROS first. I am not familiar with the new PC, but it has gotten good reviews. I would recommend you get one that can hook up to a shop vac without any extra fussing.

As for a belt sander, PC, Bosch, Dewalt, Makita are all good brands. I have a 3 x 21 (rarely used any more), and it is a good size, but at times I thought a 3x24 would be better because of the larger surface area.

 

[robliles]

This is rapidly becoming pretty one sided. I agree that the ROS is the one to buy first--and possible only. Unless you are going to do serious stock removal, you probably don't need the belt sander. I have both a 3x21 and a 4x24 Makita. They are great sanders but I never use them. They have become expensive dust magnets. I have the older Porter Cable ROS, 5" and I am very happy with it. It can sand down fairly serious surface flaws using 80 or 100 grit and continue to an extremely fine finish at 220 or higher. Good Luck.

 

[Charles Lent]

I agree with robliles. I too own a Makita 3 X 21" belt sander, have had it for about 15 years, and almost never use it. I use my Porter Cable and DeWalt ROS and 1/4 sheet pad sanders for almost all of my sanding needs. Get a ROS first and then decide later if you really need the belt sander. Now that I'm thinking about it, I do have one belt sander that I use frequently. It's a Jet 6 X 48" bench top belt sander.

Charley

 

[Bill Clemmons]

This is rapidly becoming pretty one sided. I agree that the ROS is the one to buy first--and possible only. Unless you are going to do serious stock removal, you probably don't need the belt sander. I have both a 3x21 and a 4x24 Makita. They are great sanders but I never use them. They have become expensive dust magnets. I have the older Porter Cable ROS, 5" and I am very happy with it. It can sand down fairly serious surface flaws using 80 or 100 grit and continue to an extremely fine finish at 220 or higher. Good Luck.

Ditto Rob. I have 4 belt sanders in a drawer (including an old Porter Cable that looks like a locomotive) and rarely use them. Unless you are VERY good with it, you can easily ruin a project before you know it. On the other hand, my old PC 5" ROS is the go-to sander for me. I bought it when they first came out and have replaced the sanding pad a couple of times, but I wouldn't be without one. :icon_thum

Bill

 

[jglord]

Another point for your consideration is the point made in a recent FineWoodworking article. The author points out a 6" ROS has 44% more sanding area than a 5" ROS. I've been using 6" sanders exclusively recently and the speed differene is very easy to notice.

 

[ScottM]

+1 on ROS first.

If going with a 5" ROS make sure to get one with 8 holes and not 5. The extra holes remove more dust so the sander does a better and faster job as well as the sand paper lasting longer. Both the PC and Rigid have gotten good reviews.

 

[scsmith42]

+1 on ROS first.

If going with a 5" ROS make sure to get one with 8 holes and not 5. The extra holes remove more dust so the sander does a better and faster job as well as the sand paper lasting longer. Both the PC and Rigid have gotten good reviews.

+2 on all counts.

I have not used my handheld belt sander since I bought the Festool Rotax.

 

[bobby g]

I've been happy with the 5", eight hole Klingspor ROS (made by Bosch) that they are offering for $49.95.

Bob

 

[Don Alexander]

having used random orbit sanders for many years wearing out 3-4 of them i would highly recommend the milwaukee that i currently have i like it quite a bit more than the last 2 porter cable ones i wore out hehe they were decent the milwaukee is a cut above got it at home depot for $69 so the price was not bad either the dust collection into the supplied dust bag is far better on the new milwaukee than the older 5" porter cables and it doesn't vibrate my hand and arm to death like they did either all the while getting the sanding done faster oh and just 1 other thing get your sandpaper from klingspor instead of the BORG you will be happy you did

 

[zapdafish]

If you can, check out the Klingspor branded ROS. I looked online but couldn't find it but I was looking over one in the Winston-Salem store yesterday. I know they are in the catalog tho. Guy told me its made for them by Bosch and its 49.95 right now. It's a 5". I think this would fit under the really good value range. I was in the market for one too and I walked out of the store with it, hehe.

Make sure its the adjustable speed version, they single speed sells for $20 more and they can't move em.

 

[dlrion]

I got a Porter Cable ROS for christmas and am VERY satisfied with it. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[kooshball]

It looks like the porter cable ROS' have it; I ordered the low profile brushless version.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[jhreed]

David, You made the correct purchase and will soon be glad you did.
James

 

[Canuck]

David, You made the correct purchase and will soon be glad you did.
James

:icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

Enjoy it David!!!

Wayne

 

[wrwilder]

David, you'll enjoy the ROS. Here is a simple tool that you can build to make changing the sanding disks a lot easier. It's made to fit the size of the disk holes so that you can wrap the disk around the alignment bar and put it in the matching holes on the ROS. See pictures below:

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