Sanders

Bigbud78 · 23 Mar 2015

I've got a few jobs that need the use of a sander, I'm looking at either a random orbital or a belt sander I think but ive never used either myself. I need to strip down a double set of garage doors and a double set of 5' garden gates to reapply a finish as there quite rough

would a random be up to the job ? its a large area to do ! after that it'll only be used for small jobs hence thinking the smaller unit.

Jim

Ed Bray · 23 Mar 2015

Budget would be a consideration, but you could do an awful lot worse than a Festool Rotex RO150. It is a random orbit sander but it also has an aggressive rotary sanding mode and the dust collection when paired with a shop extractor (doesn't have to be Festool though, I started with a Karcher MV-3P Shop Vac) is outstanding. Something to think about if you are sanding lots of coats of paint off as some of the older ones may have contained lead (and you don't want to be breathing that in).

I do not have the Rotex RO150 although everybody that uses one loves it. I do have its smaller brother the Rotex RO125 (not held in such high esteem as its bigger brother) and also its baby brother the Rotex RO90 (very good but a bit small for large surfaces).

Most people believe that the combination of the RO150 and RO90 is the paring to have with the first purchase being the RO150. I happened upon a 3 month old RO125 for a good price and bought that, otherwise I would have started with the RO150.

JJ1 · 23 Mar 2015

I can thoroughly recommend the Metabo TurboTec 450 (150mm R.O.S.) . I bought mine a couple of years ago following all the favorable reviews on this website. I have no complaints whatsoever and would buy the exact same model again in a heartbeat. I always use it with Abranet sanding discs and a pad protector. An excellent tool.

RogerP · 23 Mar 2015

Depends greatly on how much you want to spend and whether this is to be something to add to a growing quality tool kit or just something to do the job.

If you want top quality and top price there's Festool. If you want something cheap and powerful enough to deal with this job (and other stuff in the future) I'd recommend a GMC http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-348015/gmc-ros150cf.html?gclid=CLTrqPysv8QCFe6WtAod_GEAXQ I have one and it's done a great deal of work and is still going strong. Not posh and sophisticated - but it sure is effective

Ed Bray · 23 Mar 2015

RogerP":2e2l9vqt said:
Depends greatly on how much you want to spend and whether this is to be something to add to a growing quality tool kit or just something to do the job.

If you want top quality and top price there's Festool. If you want something cheap and powerful enough to deal with this job (and other stuff in the future) I'd recommend a GMC http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-348015/gmc-ros150cf.html?gclid=CLTrqPysv8QCFe6WtAod_GEAXQ I have one and it's done a great deal of work and is still going strong. Not posh and sophisticated - but it sure is effective

That looks a good specification sander for such a low price, and the fact you are prepared to recommend it is a good thing in itself.

Bigbud78 · 23 Mar 2015

I could stretch to the metabo but the Festool is too much, how long do the disks last ?

JJ1 · 24 Mar 2015

I find they last absolutely ages and despite initially looking a bit expensive compared to other discs, they are well worth the extra cost. They can obviously become a bit ragged with use if they get caught on sharp edges and even though they may look like they're fit for the bin at that stage, I remove them from the sander and they continue to perform superbly for hand sanding. Don't be tempted to buy them from Axminster Tools, they can be had for a fraction of the price from eBay.