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Things to Consider When Purchasing a Sander

A sander is an essential tool that will get used in nearly all do-it-yourself projects involving wood. Sanders can be used to remove large amounts of material or surfaces finishes quickly and easily, as well as being able to put a smooth surface on your finished projects. But there are lots of types of sanders available, and most of them can only be used for certain applications. The key to purchasing a sander is to get the sander that will fill your needs best. Here are the types of sanders you will want to consider:

-- Belt Sanders --
Belt sanders are best used in the starting phases of big rough sanding jobs as well as for the initial phases of big refinishing jobs. Belt sanders take off lots of material in a hurry, so care must be used to avoid over-sanding the material being sanded. Belt sanders also tend to be rather heavy. Look for one that has a variable speed control and a button which allows the speed to be locked which will allow you to position your hands in the most comfortable position when using the sander; this also helps reduce user tiredness when using a belt sander.

-- Detail Sanders --
Detail sanders are little sanders that are most often used to sand around odd shapes and in small nooks and crannies such as notches, carvings, inlays, curves and grooves. Detail sanders are oftentimes used for craft projects and on mill work such as window and door casings. To get the best use from your detail sander, buy one that has a lot of attachments since this will increase the flexibility of your sander and make it suited for more locations and shapes.

-- Disc Sanders --
Disc sanders come in both bench-mounted and hand-held versions. The hand-held versions are most intended for DIYs whereas the bench-mounted disc sanders are usually used by people who need to perform sanding on a more industrial scale. But there are some smaller bench-mounted options that are still cheap enough to be useful to the occasional user. Disc sanders are excellent for finishing the end grain of wood and for sanding angled edges. If you are thinking about getting a bench-mounted disc sander, additional features you will want to look for include: a tilting table, a sliding miter gauge, and a belt sander someplace on the frame.

-- Random-Orbit Sanders --
Random-orbit sanders have circular pads that vibrate/move in a circle with a random pattern. The random motion makes it so that the user can move the sander in any direction on the material being sanded, even across the grain, without scarring the material surface. This is the easiest to use type of sander and it is one of the best available multi-purposes sanders, so it is an excellent choice for the occasional user. Most random-orbit sanders necessitate the use of special sand paper designed for the brand/model of the sander being used.

-- Sheet Sanders --
Sheet sanders come in models that make use of 1/3 or 1/4-sheets from standard sizes of sheet sandpaper. Some models of sheet sanders make use of specialized sand paper with adhesive or velcro designed to fix the sand paper on the sander. Other models can make use of use any type of sheet sand paper. Obviously, the latter type of sheet sander is more flexible for the everyday user. Sheet sanders are different from random-orbit sanders in that the sheet sander vibrates the sand paper along the axis of the tool, therefore sheet sanders must be moved along the direction of the grain of the material being sanded or else the surface can be scraped. Sheet sanders are extremely versatile and, like the random-orbit sander, they can be used on a wide variety of projects.

-- Spindle Sanders --
Spindle sanders are the best choice for edge sanding, especially on curves. Spindle sanders are always bench-mounted tools with a cylindrical spindle located in the center of a worktable. There are no hand-held spindle sanders. As such, these tend to be used by more industrial users and wood-working enthusiasts. If looking for a spindle sander, look for one with an oscillating spindle; the oscillations increases the removal rate of material and it reduces the probability of gouging the material being sanded.

Article Source: http://www.articlebankonline.com

Frank has been working construction for more years than he would care to admit. You can find his sander rankings at eDistiller.

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