orbital sander

I used a 6" Harbor Freight pneumatic on my BB2, no problem. 60 or 80 grit. Believe the final sanding was with 120 grit before painting. Destroyed electric Ryobi and Porter Cable orbitals over the course of 2 boat builds. Jury is still out, but the pneumatic still seems tight.

-Bill
 
Thank you for the reply sir.

That gives me peice of mind I was worried it would turn at to fast of a rpm and would sand things down to fast and mess up my fiberglass and epoxy work.

I have a good supply of 60,80 and 120 sanding disk for it so I'm good to go when that time comes.

Again thank you for the advice sir.
 
Have a air sander, gets cold and hard to maneuver. Bought a porter cable and love it. Easy to handle. Beware not made in the USA as advertised in a lot of places.
 
For knocking the big stuff off (like the edges of the glass tape), I still like my harbor freight 7" (7-1/2"?)polisher with hard back 60 grit sanding disks. The polisher lets you get the rpms down to a manageable level. You can even shape wood with it.

Bill
 
I've used air powered orbital sanders for over 40 years. I've always used Hutchens air sanders. They aren't cheap but will last the average user a life time. There American made. Speed isn't a problem as they all have air regulators. I've used electric and most run too fast for my liking. I bought my original sander in 1971 which I still have though it needs rebuilt. They will rebuild any air tool for $25.00 plus parts which is cheap. I paid $115.00 in 71 and just bought a new one for $260.00 I have another I bought at an auction for $20.00 What a steal. I've had it for over ten and still going strong. It's a finish sander where my new one has a more aggressive cut which is the style of my original sander. The difference is the new one is much lighter weight model. Bottom line I think air is always better then electric and only the rich can afford to be cheap.

Tom
 
Thanks for the reply Tom.

I don't send anything out to be rebuilt, if I own it I fix it, that's how my grandfather taught me to be.

The air orbital sander I have is very light weight, one of the perks of where I work lots of free top shelf tools to take home when they break. Take them home fix them and babammm high dollar tool to work with for dirt cheap.

The air flow is adjustable on mine but I was afraid it would still be to much power for the kind of work that will be needed done on the boat build, but you and others saying it works fine remove's my fear's about it.
 
Back
Top