Ridgid 6" random Orbital not up to the task!

Dave Diefenderfer

Dave Diefenderfer

Well-known member
Supporter
After only 7 months, and not even a whole sneakbox rebuild.... basically it only lasted 1/2 the job as I started this with a 5" bosch and am not yet done!

Sounds like the bearings failed. Guess I get to see how they handle the 3 year warranty? Closest repair shop is 20 miles away, but inside the Beltway!

Dave
 
Dave
what make was it, I always swear by Makita, had a palm sander now for over 20 years and its still going strong.
take care and God Bless
Eddie.
Its all about Building that Bond.
 
Dave,I went with the porter-cable and it made it thru my bb3 project,my dad redone his bass boat with his porter-cable and 1/2 of the bb3,and it died,similar failure bearings,but 60 dollars later a new one,we figured we got our money out of it,hopefully they will warranty it for you, they do take some abuse though, Brian
 
I too use a makita orbital, because the disk extends beyond the frame, thus allowing you to sand hard curves like at the neck joint, however I only get 1 1/2 years out of them. Presently I am on my forth one.
 
It's amazing how destructive fiberglass dust is to mechanical things. I wonder if pneumatics hold up better. Had a Ryobi 5" random orbital that only lasted about half my Broadbill build. Took it back, got a new one, but that one was basically shot after the build. For my BB2, I bough a Porter Cable. It's upper bearing locked up towards the end of that build, but fortunately I found a parts one for $5 at a yard sale. Have not had any problem from a 6" pneumatic Harbor Freight dual action I bought, but it has not seen hard use yet.

Take care!

-Bill
 
Bill the pnuematics still use bearings, although the more expensive ones generaly have a little better seal. the advantage is you dont have the brushes eaten up like the electric motors have.
 
.Porter Cable Ive used them on the Windy for years. No Problems. I'm starting to get jer reay right now and dont expect any problems with my sanders. . Picture a boat with 5X the sandable area of a Duckboat, Thats what I'm looking at
 
No problems with my DeWalt during my BBIII build. I will be refinishing a Devlin Mallard this summer and hope it lasts through that as well.
 
Mike,
I was just wondering if any of the air powering the sander helped keep some of the abaraive dust out of the mechical pieces. The fiberglass dust definitely gets into all the nooks and craines in the electric motors, although it may not have worked into the sealed bearings.

-Bill
 
Bill the positive air pressure that would be present certainly helps to push abrasives dust and dirt out of the critical areas. main thing is supply clean dry air to the tool and very light lubrication. I say light just a drop of light air tool oil at the fitting once or twice during use. anymore attracts the dirt too little and you can cause excessive wear. most certainly there are less susceptable parts to the dirt with air sander. no motor that needs air for cooling no brushes that can get boogered up with dirt no switches to get dirty and not work. You want see to many fiberglass shops using electric.
 
I bought a 6" Festool a couple of years ago, very happy with it. Great dust collection setup, lots of power in the rotary mode, yet switch it to the orbital mode and I sand maple and no scratch marks. Only thing is, they are not cheap, but worth every penny.
 
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