Belt Sander? or other type...

KUIPORNG

I am looking into buying a sander... looks like Belt Sander is the best bet for me... as looks like it can do most of the wood working stuff...

as a DIYers... requires sanding on various situation... is Belt Sander is the best bet to acquire which got most multi-purpose usage?

thanks...

Big Dave

Belt sanders are great for removal of alot of stock quickly but not the best for finish sanding. With a belt sander you will always need to sand with the grain or else it will cause scratches that will show up when you stain and finish your project.


A Random Orbital sander is a better choice. You can get an aggresive grit for heavy removal or a finer grit for finish sanding plus you don't have to worry about which way you sand your project.

For sanders I would recommend the Porter-Cable line. I've always thought their sanders and routers were superior to any one elses.

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KUIPORNG

One reason for me to consider belt sander is sometimes I need to trim the wood a little bit to get a perfect fit... Can orbital sander do that? Think of installing hardwood on stairs as an example...

Big Dave

If you need to trim a little off of a peice of wood then I would recommend a small hand plane

With an aggresive paper the orbital will remove wood rather quickly.

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KUIPORNG

I have a visa-pak black and decker 7.2 V handheld small trigangular sander... are those similar to orbital sander... doing similar action which is vibrating/shaking a lot... Just want to have an idea how orbital sander works...

Big Dave

This is the one I would recommend.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...43K&lpage=none

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NateHanson

I'd second this advice. Using a belt sander for fitting joints is like using a blender to peel a potato.

If you want a general purpose sander, get a Random Orbit 5" palm sander. I too like the porter cable model.

For trimming joints, get a chisel, and a block plane, and learn how to keep them sharp. It's much quicker, more accurate, and infinitely more pleasant than using a sander to remove wood.

KUIPORNG

Thanks... for the advice... I most likely will get an orbital sander after reviewing..