Is an Orbital Sander Good for Wood? Yes, orbital sanders can effectively sand wood. However, you should keep in mind that regular orbital sanders can leave circular marks on wood surfaces. If appearance matters to your project, you might choose a random orbital sander instead.
Proper Technique When Using Random Orbital Sander. Random orbital sanders work in a random circular pattern in order to eliminate swirl marks. If you notice these marks in your wood after sanding, it's possible that you're operating the tool incorrectly.
Random orbit or sheet sanders leave swirl marks. That is what they do and that is how they work. If you are talking about the occasional very noticeable swirl mark, most likely there was something that got stuck between the sandpaper and the wood. A stray piece of grit or a larger bit of dust.
Safety Rules
Don't wear loose clothing or gloves, keep long hair tied back. • Never adjust Sander or setup while Sander is running. • Never remove guard unless authorized by Technician or WRL Manager • Setups requiring anything other than the standard sander equipment must be approved by supervisor.
In comparison to palm sanders, orbital sanders can remove material more quickly. Compared to palm sanders, orbital sanders will also remove more material. Although both sanders are regarded as being mild, the orbital sander in this comparison is more potent and will still remove more material than palm sanders.
If you are only going to buy ONE sander, I would say the random orbital is your best option since it goes from course to fine sanding easily. If you are doing a lot of fine finishing work and want to save some money (and not have to lift such a heavy sander) then a finishing sander is worth the small investment.
Orbital sanders are a much more versatile tool, thanks to their powerful motors and randomized circular motion. They leave a smooth finish without any swirl marks. Also, most models have a vibration absorption feature that reduces hand fatigue on the user.
A random-orbit sander can sand the socks off your old vibrating sander when you've got to strip paint off furniture, prepare new molding, or clean up between finish coats. It can also smooth and clean metal and composite materials such as solid-surface countertops.
If you own an orbital sander, you know how big of a pain it is to sand in corners. And furniture has a lot of corners to get into! So, instead of using an orbital sander, use a detail (mouse) sander or a rectangular sander. Both are able to get into corners because they have straight edges instead of being a circle.
The vibrating handles of power equipment can result in numbness and tingling in your hands, particularly after you having been firmly gripping the power tool for an hour or more. Long exposure to vibrations can damage the nerves in your hand in the same way a repetitive motion injury can cause carpel tunnel syndrome.
These back marks are called metallic discoloration, or iron stains, caused by elemental iron reacting with phenolic chemicals in the wood, forming black iron tannates. Iron stains require the presence of iron, water, and wood and will not occur if one of these elements is absent.
Wipe With a Clean White Cloth
Use a clean cloth to wipe the rest of the dust from the surface of your wood after using specialized equipment. This helps you pick up any extra dust particles to ensure the wood is clean and ready for stain or paint. Use a white cloth so you can see how much dust you pick up.
What is the difference between an orbital sander and a random orbital sander? An orbital sander moves only in a circular motion while the random orbital sander also moves back and forth. As a result of the two separate motions, it leaves less of a swirl pattern on the wood.
Random orbital sanders are great for wood furniture because they won't leave elliptical-shaped streaks in the wood. Whether you are making furniture or refurbishing it, orbital sanders can give your furniture the smooth surfaces they will need for staining or painting.
For general DIYers, a good place to start is with a basic random-orbit sander—a square 1/4-sheet sander or round model. If you do a lot of furniture work, adding a detail random-orbit sander with a pointed, contoured head might be a good second tool to own.
Random orbital sanders are designed to be used and moved slowly. So, what's the ideal speed? About ten to twelve seconds per linear foot, about an inch per second. This feels incredibly slow and tedious, but that's what it takes to let the random oscillations do what they're designed to do.
Coarse orbital sandpaper – 40 grit or below – is best suited to removing old paint finishes or reshaping wood. Anything in the region of 80 to 100 is considered “medium” and suited to final shaping or removing planing or saw marks.
The Golden Rule of Sanding
The golden rule for choosing your sequence is to never skip more than 1 grit. For example, if you start with P80, and need to finish at P240, rather than using every grit from P80 – P220, you can do P80 – P120 – P180 – P240.
If you feel the sander bouncing as the pad rotates, then you most likely need a new backup pad. The PSA disks are often harder to remove from old worn out pads, as shown by the amount of PSA adhesive that remains stuck to it. The H&L disks will fly off of the backup pad when worn out.
Dust Clogging
If your random orbital sander doesn't have an effective dust collector built in, the sandpaper can get clogged up and impede the performance of the machine. Not only will you have to sand a lot longer to get the same results, but clogged sandpaper builds up heat and goes dull more quickly.