Hi,
I have always ruled out pneumatic random orbital sanders on price alone. Up
until now I have always used 5" ROS's.
I have decided to go to a 6" and was about to buy the Borg Rigid elec. (made
Metabo I believe, with good reviews)
Then I realized it is roughly the same price as a Dynabrade 6" . So now its
its is not a price issue just which would be better. (typical furnitue,
desks, chests, tables etc.)
I do have enough air to run it
Anyone with hands-on on both 6" air and elec have any opinions on which way
to go. (speed and quality of finish)(comfort, ease of use,noise etc.)
Thanks
Glen
glensmith wrote:
>
> I have decided to go to a 6" and was about to buy the Borg Rigid elec. (made
> Metabo I believe, with good reviews)
>
> Anyone with hands-on on both 6" air and elec have any opinions on which way
> to go. (speed and quality of finish)(comfort, ease of use,noise etc.)
I don't have the pneumatic ROS but I recently bought the Ridgid 6" model 2610
on the strength of a favorable review in Workbench Magazine. Anyway, I bought;
I tried it; I like it very much. No regrets.
--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
[email protected]
http://www.mortimerschnerd.com
>Then I realized it is roughly the same price as a Dynabrade 6" . So now its
>its is not a price issue just which would be better. (typical furnitue,
>desks, chests, tables etc.)
>
>I do have enough air to run it
>
>Anyone with hands-on on both 6" air and elec have any opinions on which way
>to go. (speed and quality of finish)(comfort, ease of use,noise etc.)
>
>Thanks
>Glen
I have both a PC 6" and a Craftsman Pro air ROS (not a DA sander, but a ROS). I
like the feel of the air unit and I personnally think it does a better job.
However that air hose is a PITA compared to an electric cord. But the kicker is
my Craftsman 30 gallon 6 ho (yeah, right) compressor does not even begin to cut
it with this thing. You can do little projects, but you don't really bust out
the 6"er for little projects. The saner itself is right quiet, but that damn
oil-less compresser working full time is much louder than the PC. Bottom line
to me is the air unit is great if your compressor is really big, it is in
another room, you are piped so you don't have to drag 50ft of hose around the
shop and you don't forsee ever needing to sand somewhere where you don't have
compressed air.
Dave Hall
Save your sanity and go with the electric. The only real advantage to the
pneumatic is there longevity, especially in harsh environments. Because
they use air motors, they can be sealed from the outside air which protects
them from abrasive dust and directing the exhaust to the sanding disk blows
it away from the exposed front bearing as well. As long as you supply them
with clean, dry, oiled air, they can last virtually forever. While these
are big issues in auto body shops filled with abrasive body filler dust
where these sanders are running almost non-stop, I doubt that you would need
to worry about such things in your wood shop. The down side for them is
that they require huge volumes of air that the all so typical home air
compressor could never supply, you are tethered to a rather bulky air hose,
you will need an in-line oilier on your airline supplying the sander making
it useless for anything but air tools, and you may have problems with the
oil itself messing up your finishes. When you add up the costs of all of
these things the electric sander is a far better value for what you would
probably be using it for.
--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving
"glensmith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:oO%Bc.850873$oR5.606421@pd7tw3no...
> Hi,
>
> I have always ruled out pneumatic random orbital sanders on price alone.
Up
> until now I have always used 5" ROS's.
>
> I have decided to go to a 6" and was about to buy the Borg Rigid elec.
(made
> Metabo I believe, with good reviews)
>
> Then I realized it is roughly the same price as a Dynabrade 6" . So now
its
> its is not a price issue just which would be better. (typical furnitue,
> desks, chests, tables etc.)
>
> I do have enough air to run it
>
> Anyone with hands-on on both 6" air and elec have any opinions on which
way
> to go. (speed and quality of finish)(comfort, ease of use,noise etc.)
>
> Thanks
> Glen
>
>
>
On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 19:31:32 GMT, "glensmith" <[email protected]>
vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:
remove ns from my header address to reply via email
>Hi,
>
>I have always ruled out pneumatic random orbital sanders on price alone. Up
>until now I have always used 5" ROS's.
Funny! I bought an air ROS because it was so cheap! <G> I wanted to
give one a go before I jumped in and bought a decent one of either
sort.
>
>I have decided to go to a 6" and was about to buy the Borg Rigid elec. (made
>Metabo I believe, with good reviews)
>
>Then I realized it is roughly the same price as a Dynabrade 6" . So now its
>its is not a price issue just which would be better. (typical furnitue,
>desks, chests, tables etc.)
>
>I do have enough air to run it
That's according to _claimed_ comp output / tool requirements! Maybe
the expensive units are a bit more honest than the cheaper ones. But
even then, they are allowed to calim a sort of "average use in
multi-outlet shop" type of thing, even though the ROS will be running
flat out for ninutes and maybe hours on end.
Ah! See mark's comments from direct experience. And that's with a good
sander. I have cheap one and 2 * 8CFM @ 90PSI comps set up in parallel
_juuuuuuussst_ feed it.
You also need at _least 3/8"_ hose to run it, depending on distance.
That starts to be a pain. The only good thing about too small a hose
is that you don't run out of air so fast! <G>
Also remember that you are going to be using maybe 2500-3000 Watts of
power to do the same job as what , a 500 watt electrical unit (?),
because the air ones do give the compressor a nearly fulltime workout.
At my power rates (12c/KWH), if I ran a ROS 6 hours per day (not out
of the question on a boat or other large project) that would be
approaching $1.50- $2 /day.
>
>Anyone with hands-on on both 6" air and elec have any opinions on which way
>to go. (speed and quality of finish)(comfort, ease of use,noise etc.)
>
>Thanks
>Glen
>
>
David Hall wrote:
>>
>
>
> I have both a PC 6" and a Craftsman Pro air ROS (not a DA sander, but a ROS). I
> like the feel of the air unit and I personnally think it does a better job.
I also have a Craftsman Pro air ROS. It does a fine job. 80 grit is as heavy as
I need, and of course care is needed when using it on softer woods, poplar and less.
> However that air hose is a PITA compared to an electric cord.
I run the hose "around" and up my arm and across my shoulders then let it hang
down my front.
> But the kicker is
> my Craftsman 30 gallon 6 ho (yeah, right) compressor does not even begin to cut
> it with this thing. You can do little projects, but you don't really bust out
> the 6"er for little projects.
My compressor is slightly over-rated (aren't they all?), it's a I-R TS4, 15+ cfm
@ 175.
The sander gives this compressor a work out, but the compressor does seem to
gain on the sander a bit. This gives you an idea how much air is needed for
prolonged/ continuous sanding.
It's an iron pump compressor so the noise isn't that bad.
The main nasty of air sanders, or air tools as a whole, is the need to keep them
oiled (uhhh) and the oil winds up on what's being sanded. This can be minimized
by putting a rag over the exhaust .... quite a trick when the exhaust is by the
sanding pad.
--
{neatly edited}
--
Mark
N.E. Ohio
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice
there is.
Never argue with a fool, a bystander can't tell you apart. (S. Clemens, A.K.A.
Mark Twain)
When in doubt hit the throttle. It may not help but it sure ends the suspense.
(Gaz, r.moto)
"glensmith" writes:
> I do have enough air to run it
Which means at least 15 SCFM at 80PSIG on a continuous basis.
> Anyone with hands-on on both 6" air and elec have any opinions on which
way
> to go. (speed and quality of finish)(comfort, ease of use,noise etc.)
Go to an auto body shop and watch one in action before you decide.
The pneumatic one will run cooler, probably have about the same sound level,
and won't get plugged up with dust.
Having said that, they will need a lubricator, an inline one works great,
but it MIGHT leave a residue on wood, I simply don't know.
If you stay with the electric, take a look at the 6" Bosch for about $150.
Building a fiberglass boat, I have beat the living crap out of mine for the
last 6+ years and it still keeps working.
HTH
--
Lew
S/A: Challenge, The Bullet Proof Boat, (Under Construction in the Southland)
Visit: <http://home.earthlink.net/~lewhodgett> for Pictures