A "huh?" about hand held sanders

[rudy de haas]

I have had a "Skil" brand quarter sheet hand sander for years. It weighs just over 3 pounds, has a rating on it of 13000 somethings per minute, and uses a particularly nasty version (solid metal bars) of the mousetrap approach to holding the sandpaper. This weekend I bought an older Black and Decker model 7443-04 (?) hand sander at a grage sale ($5!), It uses the same quarter sheets, is also rated at 13,000 OPM c/min, and has a wire type mousetrap, but only weighs 2 pounds.
.

However.. much to my surprise the older, lighter, Black and Decker produces about twice as much sawdust per minute on the wood then the Skil - with the same sandpaper, of course.

Can somebody please tell me why? (and what "OPM C/min" means?)

[Pat Barry]

I'm pretty sure OPM means oscillations per minute. Not sure what the c means

[John Lanciani]

I would guess that the B&D has a larger orbit than the Skil.

[Dan Hahr]

If you don't have one already, you aught to get a random orbit sander of decent quality. You wouldn't see much sawdust on the wood, but you'd be amazed at how fast they sand.

Dan

[Mike Hollingsworth]

If you don't have one already, you aught to get a random orbit sander of decent quality. You wouldn't see much sawdust on the wood, but you'd be amazed at how fast they sand.

Dan

Even more amazing is when the sanding is vacuumed. Far Superior Surface.
(Blatant Festool Plug)

[Matt Day]

If you don't have one already, you aught to get a random orbit sander of decent quality. You wouldn't see much sawdust on the wood, but you'd be amazed at how fast they sand.

Dan

+1. If I still have a 1/4 sheet sander I have no idea where it is. A ROS is much better IMO.

[mark mcfarlane]

I would guess that the B&D has a larger orbit than the Skil.

My guess also. Are the pads on both sanders made of similar material, or is one soft and the other hard? What are you sanding?

[Joe Jensen]

Old Black and Decker from the 70s and 80s was a premium brand. Skill was sold and went low end before Black and Decker. Old Black and Decker were well made.

[rudy de haas]

If you don't have one already, you aught to get a random orbit sander of decent quality. You wouldn't see much sawdust on the wood, but you'd be amazed at how fast they sand.

Dan

I have one, but prefer the quarter sheet ones because they seem to do a better job with the finer grades of sandpaper - So i use the ROS for 120 and lower; the 1/4 sheet guys for above that. It's possible, of course, that my ROS is junk (Ryobi) and if a better one appears in somebody's garage sale I will get it. Meanwhile I now have 3 of the 1/4 sheet guys and that's enough. (#3 is a Makita that sucks saw dust into a bag I never use and is, by far, the best of the three)..