Sanders

[Steven Hsieh]

I need a sander that can use psa sandpaper disc. I'm not a big fan of H&L disc. Normally I would us them for removing not fine sanding. The school uses PSA dynabrade air disc sander. They are awesome. But i dont have a compressor that can keep up. I'm looking at festool as another option. But They don't make psa pads. I'm wondering has anyone here figure out a way to use PSA pads on festool sanders?


Thanks

[Steven Hsieh]

A dynabrade cost about the same as festool sander. I guess ill just get the festool.

[Richard Dragin]

Hook and loop would be a poor choice for the school to use because with all the students using the sanders they would probably wear out fast. For personal use the hook and loop is preferred and that is why it is most of what's available in stores. Don't do what most students do and think because it is what you use in school it must be the best, after you are out of school there are other options that may be better.

One of the main advantages of Festool is dust collection which is usually not a feature of PSA disk sanders. When you are in school or a cabinet shop and have a Dynabrade, big compressor and downdraft table PSA is great but without the downdraft table you'll want some form of dust collection even if it is only the little bag on a sander.

Most sanders (except Festool) have an optional PSA pad you can buy.

[Steven Hsieh]

We do have H&L, but the problem is tool abuse. When you see a brand new pad on the sander today, it will be melted in one week.
You are right in my situation. H&L would better choice for me.

[John Coloccia]

FWIW, I've yet to replace a pad on a sander. I'll bet you that they wear out so quickly because kids forget to actually put an abrasive on it.

Check out Abranet, BTW. I just switched to using it....amazing stuff.

[Van Huskey]

The money I save in reusing unspent discs probably more then covers replacing a pad on occasion. While you are looking at sanders you may want to look at the Mirka Ceros, I think it is far and away a better sander than the ETS and has the nicer form factor of a air sander at the very worst you will come away thinking the Festool ETS sanders are a bargain.

[Richard Dragin]

John,
If you like the Abranet you'll love the Autonet, same thing for half the price. For a traditional sander I prefer Indasa Rhyno disks available from Industrial Abrasives and 2sand.com.

Van,
The Mirka, really? For someone buying their first sander out of school I wouldn't recommend a $500 dollar sander. I own one and it is the reason I am using the Autonet disks but I'm still not sure if I could suggest it to others. I do a lot of curved work and it isn't the best choice for it. On flat surfaces it is great but for curves it has a lot of limitations. The Abranet/Autonet disks wear out fast and if you don't change them often enough you start to get swirl marks which is something I never had to deal with using the fore mentioned Rhyno disks.

Steven,
Let me guess, you are going to Cerritos?

[Mike OMelia]

Both Abranet and Autonet are made by Mirka. Why would Mirka sell "the same thing" for half the price?

[Steven Hsieh]

We should teaching a course on not pressing the da.m sander too hard.

I've been in cerritos college program for couple of years now.
I own a Porter cable sander for a while. Not great but works.
It died of recently. I wont bother fixing it. The sander has vibration problems.


The Mirka is a great sander. It is like using an air sander without the compressor.
But the price is steep for me.

[Mike OMelia]

Well, I seriously want the Ceros sander.

Mike

[Richard Dragin]

Both Abranet and Autonet are made by Mirka. Why would Mirka sell "the same thing" for half the price?

Autonet is marketed to the automotive industry and body shops. Abranet is marketed to consumer hobbiests. Obviously they feel they can charge a higher mark up to the hobbiests.

Cerritos is a great program but a good friend who went there insisted on some unusual choices for tools because that's what they used at the school. What is good in an institutional setting does not always apply to the real world.

[Mike Heidrick]

I wouldnt trade my ETS for two Mirka Ceros sanders. The Ceros has more vibration than an ETS, an extremely thick cord, goofy speed controls out the side, and clunky converter box on the bench. Just me I know - I the only one that feels this way, blah blah blah. I am positive I have used both though - actual use - not internet read about them expertise and it must be better because it is more or my dealer said it is better

[Van Huskey]

Van,
The Mirka, really? For someone buying their first sander out of school I wouldn't recommend a $500 dollar sander. I own one and it is the reason I am using the Autonet disks but I'm still not sure if I could suggest it to others. I do a lot of curved work and it isn't the best choice for it. On flat surfaces it is great but for curves it has a lot of limitations. The Abranet/Autonet disks wear out fast and if you don't change them often enough you start to get swirl marks which is something I never had to deal with using the fore mentioned Rhyno disks.

Sure. He mentioned Festool so depening on the ROS he is looking at $180 to over $500 so not bargain basement at all. Without a budget given I always recommend what I think is the best tool, with a budget the best within the budget. Although a young person is less likely to have a budget as large as they will later for the same purchase someone with an entire lifetime of woodworking ahead of them has the most chance to see the savings benefits of the Ceros' brushless motor. Further someone that likes air sanders has a good chance of liking the Ceros more than a conventional electric ROS.

[Richard Dragin]

goofy speed controls out the side, and clunky converter box on the bench.

The speed controls are on the top and the converter sits atop my dust extractor but I'll agree it isn't the do all, end all sander you'd hope it would be for the price.


Van,
He didn't give a budget so, you make a good point.

[Van Huskey]

I wouldnt trade my ETS for two Mirka Ceros sanders. The Ceros has more vibration than an ETS, an extremely thick cord, goofy speed controls out the side, and clunky converter box on the bench. Just me I know - I the only one that feels this way, blah blah blah. I am positive I have used both though - actual use - not internet read about them expertise and it must be better because it is more or my dealer said it is better

Mike, I think it is a legit point. The thing that works for me is the form factor, I prefer the control of an air sander. I never used them side by side so the vibration may be a little higher with the Ceros, can't say. I will say the least vibration in a 6" ROS is the newest Bosch which I did run side by side with an ETS 150. The Ceros I have used is a woodworking friend of mines who has an overhead boom system (homemade not Festool) and the cord is zip tied to the hose, there are a lot of situations if you don't have a fixed sanding table the Ceros would be a pain, for someone that does site installs it would be a real pain. There are a handful of ROS that are really nice, what trips one persons trigger may not anothers.