Palm Sanders

mtompson · 23 Apr 2013 9:02 pm

Best low cost palm sanders?
Many thanks for any ideas...

Paul · 24 Apr 2013 8:20 am

There is a lot less sanding involved in building one of our boats than you might think. Many customers hand sand their boats.

We use Bosch orbital sanders which are rather expensive and probably only worth it if you are building many boats.

Richard · 24 Apr 2013 10:55 am

'RED DEVIL' flat rectangular pad. I bought this about 9 years ago for just under £10 and it is still going strong. Best bit is that it uses ordinary paper rather than the epensive stuff used on some sanders.

mtompson · 24 Apr 2013 1:20 pm

Thanks guys

Gudgeon · 24 Apr 2013 4:25 pm

Silverline do an orbital for about £13 on amazon not tried it

Paul · 24 Apr 2013 4:39 pm

I have heard good reports of this type of sander. The pads tend to be a little thin and soft so they wear out relatively quickly and it is a little fiddly to attach the paper. At this price it does not really matter if it only lasts for one boat.

However, I still think that you should consider hand sanding. Glass paper for the bare wood and wet and dry paper, wet, for the epoxy coating.

Palm sanders tend to be a little too small and there are not many awkward places on a boat where they come into their own.

beaker · 24 Apr 2013 9:59 pm

I'm leaning towards the hand sanding route in most cases.

I used to have a cheap palm sander which was pretty useless. It tended to make lots of small scratches and melted the surface, and consumed lots of fairly expensive velcro sheets. It also wouldn't shift much material to make a decent impression on big lumps.

I then bought loads of wet/dry paper from a well known online retailer (also has counter sales - if you need a screw, they can fix it). Use it and change the paper very regularly , and you will have less dust, less vibration in your hand, won't go deaf, or gouge your surface. For grades up to about 120, then buy dry sanding paper on the roll, and use loads of it.

Later on I paid about £50 for a random orbital sander. This was great with a 60 - 80 grit for taking out lumps and drips, and flattening out the edges of fibreglass. After that I preferred to go back to wet sanding by hand, so I didn't get swirl marks.

I see the power sander as the heavy duty shaping tool, and then hand sanding for the finish.

mtompson · 24 Apr 2013 10:13 pm

I will go with my sanding block for now. Thanks for the tips.

#1 23 Apr 2013 9:02 pm

Palm Sanders

#2 24 Apr 2013 8:20 am

Re: Palm Sanders

#3 24 Apr 2013 10:55 am

Re: Palm Sanders

#4 24 Apr 2013 1:20 pm

Re: Palm Sanders

#5 24 Apr 2013 4:25 pm

Re: Palm Sanders

#6 24 Apr 2013 4:39 pm

Re: Palm Sanders

#7 24 Apr 2013 9:59 pm

Re: Palm Sanders

#8 24 Apr 2013 10:13 pm

Re: Palm Sanders

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