Sanders Now

Finishing sanders are useful tools that help getting the best finish to your craft and carpentry projects. These are necessarily needed by any craftsman to get the most desired professional results.

However, four of these sanders provide a great edge over any other competitor’s machine. The sanders from Festool and Porter-Cable have continued to provide exceptionally smooth surfaces.

Festool has on offer the Rotex RO 150 and the RTS 400 EQ finishing sanders, both of them are really superb.

The Rotex RO 150 is a heavy-duty, high-performance sander designed to handle any job accurately and with ease and style. It has a simple dual-sanding system that enables workmen to carry the sanding operation in a random orbital mode for exceptionally fine sanding. Or the machine could be switched into a gear-driven high-speed mode for quick removal of material. An auxiliary easily removable handle enables the operator to have a better control during such high-speed operations. Such aggressive or other delicate operations are achieved by making provision for a variable speed control, maintaining a constant speed under load, and thermal and over-load protection. The sander is equipped to handle extremes of any application. Here’s a surprise. Imagine such a powerful tools weighing just five pounds! That further helps to keep vibration at very low levels. It comes with advanced ergonomic design thus offering a very competent package that any operator will find surprisingly conveniently to work on. The totally enclosed design of the gearbox prevents dust and debris from entering the bearing unit. That goes to provide extended life of tool and components. Moreover, a jet-stream dust extraction system ensures a clean and healthy working environment that leads to better efficiency.

The RTS 400 EQ from Festool is a great flat surface finish sander. Its strength, balance, and really intelligent design make this tool lead all the way. It’s a solid but lightweight tool that weighs just 2.4 lbs. Its ergonomic design makes even a continuous operation very comfortable. It incorporates vibration stop technology for remaining balanced. These features coupled with an easy to operate speed control system result to having an exceptionally smooth operation of the tool as the workman conveniently ascribes different speed for every different application.

The orbital sanding motion of the tool results to providing a full pad contact with the sanding surface, thus containing the swirl effect to its lowest level to produce markedly smooth finishes. It has a narrow profile rectangular pad design that enables craftsmen an easy access to narrow spaces. Moreover its design facilitates close sanding of edges and frame members to get an edge-to-edge professional finish. It offers a quick removal of abrasive material due resilient pad hooks and hardwearing fabric backing. That contributes to longer life of pad and abrasive.

Finishing sanders from Porter-Cable builds are among the most trusted and finest of finishing sanders that one may have. They are designed for durability and withstand heavy-use and rough jobsite environments.

Porter-Cable’s 330 and 344 provide the most creditable features of a high-quality sander. The 330, is a small machine, barely weighs 4 lbs, is especially simple and easy to use. Though a small tool, this sander is unbelievably strong and integrates rubber posts that prevent vibration from reaching your hands. Very successfully it delivers aggressive sanding action without causing undue stress and fatigue often associated with heavy vibrations. While orbiting at 14,000 OPM it is sure to deliver the smoothest, most extra-fine finishes. On the whole it’s a compact, lightweight equipment that is comfortable to operate, and delivers an amazingly fine finish.

The 344 (5″) random orbit sander is a gem of a machine from Porter-Cable that’ll surpass any body’s expectations. It’s a powerful tool in the hands of the craftsmen to deliver incredibly smooth surfaces. This ergonomically designed tool has a weight of only 4.05 lbs that adds to the comfort of using it. You wouldn’t believe that such lightweight a machine would deliver such a silken smooth surface in so short a time. It has a 3Amp motor operating at 12,000 OPM. It’s a wonderful specimen of perfect blending of durability and consistency. What makes this machine stand apart from the rest of its class is its standards of high quality output facilitated thru simple and comfortable operation and its easy maintenance.

All these sanders are geared to deliver remarkable results and proficiently fine finishes that will make you happy after every use.

Any carpentry or renovation project necessitates the requirements of a good detail sander, but getting the right one that answers your professional requirements and fits within your budget could be a daunting task. But, you have two good brands, Bosch and Dremel, available. They offer detail sanders with superb designs that deliver high performance at prices you’ll find affordable.

Multi-Max from Dremel provides a very smooth operation and despite an above-average performance costs about $90-$100. This model facilitates craftsmen to reach difficult areas and details to deliver very precise results. It comes with a powerful motor of 1.5 Amps, enabling tougher applications, whereas its variable speed range of 10,000 to 21,000 OPM enables the craftsmen to choose an optimum speed for any specific application. It has a compact and ergonomic design that enables the worker to comfortably reach the tight spaces of any work piece. Of special help is the Quick Fit mechanism that enables quick change of accessories.

Provision of an electronic feedback system ensures steady speed during any application. Here is a powerful versatile tool that is designed to give precise results for any number of household and hobby projects. You’ll find it difficult to get another multi-functional tool that is as efficient and so reasonably priced. And, yes, in case you need additional accessories, go for Multi-Max kit, the 6300-03 at a slightly higher price of about $125 to $140.

Another detail sander on offer is from Bosch. While offering the ease of operation, it delivers excellent results for any kind of project, be it renovation or modeling. Aptly named corner detail sander, the 1294VSK is available in kit formation with all the accessories. This is a powerful machine that allows you to approach and work precisely in the most typical spaces with unbelievable ease. It has a very powerful motor of 2.4 Amps, which is capable of running from 13,000 to19000 OPM, giving fast and accurate results that are undoubtedly the smoothest you could imagine.

The motor is designed to give consistent speed with minimum vibrations that delivers extra-smooth uniform surfaces. It’s a pleasure to be working on details with this easy to handle machine with an ergonomic design that features tool-free pad changes. You’ll wonder at the charmingly smooth results, so precisely achieved by this machine that enables you to reach the work piece from very close quarters. This is perfect machine for hobbyists and professionals alike. The 1294VSK, priced for $120 to $150, is bit more expensive than the Multi-Max, but a more powerful motor and provision of a few extra accessories justify the price.

Both these are well designed easy to handle machines that would give you most satisfactory results, while the most interesting part continues to be their affordable price.