A sander makes your wood project smooth enough to shine. There are types of sanders available in the market. It will be tough for you to choose the suitable one for woodworking. One will not prefer much to work with a belt sander on the corner of the table. Because a belt sander has extreme speed and this can damage more. In this situation, the wood lover will choose an orbital sander machine for perfection. Before using a sander you should obviously know about the sender types. From different kind of sanders, some of them are very popular among the woodworkers. Hope that you can use an automatic sander. In this article, I’m going to discuss various sanders and their pros and cons too. So go through the article.
Different types of Sanders
Belt Sander
The sander which comes with sandpaper over the roller and which can complete a huge job in a short time is known as the belt sander. Basically, it removes the materials much quicker than others and makes the surface smooth. But the finishing is not well enough to beat orbital sanders’ performance. A sander is used for remove material from the wood surface and it is very fruitful with a belt sander. You will find a belt sander suitable for any hand-held mounting. This will be easy for you to get a great finishing if you use a belt sander over the small workpiece. It is suitable for tabletops, doors etc. The belt size can be expressed with the terms of its width and circumference. Most common sizes available in the market are 3/18, 3/21, 4/24, 4/21 inches. A larger belt can remove a huge amount of material. Belt speed varies from 900 to 1600 rpm. If the speed of a sander is fast then it can give you good perfection. There are 2-3 pulleys used in a belt sander to run the sandpaper. It has a large contact area. They produce a lot of dust and some latest models come with the dust port facility only. For the larger project, you can use this sander because it can cover a large area. It comes with differently sized sandpaper.
Sheet Sander Machine
It can nearly work like a random orbital sander. It works very well. Materials can be removed easily with it. It is square shaped. It does not have any system installed to hold the sanding pads. You have to use a standard sheet of sandpapers which are of 1/4 or 1/2. The sandpapers are clipped into the bottom face of the sander machine. The square design helps it more to reach the corner of a workpiece. It comes with linear and circular motion. But the circular motion is not the same as the random orbital sanders. It is versatile and easy to work. It has the different variation. For big projects, you will find big sanders in the market. It will give your project a great finishing. One thing which is very important that the dust collection port is not available for all that models. Only a few of them have dust collector port. Not all the model comes with the facility of dust collector port. So, it may cause you some problem. The square design helps to reach the corner.
Detail Sander
This is the most unique sander on the market. It comes with the triangular pad for sanding. The sanding pad is small but works very well. It seems very fashionable and easy to grip in hand. It is specially designed to reach to the corner. It is best for furniture work. You can use it for a small project too. It works in linear motion. The most sensitive work can be done with it great precision. The triangular pad is connected to the machine with adhesive. It uses random orbital styled motion to remove materials from wood piece. The tinny sized pad helps it more to work better. It has various models available in the market. It can reach to the corner of the workpiece due to having a triangular shape. It has lightweight with a fashionable look. The grip will help you to get better comfort. The sand pad is very small. So that reason for sanding large workpiece you will need more time to finish.
Random Orbital Sander
Are you searching for the best orbital sander? Then you should use the random orbital sander. For a woodworker, it should be the first choice. The orbital sander and the random orbital sander are different tools. A random orbital sander has round shape. It works with orbital rotatory motion. It works very well. It works slower than a belt sander but has great perfection. It removes the materials from wood piece easily and gives a smooth finishing to your project. On the delicate surface, it gives more feedback because of random motion. You can control the speed with this machine. There are various speed variations for this machine. So, it is going to be very easy for you to gain a suitable smooth surface. It is versatile. It has also very lightweight and easy to bear and use. It has a vibration which will give your machine precision. The grip has more comfort. For round shape, it is easy to sand the workpiece angled. Different grip holder helps more to grip the machine perfectly. The sandpaper should be changed for working by it for a long time. It is designed for easy control and operates. It has easy transportation benefit due to having very lightweight. It is very easy to change the sandpaper and it is cheap. It is perfect for beginners. It comes with dust collection port too. One thing you should know that you can’t cut or trim wood with this.
Orbital Sander
An orbital sander is different from the random orbital sander. You should attach sandpaper to the bottom of the machine. It works well on wood surfaces. It has circular motion but this is not random motion. It is also good in square corners too. You will get perfection while working with it because it has the rectangular shape. It is very easy to use. It has lightweight and easy to transport. Due to square sized sandpaper, it is perfect for the corner sanding. You will need to change the sandpaper too much time.
Oscillating Spindle Sander
For the small project, it is very suitable. For making curves and other special design you can use it. A simple spindle rotates in high speed. You will just need to take your workpiece beside it. It has two purposes. It is used to sharpen and polish the wood surface. It has a very high speed. It is only suitable for a small project. You can sand metal too with this. As it has high speed your work will be done quickly. So, if you want to design more for your small project then take it.
Additional information about the sender
Before choosing the sanders you need to know some information related with sander machine. Now I am going to discuss the terms that you should know before buying.
Dust Collector port
A dust collector port for sander machine helps to collect the dust and waste material. It keeps your working place clean. Due to not having a dust port, your workstation may get dirty. Again the dust can cause a problem to them those who have the dust allergy. The entire sander does not come with the dust collector port. I will recommend you to choose the one which has a dust collector port feature. Sawdust can make your workplace dirty and make you unhappy. A good dust collector can give you a better work environment. Sanding accuracy and perfection will be increased due to a good working environment. Hope that you will manage to choose a sander which has a good dust collector port.
- Motion
Before choosing a sander you should check the motion of it. Motion that is suitable for you should be chosen by you. So before taking a sander, you should know its speed or motion.
- Power
Generally, a sander works with 220 volts. Some sanders come with the cordless facility. They run with a battery. So before taking a sander, you should take a decision which product you prefer much.
- Grip
You should take the one that has a nice grip. Lightweight and well gripped sander machine will give you comfort. A rubber coated grip is more preferable by the woodworkers. So, you can get one for you too.
- Warranty
All of the sanders do not have the warranty. I would suggest you buy a sander which has warranted. You should not only mess up with the warranty and check the product quality also. Again you should check that customer service is available in near to you or not.
Final Notes
So, you have read about various types of sanders in this article. But there are more sanders available in the market as above discuss such as Types of floor sanders, Types of electric sanders and Types of power sanders also. One thing you should always remember that safety is a must while working. Always try to work in clean places. Hope that you have found your sander for your wood projects. A good quality sander can give you much perfection while working.
So, keep sanding with the sanders and create new things with wood.