Why I HATE my random orbital sander (and how to fix it)

hi I'm James Hamilton from stumpy an absorber King Journal and today I'm gonna help you solve your random orbital sander problems the random orbital sander gets its name from the motion of the disc on the bottom not only does it spin in circles but it also orbits in a small elliptical motion this ensures that no part of the abrasive travels in the same path twice during the same rotation this reduces swirl marks and produces random scratch patterns no matter the direction of the grain they are marvels of power tool technology but they can also be frustrating at times so here are some solutions to common problems you may encounter with your random orbital sander I know I just said that random orbital sanders reduce swirl marks but what I meant was the big circular marks that are left by the spinning discs of old rotary Sanders however random orbital sanders can still leave tiny little swirls behind they're sometimes called pigtails or spirals these really stand out especially when you put on a finish and definitely if you put on stain there are several potential causes for these that you need to be aware of it may be that just a little bit of the abrasive grit from your sandpaper came off and got stuck in a different spot and so now it's digging deeper in that spot or it could be that dust built up and compacted into a teeny little ball creating some type of lump and that can also dig deeper as you sand so the solution is to keep your sandpaper clean by using a sander with good built in dust collection or by attaching a shop vacuum if that doesn't solve the problem you might just get some better sandpaper that won't break up as you use it another cause for the spirals is moving your sander around too quickly remember the disc is orbiting in circles it's going to leave circular scratches the key is to leave thousands and thousands and thousands of them so that they're closely blended together if you move the sander side-to-side too quickly you stretch those spirals out and you make a more noticeable sand slowly take about 15 or 20 seconds to travel afoot and then move on to the next area rather than moving quickly back and forth over the same area many times finally don't skimp on your grits if your hundred grit paper leaves a few spirals the next grit 220 is gonna take them out but if you skip from a hundred up to 220 you're gonna have to sand forever to remove the deeper scratches from the hundred and you're likely to leave some of those spirals behind we all get impatient when we're sanding but it's actually faster and more efficient if you use several incremental grits instead of just two or three this problem is related to the last one but it's worth going into a little bit deeper when you sand especially if you're using a coarse grit the dust can build up quickly some random orbital sanders have reasonably effective built in dust collection others not so much if you let the dust build up you may get swirl marks as we discussed earlier but you're definitely going to clog your paper up so that it'll stop working well and you'll have to sand a lot longer clogged paper will also build up heat and dull more quickly and the heat can even melt the rough surface on the bottom of the sander that holds the paper on more on that later the solution to clog paper is to use a shop vac especially when you're sanding with coarse grits that create a lot of dust check the paper periodically as you work if it looks clogged rub it with a rubber stick like this one to clean up the dust and get it back cutting again I'll put a link to the stick I used in the description below this video this final random orbital sander problem is one I had recently and if you've bought a sander in the last few years you've experienced it too the velcro like material on the bottom of the sander just doesn't hold the paper on very well older hook-and-loop Sanders used to hold the discs too well you had a hard time getting them off and after you did it like twice you've ruined the fuzz on the back so manufacturers have gone the other way making pads that hardly stick at all to the bottom of the Sanders the idea is to make it easy to change back and forth between grits but the problem is the sanding discs can come off while you work especially if you lift the sander up off the workpiece to move it to another area without turning it off and letting it come to a complete stop it's a pain in the tuchus but most of the new name-brand Sanders have these less aggressive pads on the bottom now this is a really big problem for me especially because I like to use the dura Grint carbide sanding discs these things last for years I love them but they're made out of steel instead of paper so they're heavier and if the sander doesn't grip them well they can fly off I was pretty frustrated for a while but it turned out the solution was right in the package somehow I missed that they had included a new stronger piece of adhesive backed velcro that I could put on my sander so I took my sander with no paddle or no disc on the bottom I set it on top of a sheet of sandpaper and I turned it on to where the little velcro nubs off the bottom and get a smooth surface that I could attach my new adhesive backed velcro disc - now this solved the problem with a new sander that wasn't gripping well but what if you have an older sander that once did grip well but it's not anymore the problem could be simple it could just be dust buildup so clean it well and see if that helps it may also be that you switch sandpaper to a cheaper one or the sandpaper manufacturer has been cutting costs and so the fuzz on the back is just no good and it's not going to hold well so you might have to change your sandpaper or it may be that you just wore out the velcro pad on your sander this can happen if you apply excessive pressure when you sand or if you build up a lot of heat that can actually melt those little plastic hooks on the bottom you may be able to buy a replacement pad for your sander for like fifteen or twenty bucks or you could go to a craft store and get some adhesive backed velcro strips and glue them on to the bottom of course sand off and flatten out to get a smooth surface on your pad first better yet you could buy a carbide sanding disc which will come with a new velcro piece that can go on the bottom of your sander solving that problem and solving the problem of having to throw away all those paper discs all the time I'll link to these in the description below this video one last tip to avoid slipping discs when you store your sander leave a sanding disk on the bottom this prevents the velcro hooks from bending and flattening and losing their grip even more over time I hope these tips help you get more from your random orbital sander in a future video we'll discuss more sanding tips and sandpaper in general wait don't go yet if you're new here please subscribe and remember to ring the bell I would really appreciate that give us a thumbs up or better yet leave us a comment I always read them and be sure to check out the latest issue of stumpy nubs woodworking journal it's always packed with tips tricks and tutorials designed to make you a better woodworker

Channel: Stumpy Nubs

Views: 680,309

Keywords: woodworking, stumpy nubs, tips, workbench, table saw, scroll saw, drill press, quick tip, band saw, bandsaw, lumber, hack, hand plane, sharpening, tormek, worksharp, diamond stone, water stone, wood turning, bowls, lathe

Id: Gt0pdxoSMPU

Length: 7min 14sec (434 seconds)

Published: Thu May 30 2019