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Posted on behalf of "Harders, Geoff M" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
I have been reading the PolyFiber booklet on their finishing systems.
Throughout the booklet they talk about a jitterbug sander. I'm not quite
sure what they are talking about. Maybe its just different terminology.
Here in Australia the portable sanding machines are divided into three main
groups:
* a belt sander that, as the name implies, have a belt (and the sanders
come in various widths) that rotates around some rollers
* a disc sander which can be attached to a drill or you can put a
different pad onto an angle grinder, and
* an orbital sander which normally comes in either a third sheet or half
sheet size (that the amount of a normal sandpaper sheet that is attached to
the plate base pad). This pad then had a very quick orbital action.
Is the jitterbug sander what we call an orbital sander or is it something
else? If it is something else, can some give me a make and model number
of such a machine so I can try and track one down?
Cheers
Geoff
[Geoff... the jitterbug referred to in the manual you've been reading is
also called a palm sander or an orbital sander. The jitterbug typically
has a fairly small footprint that uses 1/3 of a sheet of sandpaper. They
are very handy for small areas and certainly have their place on our
projects, but given the amount of sanding you're going to be doing before
you're finished you probably want to get something a little larger. Any
reasonably sized tool store and especially auto paint stores can put you
onto what is commonly referred to as a "D-A", or dual-action orbital
sander. The most common ones use 6" diameter sanding disks, but they are
also available with an 8" diameter pad. The reason they're called
dual-action is because the circular sanding surface is free to spin around
its axis, but because of the way it is mounted (with a floating
counterbalanced eccentric) the primary motion of the sanding surface is
orbital and combined only secondarily with the circular motion so it keeps
presenting fresh cutting edges to the work. They are very efficient and
the mainstay of every body-shop's tool arsenal. Another type of sander
that you might want to consider for initial shaping on large relatively
flat areas is an inline sander... also sometimes called an air file. If
you go to the Harbor Freight website (www.harborfreight.com) and do a
keyword search on "sander" it'll bring up a page that shows all the
different hand and bench mounted sanders that they carry, sort of a
one-page lesson in sander technology. They are also a very reasonable
source for inexpensive (disposable) tools, and when it comes to air tools,
perhaps the best source if you adhere to the Lancair factory's policy of
running them dry (without lubricant to keep from contaminating the
composite surfaces) until they give up the ghost, at which time you dispose
of them and buy a replacement. Probably the only time that cheap is
good. It's ok to scrimp on a disposable tool, but buy the best sandpaper
you can find... I highly recommend 3M "Green Corps Production" sheets, that
cost 3-4 times the cheap stuff you find in discount home centers, but
outlast them tenfold easily. As for disc and belt sanders, they have their
place, but it's not in finishing... they are generally too aggressive and
can be difficult to control, and are used primarily for rough shaping
operations (at least by me). I hope this helps.
<Marv> ]
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