# 1/4 sheet or 5in orbital?



## Metro M & L (Jul 21, 2009)

What say you. 1/4 sheet palm sander or 5in orbital sander? I've always used the 1/4 sheet. What's the ups with the other one?


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

What are you sanding? For what I do I need the more aggressive action of the R.O. I never go finer than 60 grit. For interior work I would prefer a 1/4 sheet. An orbital leaves too many swirls.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

As my father used to say: "The right tool for the right job." Orbitals are nice for fast "takedowns". I then usually use a 1/4 sheet finishing sander or I block sand to remove the swirl marks. My block sander is a 3M product from their automotive division that takes small rolls of self-adhesive paper. Pricey for the paper, but worth it for furniture quality finishes.


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## summertime14 (May 4, 2009)

If you progressively sand to a finer grit, and have a little patience and a soft hand, swirls should not be an issue. I use my milwaukee RO for refinishing doors, cabinets, trim, and that kind of stuff where stain will show swirls. But I still use my 1/4 a lot too for different apps.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

When orbitals came out I placed my old 1/4 sheets in the round file, and not used one since.They are too slow for me.


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## bikerboy (Sep 16, 2007)

summertime14 said:


> If you progressively sand to a finer grit, and have a little patience and a soft hand, swirls should not be an issue. I use my milwaukee RO for refinishing doors, cabinets, trim, and that kind of stuff where stain will show swirls. But I still use my 1/4 a lot too for different apps.


 
My Milwaukee has a variable speed, which I turn way down when getting into the finer grits. Seems to keep the gum from building up and adding deep swirl marks.

I also have a couple of blocks that I like to follow up with. Wolf's setup sounds like it is worth checking out. (Tools are my drug of choice!)


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