Hey folks, I just bought my first sheet sander, but I'm concerned it seems to be sanding really slowly. I might just be a bit impatient, but I thought it would work faster than this. I'm trying to follow the instructions and not press down too hard, plus I'm using coarse sandpaper. Any tips or insights on whether this is normal? Thanks a lot! Cheers, Chris
3 Answers
If you're trying to strip paint from that bench, a good carbide scraper would be a cheaper solution. After scraping, you could follow up with your sheet sander to smooth things out!
Hey Chris, I feel you! As a fellow newbie, I'd suggest looking into a corded random orbital sander. They’re much better for material removal and can connect to a shop vac for dust collection. I use a Metabo SXE 425 with 3M Cubitron 710W sandpaper, and it works much faster. My coarsest grit is 80, and it gets the job done quicker! If that sounds pricey, I've heard good things about small corded options from Dewalt and Bosch.
Sheet sanders are generally not known for their speed; they're designed more for finishing rather than heavy material removal. Unlike rotary sanders, they don't have the same mechanical action, which is why you might see slower results. Check out this video for more on their design: [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Bn_-X27cyxA).
Got it, that makes sense! I found that if I tilt it and just use one edge on the wood, it speeds things up a bit, but I'm not sure if that's the right way to use it.