> I am looking into buying an electric sander. What is the difference
> between an orbital sander (square base with clips to hold sandpaper) and a
> random orbital sander (circular base with adhesive holding the sandpaper).
> Which is more appropriate for sanding my kit kayak? Thanks

I've had about half a dozen different sanders over the years and my absolute favorite and most useful is a PC 6 inch vs RAS. It is very helpful for kayak building as it can be used for both rough fairing and finish work (that's where the variable speed helps). I don't like the hook and loop style though since only special disks can be used and the hook and loop where's out fairly quickly. With the psa type you can by the disks for half the cost of hook and loop or just glue sand paper to the disk and cut it round. Quite a while a go I bought a box of assorted 6 inch disks for $10 that were cloth backed and these worked much better than the normal paper backed variety. they were made for a staionary type sander so you had to use your own glue to attach them.