: Why does everybody keep calling it an ROM?

I spoke to a DeWalt rep. regarding the variable speed ROS and his reply was that when you are sanding a finished surface the reduced speed will help to prevent heat buildup and you will be less likely to soften the finish and have it gum up. I am a furniture builder and have not built a boat yet but am planning to build a Night Heron. I have not tried power sanding a finished surface so I don't know how reliable his information is.

I would like to suggest to anyone using power sanders to check out www.klingspor.com. They have an excellent site with a lot of very good information. I buy most of my sandpaper from them and find it to be of very high quality and very inexpensive. They have disks available up to 600 grit, although I don't know why you would power sand to that high of a grit. I generally hand sand anything finer than 180. Reducing speed on the sander might make power sanding finer grits O.K. though.

One last thought. I have noticed people talking about different colored papers. The reds and tans are general purpose for sanding wood. The grey is "stearated" which is a compound added to the sandpaper to prevent or reduce "gumming" when sanding finished surfaces.

Hope I didn't bore you too much.
Mike Boren