: I got a $100 worth of gift certificates for Home Depot as birthday presents
: from a sister and mother-in-law. Lucky me! I plan to buy a variable speed
: random orbital sander. I'm looking for advice on what type to buy. Brand
: names, features, type of sandpaper attachment, and anything else anyone
: can think of. If it costs a bit more than $100 that's OK. I can chip in a
: little of my own $ too.

: What should I look for?

: Thanks for any input.

: -Dan

The ideal ROS for strip building is light-weight, variable speed, and dustless, 5” disc with hook and loop paper. If I had to choose one from the current crop I’d go for the Makita BO5020, Porter Cable 333VS or DeWalt DW423Kat about $85 at Tools on Sale - 800-328-0457 (free shipping).

Most novice woodworkers don’t have any experience using ROS so they won’t know how crummy sanding can be with the wrong sander or a cheap one.

Variable speed is important because it allows you more control. Fast speeds for large open flat sanding and slower speeds for small close quarters.

Dustless is important because it removes debris from the paper so the paper works longer and better. And if you hook it to a real vac, you'll have almost no dust in your lungs.
The heavy more powerful, 6” ROS are intended for large mostly flat surfaces. More weight and power are important when you are working on large flat surfaces because the weight will help in material removal as will the power. This is the intent behind belt sanders which are designed for flat surfacing. The combination of heavy weight and high power remove material fast.

For the mostly curved surfaces of stripper boats, especially the interiors, a light-weight sander is much easier to handle for long periods of time and more control is available because material removal is more dependent on disk speed and grit size than weight and power.

Sanding the interior is easiest if the ROS is set to a slower speed and a short rapid/continuous stroke moves perpendicular to the strip/ keel line. This stroke length may be only 2-3” in length using the wrist only. This stroke direction is in the same direction as the random orbit action so a smooth surface will be created. If you sand parallel to the strip/ keel line you must angle the sander to use the curved edge of the disk to follow the shape of the hull interior and this will allow the random disk action to create a rippled surface. On large more flatten interior surfaces it may be possible to sand parallel to the strip/keel line if you use a longer very fast stroke to reduce the ripple creating effect of the random action.

SX E 400 Metabo 3” disk ROS is a delight to use for interior sanding. It has a right angle body to allow sanding in tight spaces. It is dustless and variable speed also which is important. It sands in close curves and tight spaces with ease. It’s not cheap at $125 so I don’t recommend you buy one unless you have more money than time.

Sanding and a lot of other tasks can be difficult on the strip boat because the boat is so light-weight it wants to move away from you like a slippery fish. I have a 30 pound hunk of steel wrapped in carpet that I leave in my boat most of the time. This weight allows me to position the boat in different ways and the boat will stay in place because of the weight.

I don’t care for the small diameter hoses most tool suppliers sell for their dustless sanders to connect with a vac. My vac came with a stepped reducer on the end of the hose and I just duct tape this into the dust outlet on my sanders. It is certainly heavier to drag the larger hose but I have no dust left on the work or in my nose. I do wear a dust mask too.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com