I recently purchased a Porter Cable random orbit sander (model 333, 5 hole, hook and loop) and absolutely love it. I do however have three “series” of questions regarding my fun and useful new tool:
1. I noticed that the discs without the holes are MUCH cheaper than those with the holes. Has anyone bought discs without the holes and punched/cut holes in them? Does this work? Is it easy to do? Is it worth the money you save? What is the easiest way to do this?
2. Does running discs on the sander without holes burn up the motor because it doesn’t have the proper air-flow? Or, does it do any other damage that I should be concerned about? I ask this because if there is no problem doing this, I would just use no-hole discs when doing rough sanding because I wouldn’t care about utilizing the dust collection feature on the sander.
3. The sander has a feature that slows the RPM’s to 400 or something when the sander is removed from the work surface (pressure sensitive brake). In the user’s manual it talks about this and says that a belt will wear out over time and need to be replaced by either a technician, or you can do it yourself (comes with instructions). Does runnning the sander after the brake has worn out hurt the sander? Is there any real NEED to fix this feature in the sander? It took three days of heavy use for it to wear out and I don’t want to replace this little rubber belt once a week if I don’t HAVE to.
Any help is as always greatly appreciated!
~EW
P.S. if anyone wants to throw in any useful tips regarding use/upkeep/etc with this sander, I sure would read them and take notes!
Replies
A friend regularly runs his PC 333 with holeless paper with no noticable ill effects. I question the ill effects of the dust on his lungs, however. That's what got my grandfather. Dust is bad stuff.
IMHO, running the thing with a vac is great! No dust (much better than the little cannister, tho I've been known to use mine to collect wood dust, a pretty good match for the wood I'm sanding. :-) With a vac the paper seems to last much longer.
The slow-down feature on mine is pretty tired now, but I see it only as a convenience, not an operation requirement. It looks easy to change, however.
EW
Agree with Ed. I use the hole paper an attach a wand from one of my smaller 6 gal Shop-Vacs. Just about eliminates dust. That small sander dust is the worst kind too. If you're using it outside, just use a mask.
If you are not concerned with dust inside, give this some thought. What usually happens when you finish sand. You possibly finish. That finish would be much easier to apply dust-free.
Make a template for the pad and attach dowels in the exact place the holes in the pad disk are. Sharpen the tips of the dowels and press the non-hole paper down on the template. You now have severed holes just like the more expensive paper. You will have to round them out slightly with a pointed razor knife, but if you're into the savings it works.
You might check Klingspors' prices at their web-site for a better price than you're probably getting local. Here you go:
http://www.woodworkingshop.com
Try the dust collection, you might like it. Your lungs will for sure...
sarge..jt
The other way is to clamp the sheets between the template and a backing board and drill the holes.
ian
In another 10 or fifteen years when I get out of night school, I'm gonna be that smart too. For now, I just get the 50 packs at Klingspor's with the holes already there. I wondered how they did that so neatly. ha..ha..
Very clever, BTW.
Have a good nite, Ian...
sarge..jt
Ditto Sarge's comments about Klingspor; great abrasives at a great price. Even their better heavyweight discs are less than 50 cents each in quantities of 50. Hardly worth fooling with the cheapies with no holes imho. They'll last longer, too. If you get to a woodworking show in your area, check out the Klingspor booth- they run incredible specials. My 333 is an older 1.7 amp model that's seen plenty of use. I blow it out with compressed air once in awhile and have replaced the canister o-rings a couple of times; that's been the only maintainance. The brake belt needs to be replaced, haven't got around to it yet. It's not a problem, just make sure the sander contacts the work before you start it. PC has a dust collection kit (73333) that well worth the money (about $30) imho. The kit comes with a hood for the 6" ROS (which you don't need), hose, and 2" adapter for your shop vac. The hose and adapter are available individually. It works well- easier on your lungs and far less cleanup.
Use disks with the holes and hook it up to a shop vac, preferrably a good one. It saves your lungs, saves you time and saves you money because the disks work faster and longer when there not clogged with dust and spent abrasive. Klingspor and Mirka are the best. I too go with quantity to get the price down to < $0.50. In a pinch, the Norton disks at the big orange box store aren't too bad either. The pad brake is very important if you don't like swirl marks. A free spinning ROS will leave swirl marks that 9 out of 10 times won't show up until you've got a finish on it. You can use an ROS w/o the break but it takes a lot more technique and concentration to avoid swirl marks.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Look into Mirka Abranet sanding discs. They are a revolutionary mesh construction that works on any hook and loop pad. With these the issue of holes is moot. I've been using them for about half a year now and I absolutely LOVE them. I actually have one sander set up to use the Abranet discs and another set up to use the adhesive-backed regular paper sanding discs. The Abranet discs cut effectively about 3 times longer than any paper sanding discs that I have ever used. Which is to say that I have to change out the paper discs about three times, to maintain effective sanding, compared to one Abranet disc. The beauty of the mesh discs is that they don't load up because the dust just passes right thru the mesh. These really are a fantastic product that, from what I can tell, is wildly popular with anyone who has ever tried them.
Regards,
Kevin
the best reasons for using a vac while sanding are that it greatly improves the life of the paper by sucking the dust away before it can heat up and stick, and therefore improves the quality of your finish by not having this crud stuck to your paper. not to mention the obvious advantage of not having the air filled with crap.
m
Many thanks for all of the advice/comments!
This past weekend I took my sander to my friends house and was sanding misc stuff with a shop-vac hooked up. WOW does that make a difference! There was virtually NO dust collecting on the wood with the rough paper (80 or so) and very little when I got it down to 220. The life of the paper also is noticibly longer.
I'm just beginning to build my woodshop and the next thing I am buying is a nice shop-vac.
Thanks again,
~EW
EW
You seem to be catching on real quick. Keep digging. It actually gets better the deeper you go.
sarge..jt
Sarge
The deeper you go?
Into the wood, the topic, or the forum?
Jeff
Jeff
Into acquiring WW skills in general. I have been fascinated for 31 years now with it, an I still learn some new tricks almost every day.
Keep digging... ha..ha..
sarge..jt
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