Morning all, I need a new sander as the hook & loop base on my old Black & decker no longer holds the paper. It’s initially to sand a garden table & chairs but I want it to be for all the jobs I’m likely to tackle so it can’t be a one trick pony 😉
I have seen a couple, but what or which is best for under £100?

orbit

1/2 sheet

Cheers.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……I read Sandler.My bad.

Random Orbitals (150mm round disks) are more versatile and forgiving IME. Though, you may need a detail mouse type sander for getting into corners. Worth checking when you’re buying that you can get a spare sanding plate for when you inevitably use it without a sheet for a few seconds…not that something like that would ever happen to a professional like me, oh no. 😳

I have the Erbauer disc sander which has been much more useful and a better finish with less effort than the 1/2 sheet sander. Make sure you get the perforated discs to avoid clogging

Also, one with a round outlet to the bag is better. (IME) The bags collect bugger all so something to which you can jerry rig a vac keeps the dust down a lot more.

I’ve had the older version of that orbit sander for about 5 years and it’s been brilliant. It’s much more like the Hitachi model though and looks better built. The only thing I don’t like about it is the dust extraction. The only way to connect a hose to it is with duct tape.

The AEG 150mm random orbit can be got for a smidge over your budget if you shop around – made in the same factory with the same internals as the ones by Metabo and Maffel. But cheaper in the UK as AEG doesn’t have much of a following here

Good robust unit, has a round dust port – as DD recommends – although still a bit of a fanny about with bits of old tube and gaffa tape to get a hoover to fit, but at least it can be done.

But the best bit is all 3 of those machines have a switchable orbit – from 3mm to 6mm (6mm is a bigger orbit than you’ll get from pretty much anyone else) which means you can swap between finer sanding and removing larger amounts of material – I use one as much as a carving tool for big polystyrene and polyurethane sculptures as much as finishing tool and for that the extraction is ideal – otherwise it looks like christmas all year round.

Thanks all, I went a bit off piste & bought a Metobo 1/4 sheet sander as I thought it would be a bit more suitable for the smaller jobs & I can use the cheaper rolls of paper rather than the expensive Velcro type.

Cheers.