Sander Speed

[Chet]

I have recently started using a random orbit sander, Festool if it matters.  It is the first time I have had a sander that has speed settings of of any sort.  This has made me wonder others that have adjustable speed, where do you find your speed setting most often?   I am finding that I am around 3 - 4 for most things.

[AJ_Engineer]

Max speed for me.

[Guest Randy]

Usually the max speed is OK. You might find, though, unless you have a Festool CT vac, you might get some chatter. Some people do and some people don't seems to report this. The chatter (and usually resulting sanding marks) have been attributed to higher suction than is advisable or needed for a Festool finish sander. I usually operate my Festool finish sanders on the lowest suction possible on the Festool CT vac which is sufficient to get the dust but won't suck the sander down tight to the wood. On a Rotex sander in the rotating mode the vac suction needs to be high but not for the RO setting. Again, some people don't complain about this and, I suppose, it depends on what non-Festool vac is owned.

[drzaius]

Bosch, not Festool, but I've never tried the lower speeds. Maybe I'm missing something.

[gee-dub]

High speed for raw material removal.  Obviously the faster the tool runs the faster you can move it laterally for the same effect.  As you move into surface prep you may want a little more finesse.  The speed will vary with your material and abrasive grit.  If you are taking miter saw marks out of oak you will probably have to be pretty aggressive.  If you are "finishing the finish" by wet-sanding with 10 micron abrasives, a little more subtlety is required.  For general sanding, if you find you get chatter nudge the speed up or down a bit to eliminate it.  You'll get a feel for it.

[pkinneb]

Chet for my Festool ROS I am usually about 3/4 as well.

[TerryMcK]

I use a Makita ROS with a scale of 1-5 on the speed knob where 5 is the fastest.

• full speed (5) for 40 - 60 Grit (basically wood removal)
• 4 for 80 grit
• 3 for 120 grit
• 2.5 for 180, 220 and 360 grits

On the lower speeds I limit the vacuum to minimise fishtailing.

[lewisc]

My festool bloke recommended this as a guide to avoid the swirl marks. It's his personal blog that he puts information on.  About halfway down you'll find a table of sanding speeds. It's seems to work well. https://tutorwood.com/2011/08/27/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-rotex-part-1/

[Eric.]

That speed chart that Lewis posted is for the Rotex, so we don't know if it's applicable since we don't know if they're recommending the chart for direct drive or random orbit.

I've usually used max speed whenever sanding raw wood.  I'm not so sure there's a correlation between grit and speed causing pigtails because I've experienced them with every grit and every speed...I think it has more to do with the freshness of the disc and the cleanliness of the surface.  I still struggle with pigtails fairly often - especially in denser species - and I've tried every imaginable troubleshooting idea.  It's extremely frustrating.  My technique and suction level are correct and the only thing I've found that eliminates pigtails altogether is changing discs way more often than you'd think you'd have to.  I don't know if I just look more closely at my surfaces than the average person or if I just have terrible luck with Festool sanders...but it's still an issue for me after almost a decade of sanding with Festool sanders.  I'm at a loss.  I just go through a stupid number of discs.

Lower speeds for sanding finishes.

[Brendon_t]

6 minutes ago, Eric. said:

That speed chart that Lewis posted is for the Rotex, so we don't know if it's applicable since we don't know if they're recommending the chart for direct drive or random orbit.

I've usually used max speed whenever sanding raw wood.  I'm not so sure there's a correlation between grit and speed causing pigtails because I've experienced them with every grit and every speed...I think it has more to do with the freshness of the disc and the cleanliness of the surface.  I still struggle with pigtails fairly often - especially in denser species - and I've tried every imaginable troubleshooting idea.  It's extremely frustrating.  My technique and suction level are correct and the only thing I've found that eliminates pigtails altogether is changing discs way more often than you'd think you'd have to.  I don't know if I just look more closely at my surfaces than the average person or if I just have terrible luck with Festool sanders...but it's still an issue for me after almost a decade of sanding with Festool sanders.  I'm at a loss.  I just go through a stupid number of discs.

Lower speeds for sanding finishes.

Unfortunately, I've experienced the same thing with the EC 150.  It also seems to be a total crap shoot. All things (that I observed or control )being the same, it's not uncommon for me to have to jump back a step in sanding  right after I think I'm done done..