Chosing the right sander for veneer

[canadamike]

Hi There!

I've learned lots from all of the talent out there, hopefully someone can help me out with these questions.

I am doing a bunch of veneered panels and am looking for advice on the best sander for the task. It is commercial veneer, curly cherry, and laminated in a vacuum bag. The sanding is pre-finish, and the panels are very flat, with minor glue squeeze through.

I am leaning toward the ETS 150/3, as I already have a Rotex. Or should I be considering the RS2? I have a RTS400 but am finding it leaves some swirls in the veneer, even with the vac on a low setting.

Also, what pad does the ETS 150/3 ship with? I would think I need the hard pad?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[peter halle]

The RS2 is designed for sanding large flat surfaces.  It was fun to see it in class working by itself with the operator just holding onto the vac hose and guiding it.

Peter

 

[mouppe]

I do a lot of veneer work and the ETS125 is usually my first choice.

Richard.

 

[jacko9]

I too use the ETS 125 for sanding veneer and the 150/3 comes standard with the medium pad.  If you use the 150/3 get the hard pad but 3mm orbits are a lot easier to see than the 2mm orbits.

Jack

 

[tjbnwi]

Just sanded 704 square feet of mahogany veneer plywood with 1100 lineal feet of edge banding, ETS 125 with 180 grit Granat. All I have is another 4,928 square feet ply and another 8,066 lineal feet of edge banding to go.

Tom

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Love my ETS 125 for veneer, but love the RS 2 E even more.

 

[tjbnwi]

Are you guys telling me Tom has to send me an RS-2 with paper to try on my project ???

Tom

 

[Kev]

If it was a "this job plus future utility" choice I'd probably suggest the ETS150/3 (plus hard pad).

If you wanted perfection and you could lay the panels flat I'd be considering the RS200 (RS2E? in US) ... with  a little practice run on something non critical.

The ETS125 and RTS400 are great sanders (as is the DTS400), but larger pads simply suit larger areas better.

 

[canadamike]

Thanks for the great feedback everyone!

My Rotex is the 150/6 so I would prefer to use the same sized sanding pads so the ETS150/3 would complement the Rotex. But I am after a quality surface as well.

So the ETS/125 has a 2mm stroke. But that means buying yet another set of sanding pads.

Does anyone use the RS2E for veneer? How is the sanded surface? Are there any comparisons on the finish patterns between the different sanders?

Again, thanks so much for all of your generous advice!

Mike

 

[Runhard]

Just sanded 704 square feet of mahogany veneer plywood with 1100 lineal feet of edge banding, ETS 125 with 180 grit Granat. All I have is another 4,928 square feet ply and another 8,066 lineal feet of edge banding to go.

Tom

If you don't mind my asking, what are you working on?

Daniel

 

[tjbnwi]

A "few" vanities (240). Waiting for word back on the door part of the job, 14,250 of door surface.

What the items look like;
https://picasaweb.google.com/tbadernwi/ClevelandRocks

The 3 bags of dust in the Midi vs ct 26 thread is from cutting up and Dominoing the sheets to make the first 50 vanities.

Tom

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

Tom,
That's a lot of sanding. Try the RS 2 E.

 

[tjbnwi]

I see the RS 2 is orbit only, I'll consider it.

Tom