- Joined
- Jun 24, 2007
- Messages
- 10,355
Hi,
I purchased this sander a few weeks ago. I have used it for several sanding portions on a shelf unit job. The job was for five separate units , and large enough give this sander a realistic test and learn quite a bit about it. I took pics , and notes, so I would remember for this review. So here it is in no particular order.
My overall comments are- The sander is comfortable to hold.
Three or four profiles will fit in the systainer.
DC is real good , but not as complete as on my ROS.
It is not an aggressive sander.
I found it jumpy and hard to control on speeds 1-3. Not from too much vac.
In the following posts you will see that the LS does well with odd ball sanding jobs.
To get similar results to the grit you would use on a ROS I found the following. For material removal use a grit or two coarser for finish quality use two or three grits finer. EX - material removal the same as 150gr on ROS = about 100gr on Duplex. Finish quality of 150gr on ROS = about 180 - 240gr on Duplex. Also it does a better job by not skipping grits. For example I routinely skip 120, going from 100 straight to 150 with my ROS, with no noticable difference in time or finish. The LS 130 does better when you don't skip. But each pass is real quick. I find that it takes 320 before the scratch pattern really starts to disappear, at least on flat surfaces.
I have noticed that once the scratches of the grit you are using start to show up (which doesn't take long) switching to the next grit right away speeds the process. Continued use of the same grit does not take the material down as fast as swapping out right away. I think this is because the sander / abrasive sheet is running in the same "grooves". This effect is much more noticable with a really coarse grit such as P60 Cristal.
It takes a little getting used to because of the way it operates (the linear motion). You have to get used to applying even pressure at the center of the pad. If you apply more force to the front or back it tends to move itself ahead or want to hold itself in place. I am not talking about really pushing down but you need to apply enough force to keep it on the work piece. I do find that unlike an ROS a LITTLE down force helps keep it controlled and doing its job.
You will see below a series of four pics showing the best way I found to get the paper to tightly conform to the profile. Start at one long edge of the pad and roll it into or onto the profile.
My first use of this, and what had inspired the purchase was on 3/4" wide flat edges. I had a lot of that to sand on this job. After doing some of this I was not really impressed and even was considering taking it back. After going through the job and discovering its usefulness, I will be keeping it. However the first thing I will note is that I do not like it much for flat edges down to 3/4" wide. I find that it is somewhat slow at this and you have to go to quite a fine grit on bare wood (like 320 or 400) before the scratch pattern really starts to disapear. For edge's I prefer my ETS 150/5 ( /3 )- I use the hard pad, sander speed on 4 , and CT set to about 3/4 power. That set up works well, is fast and I don't have any edge rounding trouble.
I also used it for a lot of 3/8" round over sanding. The 6mm radius pad fit this well. This is wear it starts to shine. You end up with even smooth round overs. They just plane look better than doing it by hand or any other method I have tried. And it does a tremendous job of removing router bit marks. I think it excells at this because it sands perpendicular to most marked that are left by a router bit. Thus wiping them out quickly.
I tried the 90 degree / rebate pad a little. I think for the right application this will work well too. I just didn't have much use for it on this job.
I used it to ease the edges of everything that needed it on the job. It is great for that task. Very controlled, and no worries about going to deep or getting flat spots. The flat pad does this well, but in you will see a pic showing how I used the 6mm radius to do both edges at once on some parts. Just straddle the edge with it.
I used it to do final shaping of rounded corners. It is really good at this! I chopped off the corner at 45 degrees then used the LS to sand to my pencil line. Made very even corners. Well controlled and quick.
On the sides of these shelf units is a visual relief / lip about 1/16" were the front solid wood edging meets the plywood. There is a pic showing the lip, another showing an ROS and the danger it poses to slicing under the plywood veneer. And then the LS in the same position sanding linearally to the lip. It did a great job of this and didn't damage the plywood edge at all.
Also is included a pic showing the flat pad in use on an attached piece of wood about 1" wide. With the sander pad tight against a perpendicular surface. The Duplex performs very well for this situation. No damage to the other piece that it was running against.
Overall I like this sander a lot. But not exactly for everything I though I would. It does what it is really made for better than anything else. And thats what counts. I would be happy to answer any questions about the LS if I can.
Seth
srs
UPDATE #1 As someone else on the FOG suggested. I tried using a couple of the LS profile pads for a little hand sanding today. They work great for this!
I purchased this sander a few weeks ago. I have used it for several sanding portions on a shelf unit job. The job was for five separate units , and large enough give this sander a realistic test and learn quite a bit about it. I took pics , and notes, so I would remember for this review. So here it is in no particular order.
My overall comments are- The sander is comfortable to hold.
Three or four profiles will fit in the systainer.
DC is real good , but not as complete as on my ROS.
It is not an aggressive sander.
I found it jumpy and hard to control on speeds 1-3. Not from too much vac.
In the following posts you will see that the LS does well with odd ball sanding jobs.
To get similar results to the grit you would use on a ROS I found the following. For material removal use a grit or two coarser for finish quality use two or three grits finer. EX - material removal the same as 150gr on ROS = about 100gr on Duplex. Finish quality of 150gr on ROS = about 180 - 240gr on Duplex. Also it does a better job by not skipping grits. For example I routinely skip 120, going from 100 straight to 150 with my ROS, with no noticable difference in time or finish. The LS 130 does better when you don't skip. But each pass is real quick. I find that it takes 320 before the scratch pattern really starts to disappear, at least on flat surfaces.
I have noticed that once the scratches of the grit you are using start to show up (which doesn't take long) switching to the next grit right away speeds the process. Continued use of the same grit does not take the material down as fast as swapping out right away. I think this is because the sander / abrasive sheet is running in the same "grooves". This effect is much more noticable with a really coarse grit such as P60 Cristal.
It takes a little getting used to because of the way it operates (the linear motion). You have to get used to applying even pressure at the center of the pad. If you apply more force to the front or back it tends to move itself ahead or want to hold itself in place. I am not talking about really pushing down but you need to apply enough force to keep it on the work piece. I do find that unlike an ROS a LITTLE down force helps keep it controlled and doing its job.
You will see below a series of four pics showing the best way I found to get the paper to tightly conform to the profile. Start at one long edge of the pad and roll it into or onto the profile.
My first use of this, and what had inspired the purchase was on 3/4" wide flat edges. I had a lot of that to sand on this job. After doing some of this I was not really impressed and even was considering taking it back. After going through the job and discovering its usefulness, I will be keeping it. However the first thing I will note is that I do not like it much for flat edges down to 3/4" wide. I find that it is somewhat slow at this and you have to go to quite a fine grit on bare wood (like 320 or 400) before the scratch pattern really starts to disapear. For edge's I prefer my ETS 150/5 ( /3 )- I use the hard pad, sander speed on 4 , and CT set to about 3/4 power. That set up works well, is fast and I don't have any edge rounding trouble.
I also used it for a lot of 3/8" round over sanding. The 6mm radius pad fit this well. This is wear it starts to shine. You end up with even smooth round overs. They just plane look better than doing it by hand or any other method I have tried. And it does a tremendous job of removing router bit marks. I think it excells at this because it sands perpendicular to most marked that are left by a router bit. Thus wiping them out quickly.
I tried the 90 degree / rebate pad a little. I think for the right application this will work well too. I just didn't have much use for it on this job.
I used it to ease the edges of everything that needed it on the job. It is great for that task. Very controlled, and no worries about going to deep or getting flat spots. The flat pad does this well, but in you will see a pic showing how I used the 6mm radius to do both edges at once on some parts. Just straddle the edge with it.
I used it to do final shaping of rounded corners. It is really good at this! I chopped off the corner at 45 degrees then used the LS to sand to my pencil line. Made very even corners. Well controlled and quick.
On the sides of these shelf units is a visual relief / lip about 1/16" were the front solid wood edging meets the plywood. There is a pic showing the lip, another showing an ROS and the danger it poses to slicing under the plywood veneer. And then the LS in the same position sanding linearally to the lip. It did a great job of this and didn't damage the plywood edge at all.
Also is included a pic showing the flat pad in use on an attached piece of wood about 1" wide. With the sander pad tight against a perpendicular surface. The Duplex performs very well for this situation. No damage to the other piece that it was running against.
Overall I like this sander a lot. But not exactly for everything I though I would. It does what it is really made for better than anything else. And thats what counts. I would be happy to answer any questions about the LS if I can.
Seth
srs
UPDATE #1 As someone else on the FOG suggested. I tried using a couple of the LS profile pads for a little hand sanding today. They work great for this!
