Newbie ROS question - am I dense or just get a dud

[Absinthe]

Hi I'm completely new to wood working and most of the tools associated with it. I've done some construction work, and home repairs, but never done anything more detailed or precise than use a chop saw. My first projects are refinishing some of my kids wooden furniture, so I bought a ROS today to sand them down. Ridgid R2600 5" sander.

I have used my FIL's bosch ROS, and it is a beast, it makes short work of everything I threw at it and did most of the sanding from its orbital motion. The ridgid I bought barely spins at all. I understand it has a brake and stuff, but just doesn't seem right. At low speed it doesn't spin on the wood with any amount of pressure. At higher speeds it doesn't spin when off the wood ( I guess it shouldn't because of the brake?) and with moderate pressure on the wood it spins slowly. I can still see the edge going around, it's no blur like the bosch was.

It makes some sawdust, but not much, most of the sanding seems to be coming from it vibrating, not from orbiting, is that normal? I mean I can turn the speed up and press it against the palm of my hand and it vibrates like heck, but doesn't spin. If I did that with the bosch, I wouldn't have any skin left.

Sorry for being long winded, and thanks for any insight you can give me.

Thanks,
Hunter

[LCHIEN]

The ROS does most of the work from random motion. If it did most of the sanding from spinning then then you would have swirl marks on your workpiece. It moves so fast you don't really see it.

The ROS is not really suited for large amounts of stock removal. Its for finishing sanding where you don't want to leave sanding marks.

The general technique is not to press down hard. Just let the sander do the work.

Still, between brands, I've read in reviews of multiple models that there's apparently quite a bit of difference in aggressiveness. I can't really speak for either of the ones you have. Also the grit used has a big influence on the aggressiveness.

I guuess the real question is, is it doing the job it was intended for (putting a finishing quality surface on the wood)?

[Hellrazor]

I have the R2600 5" ROS. You are right, it doesn't spin fast. Its totally random in what it does, kind of like a sander with ADD. Everything i have sanded with mine has been awesome. As Loring mentioned, if it spun constantly you would get major swirl marks. I was using 180 to do some finish sanding/glue removal on the 4 side of an oak cabinet i am making and it was great. I used 120 to rough up a 12x20 oak floor to re-poly this week and it took an hour or less to rough up the whole area.

[vaking]

For furniture refinishing you might want to try cabinet scraper. Does not have to be elaborate or expensive, the simplest one is just a steel plate. Here is a sample:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,310,41069
They also come with curved edges to deal with non-flat surfaces.

[leehljp]

I have a PC and a DeWalt. My PC spins like crazy and eats anything fast. I have to start it already laying on most projects if I don't want it to gouge, even with fine sand pads. It orbits but it is mostly the spin that does the work.

My Dewalt on the other hand, does most of its work by the orbital motion. It does spin lightly, more so than you mentioned for yours, but it stops easily with a little pressure. I use this one for fine sanding.

There is a difference in models and brands, and each has it purpose, but I rarely read anything that distinguishes a "fine finishing ROS" from a "quick cutting ROS"

[Tom Miller]

Are you sure your FIL's Bosch was an ROS, and not just a disk sander, which only spins?

Also, Bosch makes a dual mode sander, which has "turbo mode" for fast stock removal, in addition to ROS mode for swirl free finish sanding.

Regards,
Tom