Variable Speed Random Orbit Sander

[drillman88]

I am in the market for a new Sander and have been looking at Dewalts with and without variable speed. Is variable speed worth the extra $20 and if so when is it useful? I could see if you were working on thin verneers this could be useful, but outside of that I'm not sure.

Thanks for your help!!

[gsmittle]

I am in the market for a new Sander and have been looking at Dewalts with and without variable speed. Is variable speed worth the extra $20 and if so when is it useful? I could see if you were working on thin verneers this could be useful, but outside of that I'm not sure.

Thanks for your help!!

I have a Ryobi-sourced Craftsman VS ROS that I like for polishing, too. Slow it down and use a 3M pad or lamb's wool and polishing compound. Buffs out wax pretty well, too.

g.

[leehljp]

I also have the Ryobi VS-ROS and would buy it again. I bought mine 5 years ago to prepare some of the walls for tile in the kitchen. The slow speed did great at "scratching" the surface for adhesion. The ability to have differences of slow vs fast does have its advantages and for me, is worth it.

I also have a 6 inch VS (Festool) and the VS is like having two different sanders to me. There are times when slow vs full speed does have its benefits.

[sweensdv]

I have three ROS's and none of them have variable speed. If I ever get concerned that I might be taking off too much material, I just change the paper to a higher grit number. I won't say that I never would buy a ROS with variable speed but I think the variable speed part is more gimmick than functional.

[pelligrini]

My first ROS was a craftsman with variable speed, my second is a PC390K low profile with variable speed. I don't adjust the speed all the time, but I do use it quite often. I think I would really miss it. There's a few times where I went to adjust the speed on my Dewalt finish sander, but it doesn't adjust.

[JimD]

It is only occasionally useful but I have used the speed control on my big DeWalt (six inch right angle grinder style) and Milwaukee (5 inch, motor on top of pad). I also use my old Rockwell speed block occasionally, usually because it's pad is softer or it's base is square. The Milwaukee is my favorite, and an excellant buy.

Jim

[Mr__Bill]

A side benefit of the VS is a soft start. With my wrist problems it makes the tool much more useable.

As Lee said, with slow speed and very coarse paper you can scratch a surface such as before using a liquid stripper or just sanding through a finish.

I have tried buffing with it but to no avail, must have not tried the right thing. I used a hook and loop pad and past wax. The pad did not spin but just wiggled and the give to the nap left not movement on the surface. I'll have to try the scotch bright pad and see how that works.

Bill
on the left coast

[drillman88]

Thanks for your replies. I may try one out and see how useful it can be. I use my ros for just about every project I work, so I want to get the most versatile tool possible.

[jabe]

I have the old PC ROS it worked well. Now I have the newer PC390K low profile, much better excellent dust collection, was ranked higher than a festool few years back in Wood mag.

[wardprobst]

VS would be worth $20 to me, I use it frequently.
DP