March Woody Tool Workout:

Delta Random Orbital Bench Sander Model 31-750

 

 

Delta began making tools out of a one-car garage in 1919, and the Delta Random orbital Bench Sander (Model 31-750) is no exception. It is without a doubt a tool. Since the beginning of my love affair with wood, sanding has always been a downward application of sandpaper to the wood. (Okay I admit the occasional use of the old spindle sander), but a recent Delta purchase has turned sanding for me up side down, literally. Since we began producing larger quantities of projects Lance (the older old hippy) and I have discussed the need to make sanding into more of a production process. The random orbital palm sander makes good work of finishing the wood for our yearly runs of Old Hippy Workshop Adirondack furniture but it has always consumed a lot of bench time for each workload. We have looked at elaborate floor standing auto feed drum sanders, but the cost for a small shop is rather prohibitive sitting at entry level around $500-$600. While wandering the aisles of our neighborhood Home Base, I noticed a new option. Sitting there with the magic word "sale" was a Delta Random Orbital Bench Sander (ROBS). Apparently the tool crib at the store had had no luck selling off the one display model they were stocking and had marked it down to clear it out. After a typical Lance and Daniel tool debate, resembling something quite Siskel and Ebert-esq. We decided to give it a try. Total investment, $150 plus tax... Typically units sell for over $200.. Definetly a great deal.

So there I stood, in the now famous Old Hippy Workshop, a bright gray and black ROBS smiling back at me. Yes, I do think it was smiling. Perhaps it knew something I did not know, or shall we say did not know yet.

After a quick perusal of the manuals and an even quicker trip to the local "Post tools" for some 9" sanding discs (the ROBS comes with one disc of 80 grit) Paying $7.99 for 2 of the hook and loop sanding pads (the unit accepts both hook & loop and PSA discs), I was a little skeptical that this tool was going to be as cost effective as the old reliable palm sander who's smaller sanding pads do not come close to that in price. But undaunted and open-minded I made some minor adjustments to the sanding surface to bring it to the right height. I was pleased to see just how easy the adjustments were to make. Another feature I was drawn to was how solid the unit felt. Although made from molded (and I am certain quite strong) plastic, the base is solid as a rock and when turned on the unit purred and showed no signs of wanting to dance off the table even though not mounted to the bench-top. Another nice feature was the fence. Removable for access to the whole sanding surface, the fence makes a nice option for working with the sander. I mounted the unit in our handy-dandy workmate for the time being and I was ready to go.

In all good tool workouts there comes the time when all the looking and nodding is over and you just have to put work to the wood and start the dance. My first impressions of applying wood to the sander instead of the other way around was something akin to trying to ride a horse that just didn't want to be ridden. But once I got used to the vibration and motion of the sanding surface I eased into the method and motion required producing great results with a minimal amount of fighting the work. Armed with a typical stack of redwood Adirondack chair parts on my workbench that would soon find themselves assembled into 6 of our classic designs, I began flying through the workload at a surprising pace. The unit buzzed away at a nice 3600 oscillations per minute.

With the dust collection system attacked the sanding waste did not build up on the sanding surface or anywhere else for that matter. The unit has a build in fan system for drawing the dust into the included and now familiar black delta dust bag, which in this case was replaced by the vacuum hose. Loaded with 120 grit paper, the sander gave the wood a great finish that was smooth and free of swirls. With a little practice I was able to produce good results on both the flats and edges of the pieces. When the dust cleared I had waded through a bench load of sanding in about 30-40% less time using the ROBS as opposed to the smaller palm sander. I could only expect that this timesavings will increase with my skills at using the unit. The expensive sanding disc had also held up well and withstood through the 150 or so board feet of redwood. But it was not without cost.

Without a doubt the least pleasant feature of the Delta ROBS, and I am assuming any tool of this type is the hand fatigue rate caused by the high rate of vibration. I found my hands buzzing and sore by the end of a five-hour session with my new ROBS. But in its defense, my hands were no more sore or tired then after a longer session with the palm sander. The fatigue just came faster with this unit, but as I mentioned so did the workload. So over all this is not much of a downside in the scope of things.

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