Current best options for bowl sanding tools?

[Steve Worcester]

Steve. I like the look of that tool too. I can’t tell from its docs what kind of pads it uses. Are the Milwaukee proprietary or a universal fit?

sorry about the late response.
It somes with a 2" and a 3" pad. The unfortunate part of the whole deal is the nose is a 9.5mm.
But I was able to retap the 2" to 1 1/4x8 and use the Skilton mandrels we sell. The 3" I just use interface pads on it.

 

[Bernie Kopfer]

I have one of those but never thought to use it for power sanding, just thought the battery wouldn’t last long enough. How long do you get on a charge? I may have to try that as I expect it’s lighter and more comfortable to hold than the angle drills

This is the drill I use for power sanding. But the battery life is only good for about 1 or 2 bowls so to speak. I really like the keyless chuck, provided I remember to tighten it well.

 

[Leroy Cook]

A combination seems to work well for me. For exterior, I used an inertial sander or the Woodturner Wonders 2" palm air RO sander with the Roloc discs, since I can also put 3" disks on it. For interior,, I use the WW 2" RO air sander. It has stood up to a lot use for four years so far. There is learning with each solution, of course. Over time, I have adopted some techniques to reduce swirl marks from the RO air sander: 1) use a less aggressive approach with the RO sander by applying lower hand pressure and slowly moving it across the piece 2) wipe or blow off the surface between grits 3) use fresh sandpaper as soon as the current one starts to cut poorly 4) after the final pass, check the finish with a paper towel with Naptha or denatured alcohol to find the unseen marks that WILL show up when you apply a finish.

 

[Ron Solfest]

For the last couple weeks I also have been using the WW RO sander and am very happy with it. My process is to use the regular angle drill power sander for lower grits (up to 220) and then RO for 320 w/roloc (w/o soft pad for exterior, w/ soft pad on interior), and finally RO w/ roloc (soft pad) for 400. I haven’t found the need to continue up through 600/800 since using the RO.