: rom's seem to be the sander of choice for wood kayak construction but which
: one? the round ones only seem to come with the velcro style adhesive and
: the sanding discs are lots of money. Is anyone using the 1/4 sheet square
: rom sanders or is the round one better? thanks

Hi Dave

I haven't bought a ROS in a couple of years, but, the ones I've seen are round. I may be missing something though. The square sanders are usually orbital, but, not Random Orbital. I'll be corrected here in a minute if I'm wrong. The ROS sanders are much better than the standard orbitals. They cut more like a Belt sander, and also leave a better surface, scratch free, whereas, some of the regular orbital sanders would leave swirls in your finish. They come in two varieties: one is the Hook and Loop, which you have seen ( velcro like ) and the other is the adhesive backed. I have had better luck with the H & L myself, but, that's just personal preference. There's a varied price range and it depends upon the type and accessories. The standard palm sander on up to the dual handled, dustbagged, variable speed and so on. You just have to decide what it is you need and go from there.

The square, 1/4 sheet sanders will work for what you want, but, they just take a little longer. If and when you buy one of these, just be sure to look for RPM and keep it over the 10-14,ooo rpm. Anything less than that and they leave swirl marks in the work. If you look around, you'll find ROS in the self adhesive backed, if that is what you want. I have a Sears model that is adh. backed, and I prefer the Ryobi w/H & L myself. There are more expensive sanders than these, but, they will do the trick. Hope this helps.

Rehd