Official Luthiers Forum!

I am thinking about getting a 3" R/O sander (and maybe for buffing too) (and what size orbit is acceptable) so it's a bit easier to get in to the waist area. I don't have a large compressor so the palm style sanders, which would be my first choice, are probably not going to work for me unless someone has experience which this type using a smaller compressor.. As far as electric goes there are some cheaper ones by companies I've never heard of that I might consider. I'd like to hear from anyone that uses one or has another method for sanding & polishing the waist area

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Mike McNerney

I have been down this rabbit hole so much. Mirka has what you need in the old style sander. 3", ROS, small stroke. I almost went that way until I found a solution with Festool (did not want air tools). For me it was 3mm stroke, 3" and 5". Festool has that. But I found very similar solutions with Mirka. Airflow is the key thing.

With Mirka, so much to look at. Self generating vacuum, non-vacuum. Ugh. But there are kits to convert. Here is the one I think you might like:

https://buymirka.com/collections/mr-san ... ro-mr-3sgv

2.5mm good for finish work, 5mm good for aggressive work.

Just a small question, for buffing a finish I was under the impression a larger orbit was the way to go.
I've been using a 12mm orbit DA polisher, like an Adams polisher.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I’ve got the Festool RO90. It’s a 3 1/2”. It works for me and I found I use it more than I expected. Too bad Festool tools are so so expensive.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

My Festool cordless drill and 5" ROS and big-arse dust "extractor" are all 17 years old now and they have all performed beautifully and in a commercial environment too.

Dave prefers less expensive drills and he's gone through three of them to my single Festool making mine less expensive. . I have had to replace the battery and check this out the original charger that came with my drill was engineered to be forward compatible with battery tech changes and advances. So when I purchased my single replacement battery the charger still works great with it and it's also 17 years old.

Good stuff

In the sanding world, smaller orbit equals less aggressive. I have the Adams polisher too. And if you are using the glaze like me, you know that it has almost no buffing grit. But, I cannot exactly answer your question. Maybe someone who understands car buffing can.

That is the one I am getting (working sides of guitars). 125 ETS for the rest. Both have 3mm orbit. The RO90 worries me with that rotex setting. In Rotex mode, it becomes a beast. Gonna tape mine lol!

Was just using it in that aggressive
Mode. It is a beast but the selector is well marked and it doesn’t move easily.


Steve

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I'm much closer to the end of my career and can't see spending the money for festool or mirka as much as I would like to. I will probably try the cheapo zota or manusage maybe a metabo at 280. do you need interface pads in the waist area for fine sanding & polishing.

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Mike McNerney

I have the 90mm metabo. Nice sander with excellent dust collection when connected to a vacuum.
Only down side is the grip is on the large side.
I use a soft pad when sanding anything that is not flat.