A random orbital sander (also known as a palm sander) is a hand-held

power tool A power tool is a tool that is actuated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the solely manual labor used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric motors. Internal combustion engines and compressed ...

which sands in a random-orbit action. That is, in constant irregular overlapping circles. This technology was first commercially utilized in 1968 by Rupes Tools. Random orbital sanders combine the speed and aggressiveness of a

belt sander A belt sander or strip sander is a sander used in shaping and finishing wood and other materials. It consists of an electric motor that turns a pair of drums on which a continuous loop of sandpaper is mounted. Belt sanders may be handheld and mo ...

with the ability to produce a finer finish than that available from a standard, slow speed

orbital finishing sander A sander is a power tool used to smooth surfaces by abrasion with sandpaper. Sanders have a means to attach the sandpaper and a mechanism to move it rapidly contained within a housing with means to hand-hold it or fix it to a workbench. Woodwo ...

. Random orbital sanders generally come in three different types: electric powered, air powered, and orbital floor sanders. The electric and air powered orbital sanders are handheld, while the floor orbital sanders are large machines that roll. The random orbit sanding pattern is produced by simultaneously spinning the sanding disk and moving it in small ellipses. This ensures that no single part of the abrasive material travels the same path twice during the same rotation. Because of this random sanding action, the tool does not leave swirl marks, and is not sensitive to the direction of the

wood grain Wood grain is the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibers or the pattern resulting from such an arrangement. Definition and meanings R. Bruce Hoadley wrote that ''grain'' is a "confusingly versatile term" with numerous different uses, including ...

. This makes it useful when sanding two pieces of wood that will be fastened at right angles. Random-orbital sanders use

sandpaper upright=1.35, Sheets of sandpaper with different grit sizes (40 (coarse), 80, 150, 240, 600 (fine)). Sandpaper and glasspaper are names used for a type of coated abrasive that consists of sheets of paper or cloth with abrasive material glued to ...

disks, and many include integrated dust collectors. Disks are attached using either pressure-sensitive adhesives or a

hook and loop Hook-and-loop fasteners, hook-and-pile fasteners or touch fasteners (often referred to by the genericized trademark velcro, due to the prominence of the Velcro, Velcro Brand) consist of two components: typically, two lineal fabric strips (or, a ...

system. On models equipped with a dust collection feature, a

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...

sucks discharged dust through holes in the paper and pad, feeding it to a bag,

shop vac A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

, or canister.

References

External links

"Choosing a Random Orbital Sander"
by John C. Harris {{Power tools Woodworking hand-held power tools