What is the best professional orbital sander?

An orbital sander is an indispensable power tool. You can use it to strip paint or sand the gloss off a painted surface so that a new coat sticks more readily to it. Plus it will strip rust, clean up flea market furniture, remove a splintered edge from a piece of wood, and take the burr off a piece of freshly cut metal. Of course, one of the jobs it excels at is smoothing wood to prepare it for a clear finish. Knowing how useful this tool is, we gathered a range of both cordless and corded orbital power sanders and tested them in an effort to help you find the right one. Read on for buying advice, our reviews of the best, and tips on using and maintaining your sander.

The Best Power Sanders

Know Your Sander

Most of our test sanders are random-orbit types with a round pad measuring 5 or 6 inches across. Random orbit means the pad spins and oscillates in, just that, a random orbital motion. This reduces the chances of leaving swirl marks on the surface and allows you to move the sander both with and across the grain. We also tested an orbital sander with a square pad (also called a quarter-sheet sander). These tools sand with a consistent orbital motion and work more slowly than random-orbit types. But the square pad allows them to sand into corners.

Another difference between these is that the random-orbit variety take sandpaper discs that attach to their bases with hooks and loops. Orbital sanders use peel-and-stick sandpaper that comes precut or that you cut to fit, or you attach an abrasive sheet to the tool with the clamps on the sander’s sides. Both types of sanders have a bag that will capture most of the dust the tool produces. For more thorough dust control, use a sander that has a round exhaust port to facilitate hooking up to a hose on a shop vacuum.

Battery-Powered Versus Corded

We evaluated both battery-powered sanders (called cordless) and corded models. At the outset of the test, we wondered if the battery would cause a cordless sander to be too heavy. But when we weighed the two types of tools, we found they weigh about the same, once you factor in the cord’s heft. Select a cordless sander if you spend a lot of time on job sites and already have lots of cordless tool work going on. Cordless tools are handy and more mobile when you’re climbing a ladder or a scaffold because you don’t have to contend with the weight of a cord hanging down.

Select a corded tool if you spend long sanding sessions at a bench, especially if you can plug the sander directly into an outlet without an extension cord. In these cases, cord drag isn’t an issue and there isn’t a pressing need for mobility. A good example of this is when you sand a piece of furniture. You just need to work your way down through each grit, slowly perfecting the sanded surface.

How We Test

To put these tools through the paces, we drew rectangles on pieces of oak and maple, plywood, and softwood and sanded each rectangle with an 80-grit disc. Next, we emptied the dust container or bag to check the volume of dust the sander collected. We also carefully wiped down the work surface to get a sense of how much dust the sander missed. As we worked, we assessed the sander’s vibration and whether it produced an unpleasant gyroscopic effect when we lifted it off the test board. We examined the sanded surface under bright light to see whether the tools left swirl marks.

Any of the sanders in this test will serve a homeowner. Professional-grade models such as the sanders from Makita, DeWalt, Bosch, and Metabo-HPT vibrate less and are more durable. For homeowner-duty power tools that give nearly a professional level of performance, see the reviews of the Ryobi sanders and the Craftsman. Also note that a less expensive tool equipped with a high-quality abrasive sheet will prove more than adequate for most uses around the house.

Supply chain problems are causing some of our sanders to come and go out of stock pretty rapidly. However, there are other options that we can recommend. We haven’t tested these three sanders, but they’re in stock, and similar models to these have performed well in our past tests.

BEST CORDED

Bosch

Bosch ROS20VSC Random Orbital Sander

Most Versatile

DeWalt

DeWalt DWE6421 Random Orbital Sander

BEST CORDLESS

DeWalt

DeWalt DCW210D1 Random Orbital Sander

BEST VALUE

Ryobi

Ryobi P411 Orbital Sander

Smoothest

Milwaukee

Milwaukee 6034-21 Random Orbital Sander

Ideal for Craftsman Fans

Craftsman

Craftsman CMEW231 Random Orbital Sander

ALMOST PRO-QUALITY

Ryobi

Ryobi RS290G Random Orbital Sander

AGGRESSIVE & EFFECTIVE

Makita

Makita XOB01T Random Orbital Sander

Good All-Around Cordless

Ridgid

Ridgid R8606B Random Orbital Sander

BEST FOR WIDE SURFACES

Milwaukee

Milwaukee 2648-20 Orbital Sander

Best at Sanding Into Corners

Metabo-HPT

Metabo-HPT SV12SG Orbital Sander

Lightweight

Black & Decker

Black & Decker BDCRO20C Orbital Sander

Best ON A LADDER

Porter-Cable

Porter-Cable PCCW205B Random Orbital Sander

MAINTAINING YOUR SANDER AND YOURSELF

Sanders don’t need a lot of care, but they do need some. The best thing you can do for it is to blow the dust out of it using compressed air (or a can of compressed air purchased at an office supply store) or use a shop vacuum and work over its exterior, especially its air vents.

Now protect yourself, especially your lungs: Wear a dust mask when sanding. Better models have a foam strip to help the mask make a better seal to your face. They may also have a vent that reduces moisture buildup under the mask.

Clean up as you work to prevent large piles of talc-like dust from accumulating. And when you’re done sanding and ready to take a break, either brush or vacuum yourself off before going inside the house or other clean area. It’s also a good idea to wear an old shirt, coveralls, or a shop apron and leave that in the sanding area, rather than bringing dust into the house. Having a floor mat outside the shop is great, too. Remember what your mom said: Wipe your feet (or take your work shoes off)! This cuts down on tracked dirt, which is more than just a nuisance. Remnants of sanding grit on shoe soles can scratch finished floors, and tracked-in dust can form an eye-watering or throat-scratching irritant as it spreads throughout the house.

When it comes to using a sander, it’s pretty simple, and there are only these key rules:

1. Move the sander slowly and steadily over the work surface. Racing back and forth is hard on the tool and whatever you’re sanding.
2. Don’t skip more than one grade of grit as you move from coarse to smooth. You can go from 100 grit to 150 (skipping 120), but don’t go from 100 grit to 220 grit. It doesn’t hurt to move through each size of grit, from coarse to smoothest, but for all but the finest of work, it’s not necessary.
3. Vacuum the surface clean with a shop vacuum and a brush attachment when you’re done with each level of grit. This removes any trapped particles hiding on the surface. For furniture-grade finishing, wipe the surface clean with a tack cloth (a sticky piece of cloth used to pick up dust; it’s sold in the paint aisle) before proceeding to the next grit.
4. Don’t tip the sander near the edges because it will round them off. Of course, if you prefer a slightly rounded corner, that can be a good thing. For example, paint sticks better to a gently rounded corner than to a sharp one.

Roy Berendsohn Senior Home Editor Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment.

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