Sander - what should i get?

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Hey everyone,

I have some sanding to do and I'm not sure which sander(s) I should get. I have the following to do:

Sand floorboards with varnish
Sand wardrobe doors and frame - the doors have some 'detailing' so to speak
Sand door frames, skirting boards, window ledges

I was going to get a Black and Decker Mouse, thinking that for the detail work on say door frames and wardrobe doors it would be good - something an orbital or random orbital would perhaps not be able to do.

I'm now thinking that the mouse won't be up to much for anything but 'light' work. So, I was thinking a random orbital.

My dad has a standard orbital which I can use.

So... do I

1. Get the mouse and use my Dad's orbital
2. Get a random orbital and use for all, resorting to hand for any detail
3. Get a random orbital AND a mouse.

When it comes to budget I don't have a huge amount, it seems a random orbital would be around 50, and the mouse 20. That's quite a bit. I'm also concerned that 50 quid for a random orbital means it's not a fantastic one.

What do you guys reckon? - I've been pondering it all day! Oh and I know that the floors I'll need to hire a sander to do most of it, and just use whatever sander I have for small bits I can't get to.
 
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I use a belt sander on floorboards [you need one to get close to edges], the corners can be done by hand sanding , orbital not suitable as you need to sand in one direction..
 
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Hmm, I used an orbital sander (orbital, not random orbital) on a board last night to test removing a stain and it seemed to work okay. At any rate, we intended to hire a floor sander for this task anyway.

So for the wardrobe doors, skirting boards, door surrounds, window ledges etc, would you use a mouse, orbital or random orbital? - Bearing in mind there is some detail - for example door surrounds.
 
I would not even try to sand detail, architrave requires hand sanding for painting , though I prefer to replace as it's just as quick and possibly cheaper than the effort to sand them.
 
So does that suggest that the mouse sander isn't very good or worth it then? That I should just stick to the orbital sander I have?
 
The mouse or detail sander is as good as it gets for getting into corners and so on.....like other sanders they aren't suitable for curved mouldings - its hand sanding for those. For what they cost, the mouse sander is worth having.
John :)
 
Thanks John. In terms of my sanding arsenal, if I have a hand sander, a mouse and an orbital sander, is there much value in adding a random orbital sander into the equation or is that expense for not a huge benefit?
 
Not really......if you have some heavy duty stuff in mind, a belt sander is the one to have. Not noted for their finesse though but excellent at rough boards.
I'm not sure about the difference between an orbital sander and a hand sander?
John :)
 
Sorry by hand sander I meant a sanding block, paper and a hand! The oddskool way.

It sounds like I should get a mouse and use my dad's orbital sander then.

Thanks for the help
 
Sorry by hand sander I meant a sanding block, paper and a hand! The oddskool way.

It sounds like I should get a mouse and use my dad's orbital sander then.

Thanks for the help
 

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