Orbital Sander to be used for buffing?

[msawatzky]

Found a little info regarding this on the forum but hoping for a more definitive answer. Can one use an orbital sander with variable speeds in place of a DA buffer? If so, where would you get pads for a say 5" sander? Thanks in advance.

M

[BillE]

Re: Orbital Sander to be used for buffing?

My first thought is, yes.

What brand of sander are we talking about? What type of backing plate is on it now?

You will (probably) need to get a proper backing plate(s) for the foam pads. Then purchase pads. Pads of variours sizes are available from many detaiiling suppliers, ie>ADS, Autogeek.

Bill

[greg0303]

Re: Orbital Sander to be used for buffing?

You may have a problem keeping a buffing pad rotating.
Sanders are designed to work with thin sand papers and they don't have enough power to rotate much thicker foam buffing pads.

I would recommend to get one of modern and reliable dual action polishers: Meguiar's G110v2, Porter Cable 7424 XP or Griot's Garage 6".

[the other pc]

Re: Orbital Sander to be used for buffing?

It depends on the sander.

If the sander is a Porter-Cable 7335 or 7345, piece of cake. Just swap out the backing plate.

Other sanders, maybe, maybe not. It depends on their power, speed, orbital radius, backing plate configuration, etc.



pc