I've killed two orbital sanders in a matter of a few minutes...

[vi edit]

It's a pretty decent sander too...Ridgid.. So I can't blame it on a crappy $20 throw away from Black & Decker.

All I'm trying to do is take an 1/8 to a 1/4 of an inch off the edge of some doors so that they can close better. I'm just letting the weight of the sander do the work so I'm not bogging it down.

But I killed the first one after about 3 minutes worth of work, the second lasted about 45 seconds before it crapped the bed.

Back to Home Depot I go. Any suggestions for a different brand? I'm a little pissed at Ridgid right now. Even though it has a lifetime warranty I was hoping that "life" meant more than a few minutes.

*sigh*

 

[DainBramaged]

I've used whirlybirds for literally hours with no problem, though mine were the type that hooked up to compressed air for their power.

 

[PottedMeat]

wow thats messed up, you sure a fuse diddnt go or something?
i beat the hell out of my dad's porter-cable sander and its still going strong after ~ 10 years.

as to the door - arent you supposed to put in shims in the frame to adjust the closing? ( take off the trim )?

 

[deerslayer]

I thought ridgid was a pretty respectable brand. An orbital sander should not be dying that fast from trying to sand down some doors.

A belt sander would probably work better, but I don't know what the price difference would be there.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat
fuse

yep

 

[vi edit]

Our house was built in the mid 70's and still has the original plain old paper thin things they put in at that time. We're replacing them with a more modern 6 panel design.

Pre-hungs are a PITA and were about 50% more per door. I'm doing all of the routing & hardware drilling myself. It's just that a couple of the frames weren't put in square and it's just easier to take a little off the door here and there than rip off trim and try and shim it up.

A belt sander is little overkill for the job and I'm afraid that it would take too much off at a time.

 

[bctbct]

Blame it on cheap ridgid power tools. I have a porter cable and have never had any problems.

 

[vi edit]

When you say fuse, are you saying on the sander or the house? Because it's not the house. I've got the shop vac hooked up to the same outlet working as a dust collector on the sander and it keep on chugging after the sander dies.

There's no user changable fuse on the sander.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
When you say fuse, are you saying on the sander or the house? Because it's not the house. I've got the shop vac hooked up to the same outlet working as a dust collector on the sander and it keep on chugging after the sander dies.

There's no user changable fuse on the sander.

What happened when it failed? Did you feel something break inside it? Of did it just slow down and stop as if power had been cut? It's just I find it difficult to believe you physically broke them both in a few minutes... are you sure there's no fuse in the plug?

 

[vi edit]

It just stopped. No pop, no hiss, no smoke, no burning smell. There isn't a fuse on the cord. There's a small LED in the plug that lights up when you plug it in and that still comes on. But the sander is dead to the world when you flip the power switch.

 

[FoBoT]

i have had my ryobi random orbital sander for over ten years
it is great

 

[nutxo]

Originally posted by: vi_edit


It's a pretty decent sander too...Ridgid.. So I can't blame it on a crappy $20 throw away from Black & Decker.

All I'm trying to do is take an 1/8 to a 1/4 of an inch off the edge of some doors so that they can close better. I'm just letting the weight of the sander do the work so I'm not bogging it down.

But I killed the first one after about 3 minutes worth of work, the second lasted about 45 seconds before it crapped the bed.

Back to Home Depot I go. Any suggestions for a different brand? I'm a little pissed at Ridgid right now. Even though it has a lifetime warranty I was hoping that "life" meant more than a few minutes.

*sigh*

Umm. Most tools are designed for certain things. Ever heard of a plane? Text

 

[Colt45]

wrong tool for the job

http://woodbutcher.net/images/normstools/block-plane.gif

 

[BlueSkyzz]

Originally posted by: Colt45
wrong tool for the job

http://woodbutcher.net/images/normstools/block-plane.gif

Even better than that, rent an electric hand held planar. You'll be done in a matter of minutes.

 

[NogginBoink]

Taking a quarter inch off with an orbital sander is, as others have pointed out, using the wrong tool for the job.

Use a table saw or a band saw.

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: NogginBoink
Taking a quarter inch off with an orbital sander is, as others have pointed out, using the wrong tool for the job.

Use a table saw or a band saw.

Neither of those tools are correct either.

Bestest way to plane a door edge, belt sander.

 

[Greenman]

Dear God, you people no nothing about construction or carpentry. You don't plane a door with ANY kind of sander, you NEVER shove it through a band saw (a band saw!) and you don't use a table saw either. You use a door plane. What a wild concept, use a door plane to plane a door! This could be a hand plane, or a power plane, if it's a real door plane you will even be able to set the correct bevel on the door edge. Yes, the edges of doors are beveled, and if you don't bevel the door when you hang it, it will almost certainly be hinge bound.

 

[preslove]

I don't get it. How do you get those things into space?

 

[Rubycon]

While it has been said it's the wrong tool for the job - no power tool should die within seconds of being powered on unless it's submersed in the ocean, for example. THAT will kill it quick.

 

[eplebnista]

Had a makita palm sander that got put through tons of abuse that lasted for several years.

 

[sierrita]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Dear God, you people no nothing about construction or carpentry. You don't plane a door with ANY kind of sander, you NEVER shove it through a band saw (a band saw!) and you don't use a table saw either. You use a door plane. What a wild concept, use a door plane to plane a door! This could be a hand plane, or a power plane, if it's a real door plane you will even be able to set the correct bevel on the door edge. Yes, the edges of doors are beveled, and if you don't bevel the door when you hang it, it will almost certainly be hinge bound.

What a load...doors are not beveled unless some idiot who doesn't know squat about carpentry take what he thinks is a "door plane" and fvcks it up.

:roll:

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: sierrita

Originally posted by: Greenman
Dear God, you people no nothing about construction or carpentry. You don't plane a door with ANY kind of sander, you NEVER shove it through a band saw (a band saw!) and you don't use a table saw either. You use a door plane. What a wild concept, use a door plane to plane a door! This could be a hand plane, or a power plane, if it's a real door plane you will even be able to set the correct bevel on the door edge. Yes, the edges of doors are beveled, and if you don't bevel the door when you hang it, it will almost certainly be hinge bound.

What a load...doors are not beveled unless some idiot who doesn't know squat about carpentry take what he thinks is a "door plane" and fvcks it up.

:roll:

Some doors are beveled.

 

[vi edit]

I don't pretend to be a carpenter or even anything even approaching a novice woodworker. I just know that I needed to take a bit off of an edge (as well as some paint & stain on the jams). An orbital sander seemed to be a jack-of-all-uses device and something that I could put to use for further projects.

Is it the ideal tool for the job? No. Should it have sputtered out after a few minutes of light use? No way.

FWIW, I actually grabbed *a third* Ridgid orbital sander and this one has put up with about 15 minutes of use thus far. I looked at a Porter Cable but didn't like the 1" dust collection port. The Ridgid had one that hooked right up to a standard shop vac, which is nice.

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: sierrita

Originally posted by: Greenman
Dear God, you people no nothing about construction or carpentry. You don't plane a door with ANY kind of sander, you NEVER shove it through a band saw (a band saw!) and you don't use a table saw either. You use a door plane. What a wild concept, use a door plane to plane a door! This could be a hand plane, or a power plane, if it's a real door plane you will even be able to set the correct bevel on the door edge. Yes, the edges of doors are beveled, and if you don't bevel the door when you hang it, it will almost certainly be hinge bound.

What a load...doors are not beveled unless some idiot who doesn't know squat about carpentry take what he thinks is a "door plane" and fvcks it up.

:roll:

You sir are a fool. Go check a few doors, there is between 3 and 6 degrees of bevel on both edges.

btw, I'm a licenced contractor and have been doing finish carpentry for thirty years.

Edit: Read up a bit. Yes, doors hung by a hack often aren't beveled, but a professional ALWAYS bevels both edges.
http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/articles...articleID=1972&position=0&type=article

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Greenman

Originally posted by: sierrita

Originally posted by: Greenman
Dear God, you people no nothing about construction or carpentry. You don't plane a door with ANY kind of sander, you NEVER shove it through a band saw (a band saw!) and you don't use a table saw either. You use a door plane. What a wild concept, use a door plane to plane a door! This could be a hand plane, or a power plane, if it's a real door plane you will even be able to set the correct bevel on the door edge. Yes, the edges of doors are beveled, and if you don't bevel the door when you hang it, it will almost certainly be hinge bound.

What a load...doors are not beveled unless some idiot who doesn't know squat about carpentry take what he thinks is a "door plane" and fvcks it up.

:roll:

You sir are a fool. Go check a few doors, there is between 3 and 6 degrees of bevel on both edges.

btw, I'm a licenced contractor and have been doing finish carpentry for thirty years.

Edit: Read up a bit. Yes, doors hung by a hack often aren't beveled, but a professional ALWAYS bevels both edges.
http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/articles...articleID=1972&position=0&type=article

Maybe on *quality* doors, but for my $24 Menards special 6 panel el-cheapo's, it's hit or miss. Some edges are beveled. Some aren't. Same thing goes for the consistency of the pre-primer.

A planer may work well for a real door made of solid wood, but for the hollow core junkers we are putting in place, A sander is working just as well...assuming it doesn't die on me