Belt Sander or Orbital Sander

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Hi, I am looking for a good all around sander. I don't do a lot of sanding, but from time to time I make a small coffee table or glue up a few boards and need to sand.

Whats a more all-around, practical, and useful sander ... orbital or belt?
 
If you're only going to have one sander, make it an ROS (random orbital sander). You can take off a lot of material with low-grit disks and go all the way to pre-finish sanding with an ROS. It also leaves little, if any, sanding marks when used properly.
 
Festool Rotax - either the 5" or the 6" model. Expensive, but worth it. In Rotax mode, it removes stock almost as fast as a belt sander, but in ROS mode, it's a great finish sander.
 
I have them all, but the one I turn to more than the others is a small Mouse Palm sander. Belt sander is for agressive surface removal, ROS is for general use (can be agressive with rough grit and gentile with fine grit. But the handiest (for me) is that little mouse.

the Belt sander gets you there, the ROS cleans it up and the Mouse finishes it off...

But if you really want to finish, get a cordless rubber block sander...:thumb:
 
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