Which one is better for woodworking – palm sanders or orbital sanders

palm sanders or orbital sanders

When you are in woodworking, you need to have the best tools for your work accuracy. But right now, there are so many tools available in the market that one may have some confusion when it is about choosing the best. So, To clear all the chaos, we will talk about the two excellent working kinds of wood available in the market and which one is better for woodworking.

Palm sanders
Image Source: Bob Vila

Palm sanders

Palm sanders are such kind of power sanders that can easily be held and operated with one hand. A palm sander is also known as a finishing sander that gently sands away the top coat of rough wood. It is a good choice for a variety of home improvement tasks. The lightest palm sander’s weight is 2 lbs. It is considered the most common tool for sanding hardwood floors by hand. However, some people still think this hand sanding process is the best one. They believe they can show their true craftsmanship and more detailed work by using this hand machine.

Pneumatic palm sander
Image Source: Easiklip Floors

Pneumatic palm sander

A pneumatic palm sander is a good power tool to use for housework. It is used to smooth surfaces. Palm sander pneumatic has a good record for being the high-speed sander. A pneumatic sander is ideal for sanding metal and body filler, rust removal, and virtually all automotive smoothing surfaces. A pneumatic palm sander use may seem like an easy task, but it takes a lot of hand movement to use it like a pro. Although pneumatic polisher is designed to comfort people as it can use in confined areas where more extensive tools cannot reach. This handy tool comes with a rubber-molded pistol grip for comfortable handling. It may look small, but it is very powerful and durable. If you are looking for the best pneumatic palm sander but confused in many, then click this:

Orbital sanders

When talking about the best woodworking tool, we need to look at sands in a random orbit action. It is a sander where the sanding surface has a minute circular motion without rotating relative to the workplace. Orbital sanders are handy for places where a normal orbit sander won’t fit. When one needs light sanding, orbital sanders are best. They are perfect for preparing a surface for painting, sealing, or cleaning an old layer of paint.

Orbital sanders
Image Source: Bob Vila

But one may get a question in mind, what is the difference between an orbital sander and a normal sander??

Well, an orbital sander uses a special sanding disc; on the other hand, a regular sander uses sandpaper sheets.

But a debate that is constantly coming on people’s minds is which one is better? Palm sander or Orbital sander? Let’s take a dig into it.

If one asks you that question, you can quickly answer that one is round and another is square, but there’s a lot more to it.

Best Orbital sanders
Image Source: Sensible Digs

Difference

  1. A palm sander is usually less potent than an orbital sander. Because a palm sander is most of the time used for finishing works. A finished work typically doesn’t require as much power from a machine as opposed to an orbital sander which does a heavy job.
  2. A palm sander can easily fit into the square corner because of its shape, but an orbital sander can’t do that.
  3. Despite being in a triangle shape, a palm sander moves in a circular motion with a very tight orbit, which makes it great for detail work. On the other hand, An orbital sander moves in a circular motion with less tight rotation, making it good for rough work and preparation work like taking rough layers of material.
Random Orbital Sanders Feature
Image Source: Stuffoholics

Size differs

An orbital sander is more massive as compared to a palm sander. As palm sander is used for small works, it is light weighted and smaller.

Conclusion

Sarcastically, one cannot tell the best by only seeing some points and facts. Both sanders are good in their way. One needs to buy their desirable hand tool according to their convenience. If one is working on smaller tasks, then a palm sander is best. But when it is about larger pieces, Orbital sanders are better.

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