Sanding discs for air sander?

[bash]

I bought an air powered dual action sander from Sears since I have some bodywork in my not-too-distant future (and it was on clearance!). It came with a 6 inch disc with what looks like vinyl where the sandpaper mounts. No mention in the manual about how to mount the sanding discs though. Can anyone advise me? It is model number 19976 if that helps. I found self adhesive discs at McMaster Carr for a reasonable price, but don't want to buy a load of them if I should be looking for some other way of holding them in place. If self adhesive is the way to go, shoudl I buy the rolls of paper backed discs or the individual cloth backed type? What grit size should I use to get rid of surface rust and then smooth out the area after the welding and grinding?

Thanks for any advice
Alistair

 

[prometalshop]

Hi Bash
It use to be I would buy a spray can of disc glue and after so long you have to wash it down to get the lumpy glue of the pad that made ill marks in what you were trying to sand smooth.
But now it has a few more options, but the options comes with price. The one you have will work great and the middle of the road in price when it comes to buying the sticky back that goes with your application. They do have a hook and loop that works well but a bit more money fro the box it comes in
When you do get to the point were you are ready to use the D.A. there are two settings. One for orbital and the other for grinding. they both do very different actions.
Now I am only assuming this is going to be your first round with this type tool so if so keep us posted when your ready to put it to use so we can guide you threw it smooth. ;0 There are a few do's and don'ts you should know about. This tool can be very helpful but it can also cause major imperfections in a short amount of time.
Keep us posted....

 

[Bayless]

I use an electric DA for woodworking and prefer the velcro disks for it. Reason is, you can change paper as needed but still reuse one again.

For metalwork, I only use the air DA and only with stickyback paper. You will use up all the grit on paper much faster on metal and changing back and forth is not a concern. The rolls have worked well for me, really convenient to use and store, and reasonably priced.

As for the two modes on the DA, be very careful using the grind mode. It will eat up a lot of stuff in a real hurry. Also, unless you have a really serious compressor, it will eat up a tank of air in just a few seconds and most compressors don't even have a chance of keeping up.