Sanity check: orbital sander

Emily_Joy

I need a sander to prepare new shed for painting. We are likely to use it to paint/repaint the fence as well. I am eyeing up Makita M9204 random orbit sander. 
Anything to look out for? 

flaneurs_lobster

A discussion on reddit may be of use

https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/1fvx1e7/i_need_a_new_orbital_sander_and_cant_decide/

Utter novice at this stuff but did get a cheapy sander (think Lidl) for a small project - having an old vacuum cleaner (think Lidl again) gaffer-taped to the outlet made a hell of a difference to the amount of dust spread over the surroundings. 

greyteam1959

Waste of time sanding.
Just paint it.

bjorn_toby_wilde

It’s a perfectly good sander and Makita are a good brand but, as the last poster said, you probably don’t need it for the job that you’re describing. Orbitals also don’t get into the corners if that matters to you. You’d have to hand sand in the corners if you bought one.

If you’re painting with an outdoor paint, something like Garden Shades, then it won’t need sanding. Fence panels definitely don’t need sanding.

jimi_man

Yup, I've never heard of anyone sanding a shed. Just paint it. 

Eldi_Dos

jimi_man said:

Yup, I've never heard of anyone sanding a shed. Just paint it. 

Suppose it depends on the quality of the finish of the timber of the shed, if it had bits that could cause splinters or 'hairy' bits you might want to give it a run over.

Myself I would just use a good stiff hand brush to clean down the fence and shed before applying stain.

Emmia

I sanded a bit of our shed which was very rough/splintery when it arrived and we'd assembled but did that by hand as it was a pretty small area, but in a position where you might catch yourself if you were moving around near the shed. I wouldn't have bothered if it had been round the back.

I then just slapped on the stain coat.

ButterCheese

No you don't need to sand it, as above just manually sand any rough splinters and then paint it.  If the shed is new, make sure (maybe before you paint it) that it is watertight.  Especially if it arrived in panels which are screwed together.  The joins will often let water in, as mine did, so maybe fill them with a waterproof sealant first.

 If you really want a sander to use on other jobs then you can't go wrong with any of the top brands.  If you're going cordless then you should commit to one brand so you don't have to buy multiple batteries for different tools

Emily_Joy

Perhaps a picture or two would help. To me it looks pretty rough and I think it would benefit from sanding, but maybe it is just my imagination... 

Emmia

Emily_Joy said:

Perhaps a picture or two would help. To me it looks pretty rough and I think it would benefit from sanding, but maybe it is just my imagination... 

I'd just run a gritty sanding block over those rough bits on the edges - easier and cheaper than an orbital sander.

Section62

Emily_Joy said:

Perhaps a picture or two would help. To me it looks pretty rough and I think it would benefit from sanding, but maybe it is just my imagination... 

"Rough sawn" wood used for sheds is meant to be left rough and doesn't really benefit from sanding.  If you sand the surface too much it will reduce the absorbtion of the finish you intend to apply, and also risks removing some of the preservative treatment applied in the factory.

It would be Ok to lightly sand off the 'whiskers' (by hand), but if you give it a good going over with an orbital sander to get a smooth paint-like finish then you'd need to make sure you get rid of all the dust, and ideally you'd apply fresh preservative before the stain/finish coat.