3M Elite Orbital Sander - P/N 28497

rdransman

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Since there's a right way and a wrong way to do nearly everything, and I have an uncanny ability to pick the latter, I thought I'd ask the following...

I bought the subject sander. The only specs I know are that it has a 5" pad, variable speed (max 12,000 RPM), 3/16" orbit. Amazon has it for only $515, including shipping:

https://www.amazon.com/Random-Orbit...=UTF8&qid=1539473581&sr=1-4&keywords=3m+28497

(Don't worry...I paid $145 on Ebay.) At max speed it really honks on. 3M does not recognize this item on their website, so it is probably obsolete, but hey, it's a sander, not a brain surgery kit. The question is: When I use it with the 3M 1/2" thick Interface pad and 3M Trizact 3000 and 5000 5" pads, wet, should I be using it at max speed or is it effective at lower speed?

(This post edited 10/19/18 because it's a continuously variable speed sander, not a 3-speed sander. Prior to this I had not used it, having only seen it run on You Tube, so I had described it incorrectly.)
 
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In my way of thinking the higher the speed, the quicker the pad will sling off any water, dry out, and or burn through something. I'd start with the slow speed and see how things work, take it from there. I'd hate to see your next post ask how to fix a burn through area in the clear.
 
i have 3 3m ro sanders. not that exact model but i think they are all 10-12k. i tend to run mine at about 1/2 speed for most sanding jobs including wet with trizact. very rarely do i find it necessary to run them wide open.
 
Thanks guys, for sharing your expertise. Now I know where to start and what to expect. I'm sure too that the disc gets less aggressive as it wears, and can tolerate more RPM.
 
Just wanted to give a final thank you to MP&C and Jim C for keeping me from burning through the CC. I've got the hang of it now. Here are a couple of pics so far:
 

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