The Mirka Random Orbit Sander has arrived at the hackspace yesterday. Thanks again @mike for organizing this and @Ivan_Erasmus for picking it up. We did do some quick sanding tests last night and I think it will shave a notable amount of time when sanding (30-50%) of some of the orbital sanders we had available to us already.
For your safety please ensure you disconnect the airline before you swap out sanding discs. The power button sits atop the sander and you may accidentally turn it on as you are swapping out discs. Believe it or not you can actually get cut by an orbital sander if you are not careful.
And before we put this into full operation a few things we should address before we get it fully in service.
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Dust Extractor - We think the small 1hp vaccuum may work given the small hose size. It may be a bit undersized but we’ll know more once we try and connect it - otherwise we’re looking for some shopvac attachment of some sort.
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Upgrades to the Shops Air compressor is needed. An automatic drip valve will be needed as the sander is powered by compressed air. There’s some discussion to see if it needs some A cover for the belt drive is also needed.
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A few extra 6 inch sanding discs. I picked up some abranet sanding discs 80 and 120 to get us started. I might pick up some additional 220 and 320 grits But almost all the sanding discs we have in the shop are 5 inch in size. If you have some sanding jobs to do in the near future consider picking some up. Suggested sanding discs can be found at Lee Valley tools - Mirka 6" Abranet Grip Discs - Lee Valley Tools