Sanders - h&l vs psa

[ryans69chevy]

Whats everyone using for sanding pads? PSA or hook and loop? I have a 5" electric dewalt random orbital sander with a PSA pad on it. I've ran out of my boxes of psa discs. They last a few years from the amount I buy. When I went to buy more, I found i can purchase a new pad for it and change to a hook and loop system.

I've struggled at times with the disc's not sticking. I change disc's to get a different grit on from time to time as well so once I change, the existing disc is now done.

I use my orbital for just about everything - wood working, and bodywork and all that. I've thought about buying a DA as well for my compressor so I was hoping if I did that, to just have one style of disc's.

Thanks for any advice

[Grounded63]

For my DA I use H&L. For sanding blocks I use both.

[ryans69chevy]

Originally Posted by Grounded63

For my DA I use H&L. For sanding blocks I use both.

What DA are you using? When I look up DA's they all seem to be PSA.

[Grounded63]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

What DA are you using? When I look up DA's they all seem to be PSA.

Sorry. Missed this.

I use a dynabrade black. But, it is like 20yrs old , They may not even make them anymore.

Probably most DA's come stock, with a psa pad on them. Because, it's the basic "old school" stock/cheap option. Where you can use PSA's or glue on disks. You should be able to just buy a 3M H&L pad and change it out, if you want. Assuming you don't have some odd ball import DA.

If you're using off brand psa disks that may be part of your issue. Or, possibly the adhesive is just degrading over time. Since you use them infrequently.

[truckster]

I use hook and loop on my random orbital sander. It makes it easy to change grits.

[ryans69chevy]

Originally Posted by truckster

I use hook and loop on my random orbital sander. It makes it easy to change grits.

I think I'm going to end up switching to H&L. With the amount of times I need to change disc's, I think its the better route. Plus I've had issues with PSA even when I put a new disc on. I've tried scratching the pad that's on the tool with sandpaper to rough it up a bit which seems to help, but eventually its back to not sticking and then I'm wasting disc's. Both types of disc's are pretty much the same price, its just the extra cost of buying a new pad for $25.

[truckster]

I think you'll save the $25 in time pretty quickly.

[Richard]

We use nothing but PSA at the body shop. Hook and Loop is considered to be hobbyist by my boss. It provides a softer sanding surface that may be easier to use for some. I had a H&L pad setup I threw out for my 2/3" die" grinder, it was useless. A cleaning with a bit of lacquer thinner on the DA pad will help disk stick. Keep sanding disks free from dust. Even then a bit of thinner may help.