Is there any experience that Surfprep Sanders does NOT create pigtails?

Thank you!

Proper orbit size and quality abrasives prevent most pigtails.

RichC, when you say proper orbit size what terms are you talking in? Are you talking in terms of variable speed of the orbit Sander or are you talking in terms of let's say 2 or 3 Millimeter sanding strokes?

My Festool 5'' ETS 125 sanding stroke is 2mm. If you are talking about sanding strokes then what sanding stroke do you recommend to eliminate pigtails?

RichC: Proper orbit size and quality abrasives prevent most pigtails

Its only my experience but in my world sanding swirls are typically an issue of your setup or sanding technique with nearly any sander. Things like too much sanding pressure (either by the operator or the vac), poor sanding technique, moving through grits too quickly or too slowly and burnishing the stock, etc..

I have always been able to get a quality finish out of everthing from an inexpensive 1/4 sheet orbital up to Mirka/AirVantage/Dynabrade etc. but a lot of it comes with paying serious attention (not saying your not) to the sanding but not overly so.

For sure threre can be issues with bad pad, poorly graded abrasives, orbit size, and so on but for the most part moving from any given sander to another is more an issue of speed and operator comfort to me. Small orbit finish room sanders can still work on the shop floor just fine they will just be slower.

I started sanding when I was very young with my dad's old chrome black and decker 1/3 sheet sander which was the bee's knees at the time. You'd better be able to get control of your curlies with one of those puppies.

Sigh
Sanding is a bitch
A seemingly simple job thats difficult to do well and difficult to allot the proper amount of time to
Mark B hit it- attention to what they're doing and patience on the operators part will eliminate most sanding troubles.

Most people hate sanding. I personally dont mind it so much with decent sanders that are fast-ish and dont leave me in pain.

I'd be a richer man if I had a nickel for every person that walked into the shop telling me they have a misguided son, nephew, daughter, niece, grandchild, whatever, that would be great for the shop and to just put them on something mindless "like sanding". I use to try to explain to people that your on your last lines of defense at that point and possibly worse than any other aspect the person sanding makes or breaks the job. I dont even bother anymore and just walk away.

Its one of those jobs where if you find someone who gets it, can hold their own focus, and be fast while doing an acceptable job for the work at hand, they are a major keeper. Running a sander really well is kinda like running a shovel really well. It looks like inmate level work on its face but when you find someone that really crushes it its brutally clear there is a lot of skill even in a scoop of dirt.

Are you asking about their linear sander or random orbit. They sell 2 different random sanders, 3/16" and 3/32" orbits.

Im not sure an in-line sander would leave hooks/pigtails/swirls?

You're right about the linear, but I really don't follow the OP's comments or nomenclature. ("Sander or are you talking in terms of let's say 2 or 3 Millimeter sanding strokes?")

Micheal

Can you specify which orbital sander you are talking about?

I'm a technician for SurfPrep. I can help.