Random Orbital Sander....

I am going to be re-painting a the Jeep
So I am looking for a random Orbital sander and I have narrowed it down to two sanders. The Heavy duty 3A 12,000 RPM Dewalt or the 2.7A 5,000 - 12,000 RPM Craftsman Pro anti-vibration Random Orbital

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00991010000P

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...le+Power+Tools

The Dewalt takes standard 5" Random Orbital sanding pads (the Velcro type)

But the Craftsman because of the vibration deal actually has two circles one inside the other that counter acts the vibration so it requires special sanding pads. Which you can now get in the store and you can use standard 5” as long as you cut the sandpaper to the special diameters.

The craftsman is variable speed (even though I could not find the dial while in the store) and since it has two "rings" I would think it would provide a better "random" finish then some other Orbital’s.

It looks like the Craftsman sandpaper only goes up to 220 grit (is that as high as I would want to go when sanding primer and body filler?)

Anyone have any opinions on what would be better? I am looking at getting it specifically for my upcoming paint job in the spring but will want to use it after that for general purpose.

I'd get the single-pad job - the DA sanders used in body shops are essentially air-powered random orbitals anyhow. You may find it easier to work with one that has holes in the pad, as you can connect the sander to a shop vacuum or have a filter bag on it and that will catch most of the dust.

Note that you don't need to strip a decent paint job down to bare metal to get good adhesion - simply scuffing up the paint thorougly (180 or 240 grit) will serve. You need to tear the clearcoat off and scuff up the colour coat. The only times you should need to go down to bare metal would be either in places where the prep work wasn't done well originally (you'll see those) or where you have to repair/fill a dent (if you're planning on using filler, check welding houses for "Labmetal" or "Allmetal" - both are a two-part filler similar to Bondo, but you'll be filling metal with metal, instead of filling metal with plastic. Never did make too much sense to me... Labmetal and Allmetal are both sandable, although Allmetal does work better in body apps. You can also find a paint shop that caters to body shops - if you've got body shops around, a paint shop is a virtual certainty.) Or, if you have to repair a rusted patch (preferred rust converter is Rust-Mort - check the paint shop for that stuff. Naval Jelly is a distant second, and you should be able to find that at a hardware store.)

Will you be using rattle cans, an airless sprayer, or an air-powered spray gun?

You will only use the power sander to strip the old top-coat from metal, and everything else has to be done by hand, so don't worry about "finish" or anything fancy. 80-to-200 grit and a basic random orbital 5" is good for that stuff, with primer filling in scratches.

What I used on my job was 120 to strip, primer, 320 to smooth (400 on fiberglass parts), 800 wet, paint, then 1500/2000 wet to finish (still working on that part).

I used about 60 discs of 120 btw

I have a 4 inch da and a 6 inch da and still spend about 3 times as much time with a simple foam block and elbow grease. Fancy dual disc setups are a pain and the velcro attached discs are more costly than the peel and stick ones but do get a quality wet dry paper and take your time between coats your prep job is 90% of how good the job comes out

I am going to spray it with a full air spray gun (So I will also be buying an air compressor that can put at least 7 CFM @ 40 psi....)

I know alot will be done by hand because of the "swirl" effect that even orbitals have so I was hoping that the craftsman would provide less of that so I could use the orbital longer....

I have done some blocking, body work and painting (have helped paint 2 previous cars)

I am going with this color and kind of paint
http://www.paintforcars.com/kits_gunmetal.html
And I am deciding if I want to do a few layers of clear coat (so the paint is "harder")

when summer comes the jeep is getting parked and the transformation will begin. meanwhile I am preping (getting all the tools I will need)

So I guess I will go with the DeWalt since I already have a few of their other power tools and am fairly happy with their products.

Cool colour!

Yeah, go with the standard random orbital (electric D/A, if you prefer...) and use that. Strip the clearcoat and scuff the colour coat, and that will become your primer coat. Make sure you have enough paint to take care of the entire new colour coat in one shot (which is why I asked how you were going to paint it...) and know that, if you're covering a darker colour with a lighter one, you may need at least two or three coats to get full coverage.

Bear in mind that two light coats are always better than one heavy coat, when it comes to final finish. Know it, live it, and you should have good results.

Also, know that preparation is 9/10 of a paint job - sand well and evenly, remove dust (clean rags and denatured alcohol or acetone work well,) and paint somewhere clean so you don't get zits or fish-eyes. You get the idea - be meticulous as Hell, and you'll get farther along.