Fixing mistakes and sander question

[shredso]

I'm buying a sander this weekend.  Any tips on what I should get?  I'm using the BYOAC book for the plans and I'm using 3/4" MDF (wish i got something lighter).  My angles on the control panel are a little off, so i figured i would sand them.  I'm hoping I can get away with a $50-60 finish or orbital sander.  Will I be sanding for hours without a belt sander?  I heard MDF sands pretty easily.  Thanks.

[leapinlew]

Belt sander sands super fast

Orbital sander is much slower

I have both

[javeryh]

MDF practically melts under pressure from a sander.  Make sure you are in a well ventilated area or wear a mask - the dust is brutal.

[ScottS]

Get a random orbit sander, the bigger the better. You can speed up material removal by using coarser grit sandpapers. With a random orbit sander, you're probably limited to 40 or 60 grit. Still that should be plenty fast enough.

I have a 3x21" belt sander and I wouldn't recommend it for this task; too difficult to control.

[NiteWalker]

I'd go with a random orbit and 60 grit.
One of the best sanders out there.

[ChadTower]

Tempting.  My sander sucks, took hours to strip a simple flat cabinet door.

[NiteWalker]

For that chad, you're probably better off with a belt sander. Porter Cable just released a mini belt sander I'm in love with because I don't have the need for a full size belt sander.

[ChadTower]

Cool, I'm going to watch that.  I'm in the same boat, don't need a full size belt sander but could use a really good small one.

[NiteWalker]

There will probably be a father's day sale soon, so watch for that. Some items are already advertised with a 25% off discount like some bosch jigsaw blades and a few workmates. A while ago the sander went on sale for $99 shipped. That's a good price for it.

[javeryh]

I'd be sold if there was an easy way to mount it perpendicular to a worktable for accurate edge sanding.