sander

sander, portable power tool used for smoothing, polishing, or cleaning a surface, as of wood, plastic, or metal. Sanders are also used to roughen surfaces in preparation for finishing. There are three main types of power sanders: the disk sander, the belt sander, and the orbital sander. In the disk sander an abrasive disk is attached to a shaft that is driven by bevel gears to rotate about an axis at right angles to the motor shaft. The belt sander has endless cloth or paper belts faced with abrasive grits and runs on rollers that rotate about axes, which are at right angles to the direction in which the sander is moved. On the orbital sander the sanding pad has an orbital motion; i.e., it rotates at high speed about its own vertical axis while the axis moves slowly on a circular path.