15 Types of sanders | And what power sanders to use?

A belt sander is used to shape wood and other materials as the most aggressive hand-sanding tool.

A belt sander is the best tool for fast and serious initial sanding on the roughest of surfaces that need to be sanded back quickly.

There are cordless belt sanders that are a little underpowered.

The corded belt sanders have all the power on tap that you need to provide the fastest most aggressive sanding tool.

A finishing sander is used for shaping, smoothing, a hassle-free polish on wooden surfaces much like an orbital sander. But instead with a back-and-forth motion instead of a circular motion. This is better for sanding wood that will have an exposed wood grain finish rather than a painted finish.

The back-and-forth motion sands along the wood grain leaving a smoother finish. Although it is much less powerful than an orbital sander, hence a “finishing sander.”

You can use a corded finishing sander if you’re going to skip manual sanding as a finishing sander requires more grunt with its more limiting motion.

But you do get a more refined and smoother finish over the top of any other type of sander by using a finishing sander right at the end over the top of a more aggressive orbital or belt sander. 

You can get a lightweight and portable finishing sander  that can provide you with an easier and quicker finish than what can be achieved by hand.

A file sander is used if you want to smoothen tight surfaces or corners that are not reachable by bigger types of sanders or hand sandpaper.

You can use it between timbers of chairs or when you want to get rid of old paint or rusting on rails.

Also known as a finger sander, it sands with a narrow belt making it an excellent tool if you’re going to do detailed work such as auto body repairs or smoothing small attributes on any of your projects.

A detail sander is used to get into the corners or edges that your typical finishing or orbital sander cannot reach.

This sanding tool boasts a triangular pad and consists of self-adhesive paper, with multiple attachments to do more precise work. 

It is the only sander that comes in a triangular shape to serve its purpose: to reach tight spaces and corners like the chairs’ edges.

An oscillating tool is used to reach narrow spaces if a detail sander is not available.

Additionally, it is ideal for cutting wood and metal in awkward places that other saws cannot as a second function.

With a sander head attachment, it acts in a similar way to a detail sander, but better in my opinion.

A multi-tool can finish sand in tight spaces that other types of bigger sanders cannot reach even what detail sanders cannot reach.

As an oscillating tool that can scrape and cut material, it’s an incredibly versatile and time-saving machine.

A disk sander is a power tool installed on a bench for quickly smoothing wooden or metal surfaces with stability.

If you are looking for a stationary sanding tool that will result in a better quality finish that can save your time inside a dedicated workshop, you should look into a disk sander.

They come with options of different types of disk wheels with various grits depending on the material you are using and what stage of sanding you are at.

A bench grinder is typically used to grind harder materials like metals, but once you have the right wheel attachment, you can do some tricks with it, such as sanding and shaping wood.

Although grinding and polishing wood is totally different from grinding and polishing metals, you can still sand wood.

All it takes is the right attachment and technique. Consider choosing a powerful Dewalt or  jet bench grinder with variable speed to reduce overheating.

You can use an angle grinder for sanding if you have a grinding attachment for sanding wood, these attachments are great for fast sanding for great-looking rustic landscaping work.

The ability to change and handle and corresponding wheels or accessories is the key to achieving a perfect sanding experience.

A handheld grinder is a versatile type of sander that can help you with grinding and cutting metal or tile, polishing, sanding, and sharpening various materials, at the same time. 

A drywall sander is used when sanding interior walls, plastered walls, and ceilings.

You can use it to remove old paint layers and plaster coatings. A drywall sander is an effective tool for sanding walls and finishing floors.

Today, you will most likely encounter electric drywall sanders that are more efficient and easy to use as they have a long handle that can reach high and low spots to save your back.

An oscillating spindle sander is installed on or on a table and used to sand the board edges [2]. Moreover, it is ideal if you need to smoothen curved cuts that came from a band saw, for example.

It is equipped with a tabletop and sanding drum that works together in an up-and-down motion and includes a variety of sanding drums available.

A concrete floor sander is used for removing layers of concrete surfaces like cement concrete and mortar.

You can use it if you are planning to sand down just a part of the concrete surface.

A concrete floor sander runs on a powerful motor, this is why it can remove and sand concrete surfaces in your garage, patio, kitchen, or basement.

Various floor sander types are commonly used in construction or semi-professional working environments.

A floor sander is used if you are going to remove the top surfaces of your wooden floor by sanding it using abrasive grit.

There are various types of floor sanders and deck sanding tools that you can choose depending on your job, such as a vibrating sander, edge sander, and drum sander.

While there are varieties, they all belong to furniture refinishing tools to help you sand your wooden floor and save your back.

A sanding block is used to hold sandpaper for manual “hand” related jobs, sanding blocks are ideal for preventing waves when sanding by hand, which usually appear if you will use sandpaper only or a solid wood block.

There are various sandpaper grits to consider when sanding by hand just like when you sand using a power tool.

Have you decided what sander type do you need?

Sanding is one of the essential but challenging jobs in woodworking. There are various sanding jobs, and each job requires a specific sanding tool.

This is why, as a DIYer or a woodworker, you should know about all the different wood sander types and when to use them.

It is not enough to know all of these tools, you must save yourself a ton of time by picking the right tool for the job and learning the tool’s proper use.

Note that the appropriate sander type will save you from any rough finish or hassle and give you a superb and satisfying finish in the end. 

As a DIY’er and if you were to only pick 3 tools I would pick first a sanding block, second a random orbital sander, and finally, an oscillating tool because of its wide variety of handy functions, ranging from cutting in tight spots and doubling as a detail sander.