Craftsman orbital sander: disks won't stay on

Five years ago I bought an orbital hand sander and a supply of Porter-Cable and another brand name disks. I haven't used the sander too much, but had to replace its hook-and-loop platen last year. Now I am sanding the old wood away from my 30-year-old outdoor redwood handrails. (What a messy, foul job that is!) I found that after about 5-minutes of sanding using 80 grit paper the disks lose their holding ability and fly off the platen. When I try to reinstall them they just don't stick. I've used 6 or 7 disks to sand off a 12-foot length of redwood on both sides. The last two show no signs of wear on the grit surface. I'm sure they are on tight enough because I press them on using all my thumb strength. Is it common for the disks to lose their holding ability after such a limited time?

 

When you sand paint or varnish, or push too hard on the sander... or sand up next to lots of edges, you wear out the hooks on your sanding pad. Replacing it once a year is not uncommon, more often if you use it hard and heavy. Pushing too hard is the biggest culprit as it generates heat that flattens (melts) the hooks.

Buy 2 pads at a time so you have a spare.

 

Thanks for your reply. Last year I bought three platens and installed one. It's the paper sanding disks that are not lasting more than 6-8 minutes. Today I used two new disks to sand the 1-inch edges of a 12-foot redwood plank (also 35 years old). Once the paper spins off it has lost 100% of its backing. The disks themselves show very little wear. I think a palm sander is nothing more than a means to spend money on disks.

 

I have a few Porter-Cable random orbital sanders. If you let them sit for years the pad will deteriorate, that's in addition to the hook problems. Sponge rubber or whatever you want to call it has a shelf life.

I use mine mostly for flat surface sanding. I like the random orbital sanders, but they are not very useful for narrow edge sanding.

 

Wouldn't be the first time.

For my 1/4 sheet Dewalt it has clamps to hold the paper, nice thing, it doesnt use any kind of special paper so cost is low!

 

I also like the quarter sheet sanders. Buy full sheets of sandpaper and cut to fit