So I need a power sander and want you guys and gals opinions on what to get. Have no idea if I can get away with a hand-held sander or if I need some sort of high power belt sander or what. And I dont know how many amps or how much power I need.

It will be used on wood, paint and rust and metal.

What specifically are you looking to do with it? I've got 4 different power sanders, and none of them have uses that really overlap much. It can be pretty miserable using a sander that is too small for the job and scary using one that is too big.

for rust removeal i suggest some type of media blaster

As for what it will be used for:

1. Surface rust and paint removal for a metal surface

2. Paint and varnish removal from a wooden surface

3. Rough edge smoothing and surfacing on wood

4. Rough edge smoothing and surfacing on metal

5. Heavy rust removal on a metal surface

What type of sander (hand held, belt, etc) and what power (Amps, volts, newton cradles j/k :rofl: ) would be best for the different applications above?

Thank you.

I recommend a Makita dual-action electric hand sander hook and loop sanding disks for most of that stuff except heavy rust removal, then your are getting into a wire wheel on a grinder.

On the sander just change grit for the different jobs. Sanding is a PITA and takes forever no matter what you want to do. Just remember that.

If you have enough air compressor getting a nice IR dual-action wouldn't be bad either.

As for what it will be used for:

1. Surface rust and paint removal for a metal surface

2. Paint and varnish removal from a wooden surface

3. Rough edge smoothing and surfacing on wood

4. Rough edge smoothing and surfacing on metal

5. Heavy rust removal on a metal surface

What type of sander (hand held, belt, etc) and what power (Amps, volts, newton cradles j/k :rofl: ) would be best for the different applications above?

Thank you.
For numbers 1-4 and 5 I would use a 4 or 7 inch electric angle grinder. You can use both a grinding stone and a grinding disc.

for the other two, I would use an electic or air powered orbital sander. I'm not much of a woodworker but I've used my orbital on wood with satisfactory results.

For the wood stuff I really like my Porter Cable random orbit sander a lot, you want the random orbit feature in wood because otherwise it will leave discernable sanding marks on your work. As for metal, I don't generally use a sander, I generally use a 4" grinder with either a wire wheel attachment or a sanding flap depending on how heavy the job is. In fact, ideally I would use three different grinders each fittted with a different implement; a grinding disc, a sanding flap and a wire wheel. Once you get the big bulk off I usually find it most productive to hand sand the final couple of passes, I just seem to get better quality results that way, so grab a couple of rubber hand sanding blocks while you're sander shopping. For metal fab work I absolutely love my free standing 4" belt/6" disc sander, I wouldn't want to do without it, but that's probably not what you're looking for here.