Since I will be using a sander rather infrequently, I figured I'd save myself collecting more hardware by buying just a (portable) belt sander and using it for both serious sanding (areas on floors that are unreachable with a machine) and light-weight sanding (wood tabletops).
But for tables, I'm having a hard time getting a smooth finish, using 180-grit paper. Maybe 220-grit will make a big difference, but I doubt it.
Does either an orbit sander or a mouse sander give you more control when sanding a wood tabletop, to get a smoother finish? (I've applied linseed oil to seal, and am now applying polyurethane to finish).
Asked differently, is a belt sander just too much (unmanageable, takes too much too quickly, not random but leaves linear streaks, ..) to be used for finishing tabletops?