- Festo was a local manufacturer in Esslingen, a suburb of the Stuttgart industrial center. Craftsmen visited the company's shop in person to pay a deposit for a place on the waiting list and could return four to six weeks later to purchase a sander. Word-of-mouth expansion brought Festo products to Switzerland and Austria during the 1950s.
- Several portable orbitals became available in the United States in the 1950s. In 1955, Dyno-Mite's No. 580 operated in any direction without tracking, scoring or burning. In 1957, Stanley's H36 Heavy Duty sander boasted a ball bearing motor powering a pad one-third the size of a standard sandpaper sheet without overheating.
- As technical innovations made smaller high-powered motors possible, comfort and size became the criteria for portable sanders. In 1960, the "super-power" WEN Model 202 advertised a streamlined grip that fit into the palm of the hand. By 1965, the Rockwell Speed-Bloc featured a palm-grip design for easy one-hand sanding.
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