Is an orbit sander preferable over a belt sander for tabletops?
Because of the different motions, a belt sander could cause a deeper "line" where the edge of the belt hits the wood, since you can only go back and forth with it, certainly not optimal. With an orbital sander you would be moving it very quickly, in different directions and because of the way the pad moves as well, you would not be "eating" into the wood as quickly or in a line, as mentioned before, this is certainly the way to go.