Thread: What ordital sanders are people using

Festool. Longevity, ergonomics, reliability. Not cheap but have managed to find them second hand in near new condition for about half RRP. Then they become excellent value.

Metabo. Had one repaired after 15 years & also bought a new one. So now I have 2.

Mirka CEROS. AFAIK, it's the smallest, lightest and, IMO, the best random orbital sander you can buy for any price.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Festool. Longevity, ergonomics, reliability. Not cheap but have managed to find them second hand in near new condition for about half RRP. Then they become excellent value.

As noted on my other thread I just bought the Festool, others have reported about fatigue using some sanders for long periods of time. I just put in 8 hours sanding today with the Festool and it was a pleasure to use.
I suppose it comes down to how often you will use it as to whether the cost can be justified

It also depends on what kind of work you're doing. I think the Festool may have an edge on flat panels, but if you're doing lots of curvy stuff and "off the bench" work where you're holding the full weight of the sander for long periods or flicking your wrist around curves then the nearly 25% weight advantage of the ceros (920g vs. 1.2kg for the ETS EC 150) wins hands down.

Totally Agree with Elanjacobs, really depends on what you're doing...

I have a makita palm 1/4 sheet sander, bosch 5" random orbit, a dewalt 5" random orbit, and the festool 6" random orbit.

Why do i have so many?

- The Makita i use on edges of boards as its small, and makes it easier to sand edges without rounding over edges, also great for tight areas.
- The Bosch 5" and festool 6" can be used interchanably, both are well made and have fairly low vibration, obviously Festool being better quality. but i would expect it to being double the price of the Bosch.
- The 5" Dewalt was the first sander i purchased, and the variable speed has died but it still runs at full speed. Vibrations are by far the worse but it does have a party trick up its sleeve as I currently use this as my gap filler, where i'll squirt bit of glue into gap and sand away. I find the additional vibrations really drives the glue into the gaps and it works perfectly for this purpose.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

It also depends on what kind of work you're doing. I think the Festool may have an edge on flat panels, but if you're doing lots of curvy stuff and "off the bench" work where you're holding the full weight of the sander for long periods or flicking your wrist around curves then the nearly 25% weight advantage of the ceros (920g vs. 1.2kg) wins hands down.

That is a very good point and usually isn’t clarified when recommendations are made. In my case I wanted a machine for hardwood that was capable of removing stock if needed so the Rotex 150 seemed the best fit but there are better choices for finishing or intricate work. Those Ceros units look like a nice comfortable tool.

I have 3 Bosch Blue Professional ROS's; 5" variable speed, 5" and a 6"... Can't fault them.... Cheers, crowie

I have a Festool ETS 150/5. I needed to sand a couple of tables in the owners apartment so dust extraction was very important. I already had other Festool gear including dust extractor. Systainer is good for keeping gear neat.
No regrets. I can move material quickly, and have a real smooth finish.
Down side (applies to all sanders with round pads) I can not get into corners of boxes.

I have gone through 4 Metabo FSX200 sanders in the last three years and purchased another one at the wood show last weekend but it is now going to be a spare because on the way out i came upon the Mirka display and quickly put aside my "i can't justify spending that much on a sander" reasoning and walked out with one. I have only used it for 10 minutes before realising that the vacuum extraction unit is an absolute must because it works so well and i'm looking forward to being able to use a sander without ear protection.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Mirka CEROS. AFAIK, it's the smallest, lightest and, IMO, the best random orbital sander you can buy for any price.

Good Morning Elan

You omitted to say "cutest".

Any view yet on the longevity of the Mirka; I presume that yours are being worked fairly hard.



Cheers

Graeme

Hehe yes it is quite cute

Can't remember exactly when I bought mine, but I think it was 2011. The only issue I had was that one of the wires in the power cord broke after about 3 years from being flexed so much, but that was replaced under warranty along with the control circuit board. Other than that, it absorbed all the usual drops you'd expect (the super thick rubber cover probably helped with that) and it had plenty of 8 hour days without missing a beat.

I sold it to my former work when I left last year, along with a few other things, and I'm pretty sure it's still going because if it dies I'll be getting a message asking where I had it fixed.

I am going state the obvious - buy a tool with a good reputation. Don't cheap out. The better sanders not only last longer and require fewer repairs, but have less vibration and better dust management.

I have two sanders: one I have had for 20 years, and this is a Festo forerunner of the Festool ETS 150 (I suspect mine is closer to a 3mm movement). It has had 3 pads replaced over the years (which is normal), but otherwise is going strong. Recently I purchased a used (but like-new) Mirka Ceros. It is everything that Elan says it is - light and nimble. The Festo is great still for large panels, while the Ceros could do this but excels on curved or vertical sections (because it is so light). The Ceros has amazing dust control (via a Festool CT26e). I use both with Mirka Abranet mesh. This lasts a long time, and increases the dust control.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Bosch Gex 150 Turbo - very good for aggresive sanding when in rotary mode. Down-side is extremely high vibration levels when in rotary mode (the Festool Rotex is the same, on paper specs at least but I haven't used it to compare).

Bosch Gex 125-150ave - good sander, extremely smooth running and the least vibration transmission of all my sanders by far (2.25m/s^2 vs 8.5m/s^2 of the 150 turbo). But it's very very big and very heavy - not a sander for any vertical / handheld use. Great dust extraction - no worse than my Festool or Mirka.

Festool DTS400 - love this sander as the triangular pad can get in corners, it's great for narrow edges or small angled, flat surfaces. It's also light but is fairly slow in terms of stock removal and finish isn't amazing (but more than good enough for me). Great dust extraction.

Mirka Deros 150 - only got this recently but I like it. Very powerful, light and great dust extraction. I don't love the paddle switch and wish i could just get an on/off switch. The balance is also off with a 36mm dust hose and adaptor to make it fit and requires me to support the dust hose with one hand while sanding.

No more sanders for me. I could live with just the Festool DTS400 and Mirka. The Bosch 150t is great for rough, heavy duty sanding though - eg. Decking refinish etc.

Cheers, Dom