Which Bosch ROS?

[Dazm]

Hey All,

I have fallen in love with the Festool Rotex but have decided against re-mortgaging my house to get one )

I've decided on the Bosch however I'm not sure which one to get, just wondering if anyone has used either (or both) and could recommend one? Obviously the GEX-150 Turbo is closer to the rotex but not sure if it;'s just overkill?

https://sydneytools.com.au/bosch-gex...al-sander-240v

or

https://sydneytools.com.au/bosch-gex...92MaAnOo8P8HAQ


Cheers

Daz.

[Thylacene]

I looked at the Bosch units but ended up with Milwaukee, ease of connection to dust extraction being a key element of decision making. Happy with it.

[Yanis]

Depends on your type of work. The turbo is the dual mode, with the coarse for aggressive removal and the finishing mode whereas the GEX 125-150 is a finishing sander only. In effect the GEX 150 has the extra power and the addition switched mode for heavier sanding.

If all you need is a finishing sander to prep your work then all you need is the 400W unit. If however you are doing more aggressive sanding, floors exposed beams etc then get the 600W unit. Note that the 400W will be easier to use for finishing being a smaller unit.

It all depends on your requirements.

John

PS I bought the equivalent of the GEX 150 in the Festool line second hand. However I am in the process of renovating a house so it make sense for me. Otherwise I would have stuck with the finishing sander only.

[david.elliott]

Mate bought the ROTEX and loves it, but cannot see the value now he has it. He then pointed me to a youtube comparo between the Metabo and the Festool.
The Festool wins not surprisingly, but not by several hundreds of dollars of ability. I paid 350ish for the 150 Metabo and love it...https://www.metabo.com/com/en/machin...al-sander.html

[Yanis]

Mate bought the ROTEX and loves it, but cannot see the value now he has it.

Yes, horses for courses. I used mine just last weekend on some wood floor tiles. Our floor consists of 200x200x40 end grain jarrah slabs glued to the floor. I was using some spares to fill in a section of unfloored area and used it to sand the faces before gluing them and it worked a treat. Throw on some 40 grit and it works a treat.

But I definitely agree. If you don't need it just go for the finishing sander. If I had $$ to spare I would be getting the new festool brushless. Sweeeeet!

John

[Lappa]

I bought the GEX 125-150. I also bought a 150mm hard base plate to help with course sanding - less flex. I haven't had any problems removing the filter and attaching the tool to my dust collection system.
its a nice tool.

[Dazm]

I guess most of what ill be doing will be finishing on wooden boxes but I do like the ability to switch into aggressive mode if I'm working on some old timber that needs a few mm pulled back. Just not sure how much I'm going to need the aggressive mode.

[Ratbag]

Hey All,

I have fallen in love with the Festool Rotex but have decided against re-mortgaging my house to get one )

I've decided on the Bosch however I'm not sure which one to get, just wondering if anyone has used either (or both) and could recommend one? Obviously the GEX-150 Turbo is closer to the rotex but not sure if it;'s just overkill?

https://sydneytools.com.au/bosch-gex...al-sander-240v

or

https://sydneytools.com.au/bosch-gex...92MaAnOo8P8HAQ


Cheers

Daz.

Given the extreme depth of your passion, it's probably advisable to avoid purchasing a Rotex sander. The act of consummation of said obsession may be rather messy, and possibly lead to your arrest for lewd conduct!

In contrast, I have fallen rather out of "love"with Festo as a tool supplier: recent changes to their pricing & retail network has left me high & dry in regard to access to timely resupply of consumables and repair. Festo do make some pretty good sanders in general, but in my experience aren't especially superior to many other alternatives available.

I also have a fair number of Bosch tools, including a couple of sanders. They're also pretty good too. But I believe the absolute standout tool in terms of quality, versatility & affordability in this class of tool is the Metabo SXE 450 Turbo Tec.

Leaving aside the rather gimmicky "Spinal Tap" turbo button for a moment (sort of like an 11 setting on a speed/volume knob), the 2 alternative orbital settings mean that this sander can transition from an aggressive diameter or 6.2 mm to a fairly gentle 2.8 mm. Most sanders of this size (Rotex included) are more restricted in orbital size, from a usual max. of about 5 mm for the "agressive" ones to about 2.5 mm for the gentler "finishing" ones. With the Metabo you have a genuine "double action" sander for about a third of the price of a Rotex.

In additional to the Metabo's task versatility there's also the availability of genuine and aftermarket pads in a variety of densities (degrees of softness) and hole pattern, from the more common "standard" 6 hole pattern, to 9, 15 & micro-hole variants, to suit just about every single pattern of abrasive paper, mesh or "scotchbrite" type pad in existence.

Sanders just don't come any more versatile than the Metabo. Given that you haven't actually stated your intended uses for the new sander, I'm guessing in your case that versatile is good, and that the Metabo will fulfil at least in some way just about any intended role or function.

Festo do make SOME remarkably good sanders, but are generally much more focussed (even the 150mm Rotex) in their specific capabilities than the Metabo.

[FenceFurniture]

Metabo SXE 450 Turbo Tec.......

Having my usual grumble about the Metabo site and lack of info. You'd think they'd have a link to an accessories page.

So Ratty, can you tell me what the OD of the DE port is please? I would want to put a 36mm hose onto it, and so would have to jimmy up summink for a slip on/off arrangement.

Nor does the website have any mention of backing pads, even on the "Accessories for Sanders" page.

[Dazm]

Thanks Ratbag, Awesome reply.

I had almost narrowed it to the Bosch but after your reply and considering you already have Bosch sanders but gave the Metabo the tick I think I will seriously look at this, I've also read a couple of other reviews that have been very positive about the Metabo.

Given the extreme depth of your passion, it's probably advisable to avoid purchasing a Rotex sander. The act of consummation of said obsession may be rather messy, and possibly lead to your arrest for lewd conduct!

In contrast, I have fallen rather out of "love"with Festo as a tool supplier: recent changes to their pricing & retail network has left me high & dry in regard to access to timely resupply of consumables and repair. Festo do make some pretty good sanders in general, but in my experience aren't especially superior to many other alternatives available.

I also have a fair number of Bosch tools, including a couple of sanders. They're also pretty good too. But I believe the absolute standout tool in terms of quality, versatility & affordability in this class of tool is the Metabo SXE 450 Turbo Tec.

Leaving aside the rather gimmicky "Spinal Tap" turbo button for a moment (sort of like an 11 setting on a speed/volume knob), the 2 alternative orbital settings mean that this sander can transition from an aggressive diameter or 6.2 mm to a fairly gentle 2.8 mm. Most sanders of this size (Rotex included) are more restricted in orbital size, from a usual max. of about 5 mm for the "agressive" ones to about 2.5 mm for the gentler "finishing" ones. With the Metabo you have a genuine "double action" sander for about a third of the price of a Rotex.

In additional to the Metabo's task versatility there's also the availability of genuine and aftermarket pads in a variety of densities (degrees of softness) and hole pattern, from the more common "standard" 6 hole pattern, to 9, 15 & micro-hole variants, to suit just about every single pattern of abrasive paper, mesh or "scotchbrite" type pad in existence.

Sanders just don't come any more versatile than the Metabo. Given that you haven't actually stated your intended uses for the new sander, I'm guessing in your case that versatile is good, and that the Metabo will fulfil at least in some way just about any intended role or function.

Festo do make SOME remarkably good sanders, but are generally much more focussed (even the 150mm Rotex) in their specific capabilities than the Metabo.

[Ratbag]

Looking at last year's catalogue, which I'd downloaded onto my hard disc, the following hoses are recommended for direct connection to the SXE450:

6.31592 (19mm x 5m, with 35/30mm connectors ea. end) have one of these myself, which I've adapted to fit inside a Festo 35mm steel (wand) bend, giving approx 7.5m total reach. If fitted directly to the "Starmix" family of vacs, sold as Metabo, Bosch, Eibenstick & Mafell dust extractors, then adaptor 6.30316 is required @ the vac. end.

6.31938 (static) & 6.31939 (antistatic) hoses (dia. 27mm x 3.5m, with 35mm tool reception & 58mm vac bayonet ends) or

6.31337 (static) hose (32mm x 3.5m with similar bayonet end & a coupling bush with shunt air opening.

I personally use & recommend the first, as the hose is small, ultra flexible & lightweight, with rounded "corrugations" that don't catch on arrises & other sharp edges, but can be prone to squashing & kinking if roughly handled. Fatter, heavier hoses are rather less useful I've found on smaller tools like sanders, jigsaws etc. where the tool is being used backwards & forwards rather than in a more linear directional plane.

As always, I'd also recommend radically reducing the suction level to < 50% to reduce overall air velocity to more effectively scavenge the harmful ultra-fine abrasive dust.

For fitting to the Kraenzle (i.e. Festo) vac. family then either direct reception of a 35mm rubber end externally or a 27mm internal connection may be suitable.

Similarly, for a Wap/Nilfisk/Alto/Kew connection an adaptation of either of the above may be suitable, although as they still use the same vac. end connectors that they did when they made vacs for Festo, Makita, Fein, Stihl etc. then any of the Festo/Kraenzle family of hoses (or their own) will be suitable.

[Ratbag]

Regarding pads, there's a German company (DFS Schleiftechnic) that markets 150mm pads in standard 6, 8, 8+1, 15, 17 & 35 hole patterns, with interface pads to suit.

Plus there's local suppliers too. Try Googling "150 backing pad" or "150 sanding pad" or even "stuetzteller 150mm" or "schleifteller 150". There's lots of different hole layouts available to suit the dozens of different types of abrasives available.

Metabo sells 6 hole pads in soft & medium & 6+8 hole pads in medium for the SXE450: 6.31156, 58 & 50 respectively.

Metabo use an M8 spindle screw in common with virtually all euro manufacturers, meaning that almost everybody's OEM & aftermarket pads will fit, as opposed to Festo's ridiculous bayonet arrangement on the latest Rotex sanders that isn't even common to their own M8 ETS or older Rotex models!

[FenceFurniture]

Thanks Ratty. I've got a Klingspor Med-hard pad which fits my ETS (M8) so it would fit. The K pad sure looks like a Mirka made product.

[Dazm]

Regarding pads, there's a German company (DFS Schleiftechnic) that markets 150mm pads in standard 6, 8, 8+1, 15, 17 & 35 hole patterns, with interface pads to suit.

Plus there's local suppliers too. Try Googling "150 backing pad" or "150 sanding pad" or even "stuetzteller 150mm" or "schleifteller 150". There's lots of different hole layouts available to suit the dozens of different types of abrasives available.

Metabo sells 6 hole pads in soft & medium & 6+8 hole pads in medium for the SXE450: 6.31156, 58 & 50 respectively.

Metabo use an M8 spindle screw in common with virtually all euro manufacturers, meaning that almost everybody's OEM & aftermarket pads will fit, as opposed to Festo's ridiculous bayonet arrangement on the latest Rotex sanders that isn't even common to their own M8 ETS or older Rotex models!

,

Hey Ratbag,

where do you source your sanding discs?

Wife and Daughter got me the Metabo for Christmas, I've been back to Toolmart but they only have Bosch discs, not sure if they fit the holes in the pad? Also wasn't sure if online was the best place. They didn't have many grits available.

[lovetoride]

Total Tools have them