Thread: Advice on ROS sander, GEX150 Turbo?

I have the GEX150 Turbo and it is a great sander. The turbo function works really well and removes a lot of material fast. It is a big beast though and you may need a smaller unit for fine detail sanding.
Make sure you have good dust extraction hooked up because it makes a lot of dust.

I had a play with the new Bosch GEX 125AVE at the Perth wood show. It comes with a 125mm and 150mm pad. The vibration is as low as my Festool 150/3.
See link below.

GEX 125 AVE Professional - Random Orbit Sander - Bosch Power Tools for Professionals

Les

Hi Mat,
If you want a sander that will do it all, maybe you could look at the Festool RO90, RO125 or RO150. The RO150 is an all purpose orbital/random orbital beast with a 5mm stroke. It will remove stock like a belt sander as an orbital and will give a very acceptable finish as a ROS. The RO125 will do likewise in a smaller area. The RO90 I haven't had anything to do with, but it's meant to be the "bees knees".

Another suitable sander would be the ETS150/5, which is like a brother to the ETS150/3. The 150/5 has a 5mm stroke and the 150/3 has a 3mm stroke. The five is probably better for preparatory work, though my ETS150/3 does just fine thank you. Great range of pads too. From24 -4000grit!

Les, Would you swap the ETS for the Bosch? Just curious.

Sorry, just read the last bit of your post. All these sanders will probably cost more than your drill press, but my RO150 and ETS150/3 are now 6 and 5 years old respectively. They receive a serious workout every day and haven't missed a beat.

Regards,

Rob

Rob, as I only had a short play with it at the wood show, it is hard to say although it did impress me. I really love the ETS 150/3 and have had it for 4 years now. I merely suggested it as an alternative as it is a fair bit cheaper than the ETS at $239 vs the ETS at $560. Thus it is less than half the price. I think it may just be good value for the money.
Les

Thank you all for the detailed responses.

I haven't had any experience with Festool although judging by the many posts i've read about them and the general consensus on the web-a-sphere I would love to own one. Les does make a very good point though regarding the price comparison. At double the price it's very hard to reconcile with my frugal tendencies (i'm cheap, there i said it ).

I think any of the models mentioned above is going to be a cut above my current options. I might just hold off until the WWW show in Melbourne or pop into a shop where i can get more of a hands on look at some of the offerings.

If you have an opinion on the Bosch offerings (or comparable models) please post it though, more info is always welcome.

Thanks
Mat

L_Plates,

best advice is to buy the best quality tool you can afford, Festool, Bosch, Makita,.

The larger the orbit the greater the stock removal, so a 150/5 will shift waste fairly fast and the 3mm is really a finishing tool.

I had a Green Bosch PEX 125O/B Sander which did a lot of work, I actually sanded the floors in the Lounge and Hall with it, It finally died (sheared the shaft) and I replaced it with an OZITO , this is a strong machine , but definitely not as well balanced as the better known brands, however it comes with a 3 year warranty and I could not justify the outlay on a better machine .

Buy the best your wallet can stand.

Jeff
vk4

I've decided to go for it and buy the Bosch GEX125-150AVE. It's the new model. Unfortunately the few stores i rang in my area don't stock it, probably because it is the new model and they want to get rid of their old stock?

So my only option was to go online. I got a decent price on ebay from a "large city" tools seller. Unfortunately i didn't pay too much attention to their recent feedback. It seems their service is quite woeful and delivery times are ridiculous for an ebay operator. I think it would have been faster to get something from the UK.

ANyway I emailed them to asked them why they hadn't dispatched my sander yet despite their listing claiming they dispatch same day for paypal purchases. I got a reply to say that they have lots of orders and that they will send asap. Well it's day three now and I still haven't got the tracking info. Time to write another email i think.

Word of caution for others, if you are buying from ebay do check the sellers recent feedback to see what you are getting yourself in for. That's a mistake i won't make again.

I'll see if i can post a review once i've given the sander a workout on my Bar stool project, if i get it in time that is.

Cheers
Mat

I think I know which company you are talking about. This is precisely the reason many of us purchase international. Many OZ companies do not understand service. It is a pity that purchasing what I believe will be a great sander is marred by the service of the company.
Les

One word of advice is to check the price/availability of sanding pads before you commit to a particular brand, the difference can really add up. I purchased a makita over a bosch as the pads were twice the price locally

Originally Posted by Anodyne

One word of advice is to check the price/availability of sanding pads before you commit to a particular brand, the difference can really add up. I purchased a makita over a bosch as the pads were twice the price locally

Thanks Anodyne, good advice. I'm not sure about the actual pads, i'm going to just see what the standard ones that come with the thing perform like. As for sanding sheets, i've already ordered some off ebay. A pack of 100 mixed grits to get me started. They are meant to be in the same hole pattern as the Bosch so hopefully i got it right.

Still waiting on the company to post the sander that ordered last week. Their service is truly the most woeful of all ebay traders i have encountered.

So, they have your money and your sander

Les

Hi Folks,

I finally got my sander from the shonky retailer although they have pilfered the bonus sanding pad from the box before sending it out to me. I will have to deal with that after i post this.

I had a chance to test out the GEX125AVE over the weekend on my bar stool seat tops that i'm working on and i have to say i am very happy with the product. The main this Bosch talks about is the vibration supression technology they created for this sander and once you use it you can see why. I used it for about two hours over the weekend and didn't get any pins and needles, you can get some vibration coming through at certain speeds depending on the sanding surface but you can easily adjust around that. It's just a matter of harmonics. In terms of comfort it is definitely a top performer.

The size of it was a bit of a surprise, it's quite bulky but the reason becomes evident once you start using it. This is a serious sander and can remove a good amount of stock quite quickly. The size doesn't really get in the way but if you wanted a sander purely for finishing then you may want to look for something smaller to fit into nooks and crannies. Having said that, i used it from 80g to 240g and the result was admirable. You just have to make sure to turn down the speed when using the 240 so you don't burn through the disks too quickly.

The other thing that impressed me was the dust removal. Whilst i was a bit peeved at first that Bosch does not include the vacuum adapter in the box I was quite happy once i start using the thing. It has a built in suction fan that channels dust through the collector/filter at the back of the machine. Whilst it didn't remove all the dust on the sanding surface it was enough to keep things clean enough to work with and to keep the paper from clogging. I checked the filter a couple of times and it was indeed quite full so that shows it's working as intended.

Overall quite happy with the purchase, just pick your retailer and if you buy online, do some research on the mob you buy from first.
If you have any questions about the sander i'd be happy to offer my opinion on it.

Cheers
Mat