Thread: Best Random Orbit Sander?

I have the FEIN 6" and 8" ROS. Have used the Festo and RUPES..all good.
But i guess for swinging on it all day every day the 6" Fein you can't beat.
Its made for serious hard usage and i doubt there are any that would last as long
However the Festo is much much smoother than my machine to hold.
But i just don't think it could handle heavy duty work days on end.

I own about 7 sanders of different types and most are European I day was under the pump
one day to buy a new 1/4 sheet Sander and was disappointed that the Festo i was replacing
you could only get with a Valcro base. The man in the shop told me the Bosch was just as good...
jokingly i said if its not i will bring it back...he said fine..

Anyway got it home and started sanding..and straight away you knew it wasn't a patch on
the Festo. I took my old Festo and the new Bosch back to the store for him to see first hand.
There was no argument the old Festo was a more efficient machine...so he took the Bosch back
and i bought a new Velcro Festo.

Sanders change all the time so in no way am i saying Festo is better than Bosch. I guess what i am saying
they all work very well and if u get the chance to try them side by side i think its not so hard to judge.
Dust extraction, vibration, balance, stock removal.

Sinjin

So Sander wise i own
2. Fein ROS machines.
1. Fein triangle sander..(The larger industrial version)
1. Rupes gear head 8" Disc Sander.
1. Bosch 4" wide belt sander with flattening base
1. Rupes half sheet sander
1. Festo 1/4 sheet sander.

Originally Posted by sinjin

I have the FEIN 6" and 8" ROS. Have used the Festo and RUPES..all good.
But i guess for swinging on it all day every day the 6" Fein you can't beat.
Its made for serious hard usage and i doubt there are any that would last as long
However the Festo is much much smoother than my machine to hold.
But i just don't think it could handle heavy duty work days on end.

Are you referring to the Rotex 150? It can't be stalled. Ok, ok, I can't stall it; maybe someone else can!
I've used it for hours on end, literally, and while it gets warm, it just keeps on going.

I also admire the rotex family of sanders.

I have the RO150 & RO90DX. The former in particular is a fine tool, the latter (due to the smaller pad sizes) a little awkwardly balanced. The 150 is an extreme all rounder, probably the most versatile on the market.

What sets the Festool range apart, however, is the unprecedented range of abrasives available, from 24g right up into the 1000's. Specialist abrasives are available for all sorts: wood, paint, stone, metal, body filler etc. etc. plus there's polishing pads, polishes etc.

There may be better sanders available, but I've yet to see any that even comes close to Festool's versatile and comprehensive range of sanding solutions.

I've never been able to understand why people use x brand abrasives to support x brand sanders. You can have one without the other.

Some abrasives are unique: Festool have 9 hole discs, the others don't. Mirkas use dedicated mesh abrasives, and there's specialised 80mm (Metabo), 90mm (Festool) & 200mm (Fein) sanders, with little opportunity to source alternatives.

Festool's huge advantage I reiterate, is their unique, high quality and massively versatile range of abrasives. This is why their particular range of sanding solutions are unsurpassed.

Yes there are other quality abrasive manufacturers: Mirka, Klingspor, 3M, St Gobain and others, but even collectively they still don't offer the versatility and variety of Festool's range.

I've tried other abrasives with my rotex sander: Klingspor & St Gobain stearate coated papers, but they just don't measure up to Festool's Brilliant 2 abrasives.

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

I love the fact that the pads and discs are interchangeable with my Rotex.

No longer the case David. I presume they have changed the Rotex pads on the later models.

Originally Posted by Ratbag

What sets the Festool range apart, however, is the unprecedented range of abrasives available, from 24g right up into the 1000's. Specialist abrasives are available for all sorts: wood, paint, stone, metal, body filler etc. etc. plus there's polishing pads, polishes etc.

That's true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that each range is the best on the market.

Originally Posted by Ratbag

Yes there are other quality abrasive manufacturers: Mirka, etc

Mirka makes the abrasives for Festool.


I pretty much only sand bare wood, and for the past couple of years I have been using both the Festool and Jost abrasives on my ETS 150/3. The grits that I have from both brands are the same, but to achieve that with the FT range I had to change to Granat from Rubin 2 after 220g (no big deal, but I don't understand why the Rubin range doesn't go up to 400-500). After that I have Jost "SG2" in 800, 1600, 2500, and I had a few samples of 3000, 4000.

The SG2 range is like Wet & Dry, so similar to the Platin discs from Festool, and they do not have DE holes. The durability of these fine grit discs is ridiculously long, and they also do an excellent job on metals.

Where the FT discs have the 32 hole pattern, the Jost have hundreds of 2mm holes which are designed to work with any sander's DE pattern. I do not notice any discernible difference in the amount of dust left behind on the job, but there is a little more behind the disc with the Jost (who cares). I would say that the Jost discs are a little more durable in the 120-500 range. The coarsest Jost I have used is 60g, and the extraction on those is good, but perhaps in an extra coarse 24-40g disc when sanding paint these holes may not be big enough.

What I have noticed in the grits <=500, is that because of the size of the FT holes it causes the sander to jag. This does not happen with the Jost because the holes are much smaller.

On European prices, Jost are from memory about 15-20% less cost than FT.

The bottom line for me is that although my policeman urged me to "ditch those Jost abrasives - because garbage in garbage out" I find myself always going for a Jost in preference to FT. A little more durable, less cost, just as effective, and no jagging.

FenceFurniture, I have a Ro125 and I've always looked for alternatives. Looks you've found them...

You mentioned Mirka. Which products do you use and where do you buy? It seems endless.

I'll look at the Jost too....to google!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Evanism

Which products do you use and where do you buy?

Direct from the manufacturer in Germany.

Ah! Joest. Deutche schleifmittel.

No wonder I couldn't find them. Stupid google thinks In English.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Ah! Joest. Deutche schleifmittel.

No wonder I couldn't find them. Stupid google thinks In English.

Yeah, I keep forgetting to type Jöst and it's tricky to remember all the codes.

The bottom line for me is that although my policeman urged me to "ditch those Jost abrasives - because garbage in garbage out" I find myself always going for a Jost in preference to FT. A little more durable, less cost, just as effective, and no jagging.

If these are the pads you had Lignum test for you, (the ones I wanted nothing to do with once he'd told me the truth about them) then they are not as good as the Festool pads in the opinion of someone whose judgment I respect a lot more than yours.

Originally Posted by LGS

If these are the pads you had Lignum test for you, (the ones I wanted nothing to do with once he'd told me the truth about them) then they are not as good as the Festool pads in the opinion of someone whose judgment I respect a lot more than yours.

Far out. That's the slap down of the century. Sassy!

Obviously there's something in the past there, but damn, if the dude wants to by sanding pads made by orphans in Romanian sweatshops, and it's legal, it's fine. Importing is fine. Not supporting Australian businesses is fine.

It the wonderful freedom of capitalism. Though, I would admit that it's a bastardised version here in Australia!

I don't recall upon buying Festool that I would agree to buy their consumables....which I have, repeatedly, but somewhat....ah, reluctantly (price matters to me)

Perhaps to step it up a bit and reveal some truth, in 2012 I wrote to the ACCC about them and their abuses of trade practices in third line forcing, threats of trade restrictions and price maintenance. (I'm not a lawyer, but did law as part of degree). I was advised that they were infact fined, made an enforceable undertaking and are actively monitored. Obviously little has changed.

Back to the paper though. If he wants to buy what is perceived to be an inferior product, it's up to him. People do this every day buying from Kmart, Bunnings and Ford.

Perhaps you can tell us what this Truth is?

See here for Lignum's comments which seem to be somewhat at odds with the others.