Thread: Recommendations for handheld belt sander?

Originally Posted by Siggykc

.........
Contrary to what lots of people are saying in regards to Random Orbitals ruling the roost....I have a Festool Rotax 125 and hate it. It catches, it grabs it just makes sanding a horrible experience despite my various experimentation with it, and my selection of half a dozen different grits of paper.

Take note: It's dust collection is flawless...I've not seen any dust collection better than that on the Festools, but the way it sands really is unpleasant.

I most likely will sell it soon.
.......

I am am really surprised by your post, Siggy, as it is the reverse of my experience.

My 1980's Makita 100m belt sander is a brute of a tool, but with course paper it certainly does remove material fast, and it was frequently used up through the grits to give a reasonably smooth but never flat surface - always undulating.

My much newer Festool Rotex, on the other hand, is a very refined machine that is a pleasure to use, smooth and quiet, and produces a superb smooth surface. And with course mesh paper, it removes material almost as fast as the Makita. Often I have thought that it was actually faster than the Makita belter. And always far more pleasant to use; I never enjoyed using the belt sander.

Is it possible that there is something wrong with your Rotex?

We have what are called "Home Shows." Usually trade fairs with lots of tool vendors. The door and window and solar power people are there as well.
You must stay for the belt sander drag races. You have not lived until you have watched the elimination finals in belt sander drags.
With a face full of Vietnamese salad rolls to keep my jaws occupied.

Me? I make use of a Makita belt sander to shape a shotgun stock to fit the shooter, comb and cast, as well as trim oversize recoil pads for LOP.
I like 80 grit belts as progress is slow enough to judge the cut. Truly the right tool for the job.

Hey Graeme,

Thanks for the info. Yeah, i absolutely agree that with a 60 grit pad it removes material like no other, and the dust extraction is impeccable....i have not used another sander where the pads stay so fresh and unclogged due to the dust extraction.

But i really dont know what is wrong with it when I use finer grits. Funnily enough, the sander performs smoother and leaves a better finish when I use the more aggressive setting at higher speeds, than if i use the more gentle orbital setting which causes higher grits of paper to grip and jump during sanding.
I actually went online onto Festool forums in the USA, and it seems to be a common occurrence with the Rotax, with people sending them back to be assessed and repaired. Quite a number of folks have ended up just getting Festool ETS sanders which i believe is said to be a much smoother operating machine especially for fine finishing.
Alas I am not made of money (I can't just shell out the $700), and my recent dealings with the group that distribute Fein and Festool in Australia have left me really dissatisfied of their atrocious after sales service, and really questioned if its worth spending money on "quality" kit if the distributor is less helpful when something goes wrong than the alternatives that are 1/2 or 1/3rd the price. I have dealt with Bosch and Makita on behalf of my work regarding die grinders, angle grinders and spare parts. They were far more empathetic, efficient and cheaper than the premium brands and exercised excellent engineering judgement on whether or not their product malfunctioned due to poor QC or due to operator use. I wasn't footing the bill, as it was my workplace, but I was highly impressed by their service. I have also dealt with Hilti who were excellent, but they fall into the higher price bracket and are aimed at heavy construction.

Hence the Skil 449, which, despite its mid 20th century simplicity is an honest machine that is a pleasure.

Cheers,

Siggy

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I am am really surprised by your post, Siggy, as it is the reverse of my experience.

My 1980's Makita 100m belt sander is a brute of a tool, but with course paper it certainly does remove material fast, and it was frequently used up through the grits to give a reasonably smooth but never flat surface - always undulating.

My much newer Festool Rotex, on the other hand, is a very refined machine that is a pleasure to use, smooth and quiet, and produces a superb smooth surface. And with course mesh paper, it removes material almost as fast as the Makita. Often I have thought that it was actually faster than the Makita belter. And always far more pleasant to use; I never enjoyed using the belt sander.

Is it possible that there is something wrong with your Rotex?

Originally Posted by Siggykc

Hey Graeme,

Thanks for the info. Yeah, i absolutely agree that with a 60 grit pad it removes material like no other, and the dust extraction is impeccable....i have not used another sander where the pads stay so fresh and unclogged due to the dust extraction.

But i really dont know what is wrong with it when I use finer grits. Funnily enough, the sander performs smoother and leaves a better finish when I use the more aggressive setting at higher speeds, than if i use the more gentle orbital setting which causes higher grits of paper to grip and jump during sanding.

I actually went online onto Festool forums in the USA, and it seems to be a common occurrence with the Rotax, with people sending them back to be assessed and repaired. Quite a number of folks have ended up just getting Festool ETS sanders which i believe is said to be a much smoother operating machine especially for fine finishing.

Alas I am not made of money (I can't just shell out the $700), and my recent dealings with the group that distribute Fein and Festool in Australia have left me really dissatisfied of their atrocious after sales service,
......
Siggy

I have a ten year old ETS 150/5 and the two year old Rotex. They are equally smooth in operation, but I have a slight preferance for the Rotex because of its lower centre of gravity. No trouble with either of them. I used to use the white Festool sandpaper, but about three years ago I started switching to Abrunet - it lasts a lot longer (double?), sands faster and gives a slightly better finish. On either machine.

Had a look on FOG Forum and there are a lot of posts with your problem, and a lot without the problem. Speculating, but it sounds like some sort of intermittent manufacturing problem .... If some have the problem and some don't then there must be a cause and it should be fixable.

Always, I have had excellent service from the local Festool agents, and I am certainly not a big customer. Only one minor warrantee claim in 20+ years, product sent off to Festool who fixed it well, but were a little slow. [Allegedly, they prioritise commercial clients before me!] No other direct dealings with Festool.

Perhaps it might be worth getting your local Festool dealer to have a look at your Rotex?

Hey Graeme,

I fully agree, it is a splendid design in regards to the Rotax's awesome ergonomics and low CG. Perhaps my unit is faulty. That's really interesting to hear, and I am glad to know that you have received great service from them.I think i will call them up and make another inquiry. I actually got the sander off my father, so the unit is at least 5 years old, and thus would not be under the usual warranty.

In Melbourne, we have Tooltechnic down in Dandenong. I am not so pleased with dealing with them. Actually my most recent dealing was earlier today in regards to my Fein BOP 10-2 drill touted as basically the best corded small hand drill money can buy and I purchased it as a tool to have for the next 30 years of weekend use.

It's rated as an industrial drill capable of consistently drilling 10mm diameter holes into steel......I had been using it to drill 3mm pilot holes in wood, using it exclusively in a Fein drill press thus ensuring the chuck was purely axially loaded, and the clutch/speed selector on the drill went after perhaps a couple hours of use locking it in the high speed. Though I purchased the drill in 2015, i didn't start using it until 2019 (my main drill is a Hilti cordless, which is wonderful!) and it was in near brand new condition (The Sydney Tools folks i took it to were stunned that it could have broken down in the condition it was in and said it should easily be covered by warranty as it was perhaps just a QC issue in the factory and was a lemon that slipped through the cracks).
After assessment Tooltechnic, the distributor was wanting $250 for the repair job, and when i asked to decline, they charged me $33 to drop it back off with other warranty items at Sydney tools.
I have had a friend who had a similar issue with his Domino that he uses frequently as he makes furniture for a living, but in a very specific and careful manner receiving the same sort of after sales service, thus he now purchases a new Domino after the end of each warranty period.
So it's left me thinking, why bother with such items.......a $120 Ryobi drill would have almost guaranteed lasted me longer than the Fein, which now costs over $600. One expects that at that price, you pay not only for the tool, but also for the service in the case that a lemon slips through the cracks and the clever folks are able to use their engineering judgement to determine if it was the user's fault or a QC fault.

I'll be writing to the sales team at Fein in Germany to tell them about it. Shame, because my father did his cabinet making apprenticeship just a few blocks down from their factory in Schwabisch Gmund, and I really like the idea of supporting businesses making high quality gear. That's how i got onto them in the first place.

On a really pleasant note, if you ever find yourself looking at Scheer routers, they are a German family business whom went to extreme lengths in helping me out with my router that is well over 20 years old.


Cheers,
Siggy

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I have a ten year old ETS 150/5 and the two year old Rotex. They are equally smooth in operation, but I have a slight preferance for the Rotex because of its lower centre of gravity. No trouble with either of them. I used to use the white Festool sandpaper, but about three years ago I started switching to Abrunet - it lasts a lot longer (double?), sands faster and gives a slightly better finish. On either machine.

Had a look on FOG Forum and there are a lot of posts with your problem, and a lot without the problem. Speculating, but it sounds like some sort of intermittent manufacturing problem .... If some have the problem and some don't then there must be a cause and it should be fixable.

Always, I have had excellent service from the local Festool agents, and I am certainly not a big customer. Only one minor warrantee claim in 20+ years, product sent off to Festool who fixed it well, but were a little slow. [Allegedly, they prioritise commercial clients before me!] No other direct dealings with Festool.

Perhaps it might be worth getting your local Festool dealer to have a look at your Rotex?

The bigger Rotex sanders are better. That larger 150mm pad seems to run smoother in planetary mode than the smaller diameters of the 125mm & 90mm models. I once (briely) had a RO 90 DX duo sander. Utter rubbish! It was an unruly, almost impossible-to-handle, evil little beast than tended to do more damage than actual abrasion on narrower surfaces such as window frames etc. It's a terrible random orbital, a worse planetary (aggressive) rotary & a truly woeful delta detail sander without any redeeming qualities whatsoever!

My RO 150E (older model) was much easier to handle, generally smoother running, even with coarser (36g) discs in the roughest, planetary mode. It was eminently more easily guided & handled without the necessary, tiring death-grip required of the littl'un.

Since then, I've changed over to the Mirka range: game over. I have a quadriga. 8.0mm & 5.0mm x 150mm random orbit DEROS & smaller 81 x 133mm & delta orbital DEOS. These fine machines are an object lesson in lightweight ergonomics, handling & dust extraction to all competitors. In fact so far superior to the rest that they've instantly made all the other sanders (except the big Holz-Her/Festool BS105E belt sander - there's nothing faster, & with the sanding frame also easily handled & even [dare I say it], "gentle") that I've ever owned or used instantly & comprehensively rendered obsolete!

+1 for Mirka, I bought myself a CEROS to use at work (even smaller than the DEROS) and, after 7 years, I'm quite confident saying it is the single best sander available to purchase

Imported my Mirka Deros earlier this year and was very happy with my purchase as well. Super low vibrations and very low profile make it very comfortable to use with no fatigue that I've noticed.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk