125 or 150 sanders, savings in paper

[VesaS]

Many recommends to buy (if you need two) both sanders in same size, so you can share papers and save money. What are real savings in this?

Do you use 60 - 150 with one sander and 180 -> with on other
in this case, IMO, there are no savings and one could buy sanders as needed.

e.g. RO125 and ETS150/3
or RO150 and ETS125
or ETS150/5 and ETS125

any thoughts?

Vesa

 

[festooldude]

the thing is, with the rotex sanders, you want to have all the grids, cause you're gonna use them all.. for stripping to polish..

 

[Kev]

"saving in abrasives" is a myth ... it's really about savings in sanders.

If you use the abrasives you buy, they're used, gone, history!

I went with ROTEX 150, ETS150/3 and ETS150/5 because I believe it to be a convenient size - but if I need a ROTEX 125 or an ETS125 in the future, it wouldn't be the cost of the abrasives that would hold me back.

 

[Timtool]

Yeah, it's sort of a myth. There are no grits or types of paper that i use exclusively on one sander. Obviously it seems cheaper initially to buy one box of paper instead of two, but that one box will be empty twice as fast if you use it on two sanders. So yeah don't try to get away a bit cheaper by selecting sanders based on the pad size for the paper, but choose them on the pad size that suits your needs best. It's more expensive initially, but cheaper in the long run.

I made the same mistake in the beginning by buying the RO125 and ETS 125 based on pad size for economic reasons, it ended up costing me more because neither of those two sanders suited my needs. So i returned the RO125 for an ETS150/5 but i could not return all the 125mm sandpaper so i kept the ETS125 and had to buy 150mm paper as well.
I have learned over time to appreciate the ETS125 as a pure finish sander, although my DTS400 overlaps most of that.

 

[semenza]

The only cost saving that I can see is the initial out lay. If used in a hobby role  it is of course possible that the initial buy of abrasives is all that will ever be used, in which case there will be some savings.  Still no savings unless the grits overlap though.   There is the storage and convenience factor in having them the same size.  But savings on abrasives will be marginal at best in the long run by going with the same size.

Seth

 

[Birdhunter]

I bought the TS 125 palm sander first and then decided to add a more aggressive sander and bought the RO 125. The fact that both use the same 5" paper was a big factor. It wasn't the cost as much as not having to maintain two inventories and twice the shelf space.

I have been very please with the RO 150. It's better handling than I expected.