Bosch Gex 18v or Festool etsc 125 li

[Bigmath]

I’m maybe a little late to chime in but, I have the Festool sander myself and recently an colleague bought this Bosch for sanding some outdoor benches (At this place there’s a few Bosch drills using the same battery, so..).

I had a chance to handle it briefly, no actual sanding though. At least I was curious and slipped on a battery and had a freehand spin.
Two things struck me right away:
It vibrates more, Festool’s are smother that way.
It’s back heavy with battery mounted. You need a firm grip and it could be tiring on a longer stretch.

Other things:
It’s very heavy by itself - maybe this is deliberate - to counterweight the battery.
Dust port on the side, upfront. I don’t know.. hose can be heavy and throw the balance of the tool. On the other hand: If you use two hands, you can support by holding the hose end too.

All in all, ETSC 125 is taller, but lighter and has much better balance in use.
It’s feels more refined too - so in this part of the world where these two sanders are closer price wise, I’d go with Festool.
Then, Metabo has released a trio of sanders on their 12V platform which seems interesting too.
They also are close to Festool in price. (€200 bare tool)

No just in time

I dont doubt that the Festool is better I was just impressed with the Bosch Gex over the Makitas and Dewalts. What battery did you use? In the video below he uses a 4Ah procore which seem to balance just nicely.
=100

There can be no doubt that the Festool ETSC 125 is better and more refined than the Bosch GEX sanders.

If the Festool was only twice as costly as the Bosch I would have recommended it but in the States paying twice as much only gets the bare tool without a power supply, and the one that is required can only be used for Festool sanders. Even so, if a new sander is to be the OP's only sander for a while and if he expects to use it a lot I'd say get the Festool. I bought the little 12v Bosch as a supplement to replace hand sanding in awkward places from ladders. From heights I wouldn't want a Festool sander to fall.

Actually its the Bosch thats expensive here (Denmark) and not the Festool being cheap. The Bosch without any batteries is about 200$

 

[Michael Kellough]

Location makes a big difference in cost. Now that I know I'd get the Festool.

I've used various Bosch sanders for nearly forty years and Festool sanders for nearly twenty.
The Bosch have always been good and getting better but still not as good as Festool.
I hope the GEX version has narrowed the gap.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Bigmath, since you are in DK, D&D has the sander listed twice on their site.
Do a search for GEX and you'll find two of the same sander. the lowest priced one is about $165 - bare tool, and in stock.

I did handle the same sander today, and it certainly feels like a quality tool, just like my GEX 150 Turbo, which is excellent apart from it's dust port.. and less noisy than my "new" Rotex 150..

 

[Bigmath]

Bigmath, since you are in DK, D&D has the sander listed twice on their site.
Do a search for GEX and you'll find two of the same sander. the lowest priced one is about $165 - bare tool, and in stock.

I did handle the same sander today, and it certainly feels like a quality tool, just like my GEX 150 Turbo, which is excellent apart from it's dust port.. and less noisy than my "new" Rotex 150..

Thanks for heads up. But I went for the Festool I guess that what you get from asking advice here  [laughing]. They had a special promotion at Carl-ras.dk where you could get a tool only, but with a battery... for 2400DKK (340$). Even adding a charger and another battery is cheaper than any of the set including battery. I will try to make do with one battery for now.

I almost went for the Bosch, but I could't get the deal I thought I could. Now I'm just looking forward to start using it and trying out some of those 3M Extract Cubitron II mesh discs.

Location makes a big difference in cost. Now that I know I'd get the Festool.

I've used various Bosch sanders for nearly forty years and Festool sanders for nearly twenty.
The Bosch have always been good and getting better but still not as good as Festool.
I hope the GEX version has narrowed the gap.

I actually think it have a bit, but yeah I for the safe choice i.e the Festool. If i have gotten a really good combo deal i might have gone with Bosch.

Thanks to everyone chiming in

 

[Michael Kellough]

The Bosch GEX 12 volt sander I bought arrived today. It's sweet!

I have a Makita 18v sander and after using both sanders today I doubt I'll ever use the Makita again.
Ergonomically the Makita is a plastic brick and the Bosch is a hand tool.

The Bosch with a 2ah battery is almost perfectly balanced. Holding it in the air by two fingers (thumb and index) right in front of the speed dial, the sander hangs horizontal. This is with the dust bag not a dust extractor hose. The thumb is perfectly placed to change the speed on the fly so you could say it's a right handed sander but I never do that so in practice I found it just as easy to hold with either hand. And it's very easy to hold. Vibration isn't bad with a dust extractor and its even smoother with the passive dust bag (which works very well and looks more durable than expected).

I sanded a piece of hard splintery Asian plywood that I have allowed to hang around my shop because it's very strong for it's thickness. In area it's about 7.5 square feet. With my Flex dust extractor connected a 2ah battery completed 80 grit and 120 grit passes and abruptly stopped soon after starting a 180 grit pass. Prior to stopping the sander dropped the rpm two times as the battery capacity diminished. I'm pretty sure the battery would have lasted longer if I used the dust bag instead because even with the Flex vac turned all the way down the sander still relayed enough suction to nearly lift the board. There was a lot of extra friction the sander had to overcome. On the other hand, the sander completed the pass faster than when I sanded the other side using only the bag so It's hard to tell which way was better as far as the battery is concerned.

A little more about balance. Even with the dust extractor hose connected (a Festool 27mm hose end fits directly onto the Bosch dust port) it's still easy to hold and guide the sander by carrying the hose with one hand and guiding the sander with the other. With only the dust bag the balance is so good there is only a little bit of extra load on the handle side of the pad, so the sander moves slowly around by itself instead of running off the surface in an instant. It should still be very easy to handle the tool with the larger 4 and 6ah batteries (I only have 2's).

As I said at the top, this sander is sweet. If it weren't for the dependence on batteries it wouldn't be horrible if this was the only sander I could have. Except for those jobs that really require the kind of production only a Rotex can deliver, which is the attitude that has resulted in my owning nearly two dozen sanders, but this one will beat all the others at the task I bought it for, sanding overhead on a ladder.

For anyone that is already using Bosch 12 volt tools I think buying this sander is a no-brainer, if you can take advantage of the Lowes deal I mentioned in post #4.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Thanks for heads up. But I went for the Festool I guess that what you get from asking advice here  [laughing]. They had a special promotion at Carl-ras.dk where you could get a tool only, but with a battery... for 2400DKK (340$). Even adding a charger and another battery is cheaper than any of the set including battery. I will try to make do with one battery for now.

I’ve done so too. I just got the TPC on my door a few days ago.
It was a basic set with the option of buying a 5.2Ah at a special price, just what I needed.
Instead I threw in a PHC 18 Phone and USB A and C charging adaptor - BTW: Nice one Festool!

I like such deals much better than having to buy one charger and two batteries with a tool..
You’ll see that even one battery lasts quite long on the sander. For most weekend and afternoon warriors two batteries will be more than enough.

 

[FestitaMakool]

MK, your post confirms what I suspected. Congrats with the sander BTW.

I think more people should consider 12V models. It’s not just me, I hear other praise the lighter tools, better balance thus less strain. Sanders, at least the smaller lighter ones really don’t need a bulky and heavy 18V battery dangling.
To my disappointment, the TPC gets very front heavy with the Jacobs chuck mounted.. I’m not used to that anymore (Makita..) Festool; you need to move the grip forward. Now Metabo and Mafell (well it’s more or less a Metabo..) have done it. I’ve not yet handled these, but they do have quick chuck attachments and the grip seems pushed forward by design.

No wonder why also Festool’s ergo batteries came through. Wonder if there will be more tools than the sanders accepting these batteries soon? The way they shaped the battery and how well the battery are supported within the body of the tool - it extends the body of the tool to make a grip too, so:
Palm router?
Edge router?
Mini RAS?
….
[big grin]