BS 75 or RO 150

[Jmacpherson]

If your goal is just appearance and not dead nuts flat nor perfect 90 degrees,
I would reach for the RAS over the Rotex in this situation without a doubt.

Now for the RAS vs the belt sander, that I cannot answer.  My presumption is that
the belt sander may be the best choice, and follow up with a planer (just be aware that your blades are hitting embedded aluminum oxide) either way.

Is this your personal planter or is it a job for a customer?
If it's the former, I'd choose to just live with it and move on.

It is for personal use.
Like you my wife said it is for the garden don't stress too much about it, don't spend too much money on it.
I've just been frustrated since box joint look requires that nice 100% square look to look nice but I made the mistake of using the wrong wood there - lesson learnt
I had a certain vision in my head and I didn't achieve it.

I've decided to try some flap discs on my small 115mm angle grinder for the worst parts and then cleanup with the ets/ro90.
It will be messy but so what, will wear a proper respirator with filters.
Tackle it with what I already own and live with the outcome.

If I choose wood wisely down the road then I shouldn't need the ro150/bs75/ras considering what I already own.
A rts/dts might be a better idea or even a 1/4 sander from bosch or makita for really narrow stock.

A big thank you to all of you for your time, insight and encouragement. Appreciate it.

 

[Jmacpherson]

Update.....

Eventually got round to trying the grinder and flap disc plan, that didn't work so well.
Requires a very, very gentle "kiss" with the grinder and unfortunately mine isn't variable speed.

I was having a bad morning at work and figured its almost Xmas, why not.
I caved in and bought the RO 150, I'm feeling better already.

If I don't come right now, then I'm the weak link  [bite tongue]
Now I just have to explain this one to my wife  [scratch chin]

 

[sancho57]

do what i do, have it delivered whiles shes at work and hide the evidence hehehehehehehe, youll like that RO150.

 

[grobkuschelig]

Say you need it for the Christmas present you are building for her.

...then think of something to quickly build for the lady. [emoji6]

 

[Jmacpherson]

do what i do, have it delivered whiles shes at work and hide the evidence hehehehehehehe, youll like that RO150.

lol - my wife runs her business from home so that might backfire on me
bought some platin discs to play around with too.
Will only have a chance to let it loose properly over the weekend, can't wait.

Say you need it for the Christmas present you are building for her.

...then think of something to quickly build for the lady. [emoji6]

[big grin], she did see something in the store over the weekend and asked me if I could make it.

Bullet dodged. Walked in with the systainer and nothing was said even though she noticed it.

 

[sancho57]

Ya got to be creative maybe send it to a buddys house hehehehehe how ya think I got all these festools

 

[Jmacpherson]

[member=10147]jobsworth[/member], I see some free space on those shelves that I can utilize for some of my future "ninja" purchases, I'll let you know when to expect any deliveries. [big grin]

 

[sancho57]

thats a old photo I too when I was living in the UK. I returned last June with all sorts of goodies.

yea no problem buddy send'em over , we got to stick together here :>D [poke]

 

[VictorL]

I have bunch of Festool sanders. All of them have strong and weak  sides. In my opinion belt sanders with sanding frame are much better (read faster and smoother) than my RO-150. Without sanding frame it's  just a sander. With frame it's THE sander. 

P.S. My belt sanders  (BS-75 & BS-105) are European models 240V/50Hz. They work fine with NA's 60 Hz power grid. There are two options for adopting them. The cheapest and easiest option is to buy big transformer on Amazon. It's around $50

 

[Jmacpherson]

Just wanted to post an update that the RO 150 is working out well.
Still a beast but much easier to tame compared to the RO90 in higher speeds.

I bought the hard pad but I'm struggling to fit it, I can remove the soft pad and insert it again without any problems. I did read about others having issues with the hard pad, will take it in next week and have the dealer sort it out.

Will post some pics over the next few days but planter is a lot flatter than before, not 100% but huge improvement.

Think I will add the BS75 onto my 2018 wishlist/shopping list along with the RTS/DTS - don't think there is such a think as too many sanders

 

[bertv]

… - don't think there is such a think as too many sanders

Yeah, especially if you are ambidextrous; sanding with two hands / two sanders at the same time is very efficient!

 

[rljatl]

A strap wrench will help you install a new hard pad.

 

[McNally Family]

do what i do, have it delivered whiles shes at work and hide the evidence hehehehehehehe, youll like that RO150.

This is one reason I prefer FedEx over UPS.  I just took delivery today of 3 sanders, from FedEx, before 3:30pm.  My wife gets home around 5.  UPS would have delivered them around 6-6:30pm.  FedEx to the rescue!

 

[sancho57]

do what i do, have it delivered whiles shes at work and hide the evidence hehehehehehehe, youll like that RO150.

This is one reason I prefer FedEx over UPS.  I just took delivery today of 3 sanders, from FedEx, before 3:30pm.  My wife gets home around 5.  UPS would have delivered them around 6-6:30pm.  FedEx to the rescue!

Yea Buddy  [big grin], Now I gotto figure out how to hide the boxes. it was hard to hide that last MFT I got