Finally got some extended time with my RO150...

[JimB1]

Spent yesterday morning making some panels for the sides of a kitchen island I am building. Basically beauty panels with rails and stiles to make plywood cases look like frame and panel so lots of pieces to be cut, sanded, glued and screwed

So I pulled the RO150 with 80 grit using gear driven mode made quick work of planer marks and some burns (Maple burns way to easily). Once everything went though the 80 grit beast, I walked up the grits to 150 with the ETS. Having both the sanders available made it easy to alternate if I came across a section that had some planer marks I missed the first time through, I could swap back to the RO and hit it another pass or two.

The RO really wants to run the show. It's definitely a two hander and will wander all over the place if you let it. It also has more then enough power to throw a 3' piece of 2 1/2"x3/4" maple 10 ft down a driveway, (don't ask how I know  [embarassed] ) Dropping down to random orbit mode it's a little more civilized but very loud, buzzy on the hands and off balance. It's not something I'd want to use for an extended period. The ETS was even more of a dream after using the RO for a little bit. Smooth, much quieter, very easy to use for a decent period of time and it is more then willing to go where you want it to without a fight.

So I guess I'm saying the ETS is still my go to for most things, the RO has a place (Planer mark removal mainly). I'm hoping a few more hours of use will start to quiet the RO down some, it really has a sound like the bearings are made of gravel plus a little high pitched whine mixed in that is annoying.

I guess I am a little spoiled by the ETS. The RO is just a totally different animal to work with. I haven't decided if I like it yet but I think it is going to be my go to for first run through to clear saw and planer marks now... it's really good at that.

...And that's my story for the RO and ETS usage for the weekend.
-Jim

 

[AlexThePalex]

I'm hoping a few more hours of use will start to quiet the RO down some, it really has a sound like the bearings are made of gravel plus a little high pitched whine mixed in that is annoying.

Well, you can forget about that .....  [tongue]

 

[oldie]

I'm hoping a few more hours of use will start to quiet the RO down some, it really has a sound like the bearings are made of gravel plus a little high pitched whine mixed in that is annoying. 

Brilliant description.  Fancy the noise of RO150 been discussed couple of times; with some saying when used vertically even worse - I've only ever used vertically, and would definitely add 'rattle-ly' into the mix.
Because I've never used in 'quiet' mode (horizontal) wouldn't know the difference - if any.
Still the same after couple of years.

Lol:  As Alex implies - seems to be the way it is.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

The RO 150 has a tendency to jerk around some when sanding irregular areas of a board until it's close to flat.  It's easier to spot these areas if you lightly pencil zig-zag lines all over the board and make normal sanding passes across the entire area.  The high spots will have the pencil marks removed and the low spots will show.  Sand the high areas surrounding the low spots until all or most of the pencil marks have been removed.  Do a full pass of the sander over the entire piece to even it all out.  At that point you should definitely not feel the sander jerk or whip.

 

[PeterR]

I find the RO150 to be an excellent sander - just a bit heavy.  I find the RO90 to be harder to control.  Maybe it's the power to size ratio or something.

 

[Scott B.]

All of the Rotex sanders suffer from a fractured psyche. They are not quite sure who/what they are, and they prefer that each user define their role, which in the end makes them kind of submissive, especially when held up against the Frankenstien of the family, the RAS.

In the end, for a tool that is equally adroit removing material at 40g or polishing fine finish in the thousands, it is undeniably a unique mind game. The only place I refuse to use it is overhead. Will take a 150/5 any day of the week on that one.

The RO150 can freak you out at first. Sand a set of exterior steps or a deck with it, and its pretty easy to come to an understanding. Mine can literally be controlled in gear driven mode with a finger tip. Not as well balance of a floater as an ets, but capable of floating in a pinch nonetheless.

 

[ericbuggeln]

I heard somewhere on my Festool journey from someone, most likely online, that the RO sanders needed to go through a "break in" period. My first use with this beast was on a mahogany deck and I remember getting whipped around like a schoolgirl. You shouldnt use an RO, if you have an ETS, unless you have to, but when you need it there is no other tool that will compare. Best combo of sanders out there if you ask me, Eric

 

[MrToolJunkie]

The RO 150 has a tendency to jerk around some when sanding irregular areas of a board until it's close to flat.  It's easier to spot these areas if you lightly pencil zig-zag lines all over the board and make normal sanding passes across the entire area.  The high spots will have the pencil marks removed and the low spots will show.  Sand the high areas surrounding the low spots until all or most of the pencil marks have been removed.  Do a full pass of the sander over the entire piece to even it all out.  At that point you should definitely not feel the sander jerk or whip.

Great tip and the same concept with the RS2E...

Scot

 

[JimB1]

I figured it was high spots grabbing that was causing the jumping.

Also, I noticed when staining tonight, I got a lot of pigtails in a some areas. I didn't notice it in the bare wood but the stain brought them all out. If this particular piece was high visibility I'd have to sand it all over again and re-stain it. As it is, it's the bottom, back facing side of the island and is going to be in shadow between a cabinet and the island so I'm not going to go crazy but it's a little annoying. I've been using ROS sanders for years (mainly 5" Bosch, PC and Craftsman) and never had an issue with pigtailing.

I used rubin for everything, stepped up through 80, 120, 150 Ran the sander at a reasonable pace, maybe an inch or so a second but it was very grabby on some of the pieces, I suspect that was what caused it. This maple batch has a lot of pin knots and places where the grain went in odd directions. On the plus side, cool flaming on a lot of the pieces. Maybe I needed more passes at 120 but really I couldn't see them, Next time I may have to keep mineral spirits on hand to run over the wood to make these things pop before I go to the next grit.

So far I'm very conflicted on the RO150, it's noisy, heavy, and overall a pain in the butt to use but it does make pretty nice pieces (not counting pigtails, I'll count those as first time use bad luck) and I want to like it, it's just not too friendly or fun to use. I know me, if I dislike using a tool, it'll sit in the case unused and I'll buy, build or beg a better way to get the job done then use that tool. I went for years without using a router outside a table because I didn't like the one I had at hand so I'm not kidding about that.  [big grin]

I'm going to have to play with it some more and figure out what's the happy medium for it.

-Jim

 

[tbellemare]

Jim:

When I'm using the Rotex 150 in coarse girts, (120 and coarser), I start with the gear-driven mode and without switching paper, go to Random Orbital mode to randomize the scratches I made in gear-driven orbital. It makes the task go faster and smoother. Finer than about 120, I use only RO and work through the grits. It goes real fast and easy.

Also, when using Random Orbital mode, I just hold the sander by the tail with one hand and let it float. I tend to put my forefinger through the loop of the dust chute and the remainder of my hand is back from that just holding the hose and cord so it doesn't tip the sander. It's really easy to make it float with that grip. My wife wanted in on the fun one time on a project I was doing in our living room. It took her about a minute or two to get the hang of handling the RO 150 using that method. She had never held a sander prior to that experience.

Tom

 

[Scott B.]

maybe an inch or so a second
-Jim

Just a suggestion, but you might be holding it back and that could be creating the friction between you and the tool. Let it go where it wants to go on the surface, just keep it from leaving the surface.