General Sanders, and Sander "Stroke" Related Questions

[ear3]

Good choice.

Yeah, avoid the soft pad on anything where the sander will spend a significant amount of time off edge, as it will be more likely to roundover the workpiece.  Other than contoured surfaces, I generally only use the soft pad when I'm worried of burning through something, like veneer -- and then I'm usually only using the 150/3.

Thanks again for all the information. I think I am going to go with the 5mm. I have a dewalt d26453. I'm not sure of the stroke size on that model, and it is discontinued. The newer dewalt variable speed ROS is listed as having a 3/32 stroke, which is roughly 3mm. I figure purchasing a 5mm will give me increased efficiency in lower grits if nothing else. It also leaves the door open for a purchase of 3mm Festool sander further down the line. 

Follow up question-
Would you folks recommend the use of a "hard" backer pad for Table Tops? Softer Pads seem to be marketed as usefull for contoured surfaces.

 

[Holmz]

... It also leaves the door open for a purchase of 3mm Festool sander further down the line. 
...

Like an RS2?

 

[Grakat]

Hi there,

I currently have the ETS150/3 as I am planning to get the Rotex down the track. To me having the Rotex and a 150/5 together seemed like a double up. I can do 5mm stroke sanding with the Rotex and save the 3mm stroke for finish work.

 

[leakyroof]

Hi there,

I currently have the ETS150/3 as I am planning to get the Rotex down the track. To me having the Rotex and a 150/5 together seemed like a double up. I can do 5mm stroke sanding with the Rotex and save the 3mm stroke for finish work.

. I will have to disagree since the Rotex is heavy, and either ETS version is lighter .
For long sanding sessions , you would grow to love either sander in place of a 150 Rotex if you were to try them out side by side.
The 5mm orbit is about all they would share .

 

[Grakat]

Ok understand

I am looking to use my ETS150/3 as my finish sander and use the Rotex as the roughing down sander. Unless the 5mm stroke machine fills a slot between the 3mm and the Rotex as far as finish is concerned I would not be keen to purchase both the Rotex and the ETS150/5

Out of curiosity, as I only own the 3mm sander, can anybody tell me how much more aggressive, based upon their experience, the 5mm machine is over the 3mm sander. In Australia the ETS is ~$600 and the Rotex is ~$1000. Justifying an ETS 150/5 and a 150mm Rotex to the finance department will most likely result in the surgical removal of ones genitalia.  [big grin]

 

[Holmz]

What is "roughing down"?
Is it smoothing out planks? Or trying to get something both flat and smooth?

I think in Random Orbital mode the ETS EC 150/5 is faster than the RO.

If the boards have been planed, then one may not need geared mode. I usually use a 1/2 sheet sander, but I also know a random orbital works fine to go from wavy planed to smooth.

 

[ear3]

As [member=40772]Holmz[/member] said, the ETS-EC 150/5 is significantly more aggressive than the Rotex 150 in random orbit mode ( I timed it once, it's almost a factor of 2 Correction, factor of 1.64, as per:http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/ets-ec-1505-vs-ro150-in-random-orbit-mode), and also, obviously, the 3mm stroke machine.  The Rotex 150 in geared mode is still the king, though.   

I got the Rotex 150 first, and for a while used that as my general sander.  But since I got the ETS-EC 150/5, it is has become my go to sander, and the Rotex is now more of a speciality machine for me, like when I have to do a heavy stripping job on stairs or floors.  I'm not sure at this point if I ever would have gotten the RO150 had I gotten the ETS-EC 150 first.  I guess I probably would have, as I can think of a couple of jobs over the past year where it was absolutely essential.  But certainly it does not get the kind of use it once did. 

Ok understand

I am looking to use my ETS150/3 as my finish sander and use the Rotex as the roughing down sander. Unless the 5mm stroke machine fills a slot between the 3mm and the Rotex as far as finish is concerned I would not be keen to purchase both the Rotex and the ETS150/5

Out of curiosity, as I only own the 3mm sander, can anybody tell me how much more aggressive, based upon their experience, the 5mm machine is over the 3mm sander. In Australia the ETS is ~$600 and the Rotex is ~$1000. Justifying an ETS 150/5 and a 150mm Rotex to the finance department will most likely result in the surgical removal of ones genitalia.  [big grin]

 

[Holmz]

... I'm not sure at this point if I ever would have gotten the RO150 had I gotten the ETS-EC 150 first.  I guess I probably would have, as I can think of a couple of jobs over the past year where it was absolutely essential.  But certainly it does not get the kind of use it once did. 
..

Maybe never... I have a used dx93, and the corner sander is one use for a Rotex.

The RAS along with an ETS EC would bound the gap, but so would a belt sander for a lot of flat stuff.
So grabbing an RO makes sense if one doesn't have a belt sander, or a RAS.
For the making Maloof chairs I can see the point though.

I kind of prefer a corner sander, and a good random orbital over an all in one which does noting great. And a random orbital that is 2.4 pounds is a lot more fun than a two handed "do it all" sander. (IMO)

 

[L.Murphy]

I ended up going with the ets ec 150/3. I am quite satisfied. The dust collection is very impressive.

 

[Holmz]

I ended up going with the ets ec 150/3. I am quite satisfied. The dust collection is very impressive.

Now the only way to make it better is to out some Mirka abraidnet screens on it.

 

[leakyroof]

As [member=40772]Holmz[/member] said, the ETS-EC 150/5 is significantly more aggressive than the Rotex 150 in random orbit mode ( I timed it once, it's almost a factor of 2 Correction, factor of 1.64, as per:http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/ets-ec-1505-vs-ro150-in-random-orbit-mode), and also, obviously, the 3mm stroke machine.  The Rotex 150 in geared mode is still the king, though.   

I got the Rotex 150 first, and for a while used that as my general sander.  But since I got the ETS-EC 150/5, it is has become my go to sander, and the Rotex is now more of a speciality machine for me, like when I have to do a heavy stripping job on stairs or floors.  I'm not sure at this point if I ever would have gotten the RO150 had I gotten the ETS-EC 150 first.  I guess I probably would have, as I can think of a couple of jobs over the past year where it was absolutely essential.  But certainly it does not get the kind of use it once did. 

Ok understand

I am looking to use my ETS150/3 as my finish sander and use the Rotex as the roughing down sander. Unless the 5mm stroke machine fills a slot between the 3mm and the Rotex as far as finish is concerned I would not be keen to purchase both the Rotex and the ETS150/5

Out of curiosity, as I only own the 3mm sander, can anybody tell me how much more aggressive, based upon their experience, the 5mm machine is over the 3mm sander. In Australia the ETS is ~$600 and the Rotex is ~$1000. Justifying an ETS 150/5 and a 150mm Rotex to the finance department will most likely result in the surgical removal of ones genitalia.  [big grin]

  I started with the ETS 150/5 as my all-around sander. It worked great for that task, but when you need a Rotex, you really need the Rotex.. [scratch chin]
I now have the smaller, lighter EC version of the 150/5, but nothing will take the place of my 150 Rotex as far as I can tell.