How Are You Using The RTS 400?

[onocoffee]

My friend and I were discussing sanders today. We've got similar inventory of sanders: ETS 125, ETS EC 150/3, RO 90, RO 150, DTS 400 - and we were talking about what sanders might be good to add and the RTS 400 came up. When I got the DTS 400, I thought it would be more of a novelty that I would use occasionally to get into tight spaces, but I use it a lot more than I anticipated. What we don't really see is how the RTS 400 fits in. When and How are you all using your RTS?

Thanks

 

[Hawkeye0001]

Depends how you use them. If you do e.g. a lot of doors, panels, etc. the RTS' rectangular shape is usually a better fit as the DTS will wear out the corners of the paper pretty quick; the RTS wears out more evenly along the entire length of the sandpaper. If it comes to getting into tight corners I'll prefer my DTS any day though and I'm quite happy with having only that one.

 

[woodferret]

Trim (shaker style). Drywall. Paired with the HSK hand sanders. Usually running the high grits after spraying in place.

 

[leakyroof]

Yes, originally, I bought my RTS 400 for plaster and drywall work, along with some painting prep. Then a FOG member talked me into trying the DTS 400, and now I own 2 of them as I like them better for most tasks that both the Sanders could handle . Can't argue with the abrasive rectangular shape being a better wear item, and as an added bonus, that paper fits the LS 130, so unlike the DTS with its unique abrasive, you can switch between two sanders with the 133mm paper.

 

[Cheese]

I sand a lot of teak furniture and when using the DTS to get into the corners, I go through a lot of sandpaper. Once I added the RTS to the mix, I now have 4 corners of sandpaper to use.

 

[leakyroof]

I sand a lot of teak furniture and when using the DTS to get into the corners, I go through a lot of sandpaper. Once I added the RTS to the mix, I now have 4 corners of sandpaper to use.

yes, a strong reason on why I keep mine, even though I don't use it much. Added bonus that I forgot to post- as an overhead sander on a Ceiling, they're light and maneuverable too.

 

[SoonerFan]

I sand a lot of teak furniture and when using the DTS to get into the corners, I go through a lot of sandpaper. Once I added the RTS to the mix, I now have 4 corners of sandpaper to use.

Like @Cheese, having four corners of sandpaper to use is one of the main reasons mine gets frequent use. That and the fact mine is cordless making it easy to grab and use for small sanding jobs. I use the RTS on shaker doors/drawer fronts and sanding stiles/rails quite often. I actually purchased the DTS first but lately the RTS gets more usage.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I use mine mostly with flat panel doors and face frames. It works well on those narrow parts, since it only orbits, rather than spinning. The delta pad, from the RO90 does get a little use, do not nearly as much as the others.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Flat and vertical, especially narrow, surfaces. You can also add foam backing pads for smoothing round parts like furniture legs, etc. Round Sanders tend to fly off the edge, but orbitals stay more inline.

 

[bwehman]

Felt the same way as your friend but bought it anyway, and then it quickly found its perfect role as kind of my beater sander. It's the sander I'll use for the most wide ranging repairs (epoxy, drywall, etc). I can't tell you exactly all I use it for because I just can't remember, but I feel like it gets used all the time. Definitely way more than I expected. It's the master of odd jobs.

I threw one of the foam interface pads on it and used it to sand down a bunch of curved door casings, for example. Sort of like one might use the old Duplex.

Also helpful that I often use the hand sanding block that uses RTS paper, so I had the paper anyway before I had the sander.

 

[ear3]

Yeah, I've been thinking about this too because I've found myself using the RTS more these days than in the past, though a lot of it is still for niche applications rather than as a general sander. Rounding corners for example -- even after breaking the edge a bit with a block plane, there's still a risk with an ROS sander of catching the edge with one of the paper holes and tearing the abrasive, whereas the RTS will perform the task without issue. I do a fair amount of work with the interface pad, and when it comes to concave surfaces in tight quarters, the RTS is also preferable, as it allows you to precisely target the area.

As others have already mentioned, there's also a compatibility factor with the paper -- don't need to get a whole separate line of abrasives for the LS 130, and I can also use somewhat spent RTS abrasive sheets as hand me downs for the HSK and rectangular hand sanding block.

One of the issues I run into though using the RTS as a general sander, is that since the sanding pattern of the RTS is different than an ROS, it doesn't always work to mix them together on the same surface. So it's either all or nothing using the RTS on any flat surface. On narrower stock like for face frames or door rails/stiles I will sometimes use the RTS, but pound for pound the ETS-125 (which can operate quite comfortably on 2" or even 1 1/2" stock) still consistently produces a better finish, so I tend to opt for the latter in those situations.

 

[Coen]

I am using mine for basicly everything where the point of the DTS 400 isn't required yet due to inner corners or smaller edges the ETS 125 is impractical.

Have been looking for a LS-130, but prices seem to approach holy grail levels sometimes...

I kinda detest sanding. Next home might get 'plastic' window frames. At least for exterior doors and windows. When it's time to re-paint wooden window frames on the exterior it always starts to rain or gets windy with dust anyway...

 

[Chainring]

I bought the RTSC for 30% off on Recon because, umm, I'm a sucker for a big discount. Turns out, it's super handy for sneaking right up to corners, along long edges, breaking edges. It's just a joy to use. I dare say it's smoother than my ETS EC 150/3. Being cordless, I can get it out for a quick sanding of..whatever, and with a dust bag it can go anywhere. My wife has the ETSC 125 kit with the power adapter so we can share that.

 

[Imemiter]

There's always a finite number of tools I can haul around. If I know for sure that I won't be doing any sanding, there's always the Vecturo. If I know or think that I might just maybe be sanding, I'll take the RTSC. It's easily the sander I use most often.