How many Sanders do you have & why

[Thompmd]

Ear3, Thank You for that! That might explain some of my learning curve w/ro150. I’ve had some questions when I’ve went back and removed swirls in smaller areas and then when I finish I’ve noticed if you catch the light right you can see a difference once the finish is applied and I’ve wondered if it was me or the wood but I believe it’s me and maybe a shorter stroked 150/3 would help w that?

 

[Cochese]

ETS 150/3 - first one, best one. I was sold on it when my beloved Porter Cable was discontinued.
DTS - don't use that often, but nice in the corners. Hate that the pad isn't equilateral, and the front point on the pad is just about ruined.
Pro 5 - don't use it that often, I bought it because it was cheap. Better on smaller pieces than the 150, though.

Been considering getting the RO150, but it feels stupid to spend that much on an aggressive sander and not have much of a use case for it. Same with the RO90, but that has the option of using the delta pad (equilateral!). I could probably pay for it completely by selling the DTS and Pro 5, but I'm unsure of the ergonomics compared to those two. Would be great for rails and stiles.

I also have a drum sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, and belt sander. I'd probably sell the belt sander if I got any of the Rotexes.

 

[leakyroof]

Not including a Metabo, a Porter Cable that I almost never use, a monster 8" Fein model that's NLA, a Makita Belt Sander that I forgot about, Fein MM with the Sanding Profile Kit,  i think my high total of Festool was 11, but might be a bit under that now since I sold off and traded a bit with them[ in other words, I haven't taken a tally in while.... [embarassed]]

Now for what I use them for?....
Smaller sanders to fit in the places my larger ETS EC sanders won't go, like corners.
Rough Sanding, I grab either the RO 90 or the RO 150, or, the RAS 115- it depends on the work since the EC sanders ,fitted with coarse abrasives will rough sand as well, just won't match the material removal rate of the usual Rough Sanders
Medium sanding to fine sanding, EC 125 or 150/5, or the RS 2 for larger flat work.  As an all around Sander, both my EC sanders are great, the larger orbit of the 150/5 is more agggressive than the 3mm of the 125.
Wall/ceiling sanding if it requires the really large pad, original Planex
Tight spots and corners, DX 93, DTS 400, or Delta Mode on the RO 90
Linear Sanding, like handrails, LS 130
The Fein Sander is sort of a cross between a larger ETS sander and the ergonomics of the RAS 115, with a Random Orbit of 8mm, so it has the surface area of that 8" pad, and a rougher removal pattern than either of the older ETS sanders. But it's noisy and a bit weird to get used to...

 

[Wooden Skye]

RO150, Ets 150/3, RO90 and RTS 400.  For me I actually prefer the RO150 over the 150/3.  I also have the hand sanding blocks which take the 150 paper and they are great as well. 

 

[ggc]

I’m not a woodworker, so most of my sanding tasks are either house renovations or fibreglass repairs

• Bosch GEX150 -  Cheaper alternative to the Rotex, my go to sander, use it for everything that doesn’t need fine sanding.
• Bosch GD280 Delta – All the small stuff, mainly fibreglass repairs
• AEG HBSE75 belt sander with linisher stands and Festool sanding frame – sits on the bench as a linisher most of the time, but is awesome with the sanding frame for large flat surfaces
• Festool RS300 – finish sanding of flat surfaces
• Festool 150/3- rarely use it, picked it up cheap at an auction.
• Rupes 400mm * 70mm long board sander – picked it up cheap at auction, have used it once, but if I ever need to fair a yacht I’m ready
• Arbortech 50mm Contour sander attachment – Had a job shaping some internal curves and didn’t want to do it by hand. 
  

 

[Coen]

I used to have 13 different Festool sanders at one point. Plus one Metabo. I just bought any Festool I could get my hands on in the used market and try it out. If I liked it, I kept it, if not, I sold it off with a profit.

Eventually my use of these sanders crystalised into what I really needed and only 6 were left over. Lately I've added 2 more for my convenience so I'm at 8 now.

• DS 400 - most used sander, usefull for practically anything that's not big sheets. Mostly windows and door trim.
  
• DTS 400 - I use the DS so much I got a second one for when I need to do another job somewhere else in between.
  
• DS 400 converted to an RS 400 - For those places where the DTS 400 is too wide.
  
• RO 150 - the big boy for the powerful jobs. Couldn't live without it.
  
• ETS 125 - My door specialist. Or for other larger surfaces that require a very fine finish. Also nice on walls.
  
• ETS 150 - Big overlap with ETS 125 and RO 150. I think I'm going to sell it again, too little use lately.
  
• RAS 115 - When the paint absolutely, positively has to come off in seconds. Only used for the really tough jobs.
  
• DX93 - Very little used lately, but with the extended pad it can reach places no other sander can, so I'm keeping it.
  

But only 3 of them I use most, the DTS 400, RO 150 and the ETS 125. These 3 cover 98% of my sanding needs. I just use my sanders a lot for many different things, painting, woodworking, plastering, the rest I have for my convenience because I hate to muddle around.

The Deltex isn't produced anymore, replaced by RO 90 with 93V pad. Did you try the LS-130 too?

 

[AlexThePalex]

Did you try the LS-130 too?

Yes, I did. It did not suit me. The linear stroke makes it a very weak sander, which bores me. And I have too little real profile work for this thing, whenever I encounter that, I manage by hand.

I tried almost every Festool sander out there, except for the two belt sanders, the big RAS 180, and the newest EC sanders. And the air sanders. 

 

[MrToolJunkie]

I have a sander problem.

Rotext 150 - first sander and great for all the rough and medium finishing tasks
Rotex 125 - right size for many sculpted furniture sanding applications
RO 90 - versatile and interchangeable heads are key

DTS400 - actually have 2 of them - my most used sander, probably
RTS400 - like it for some applications and the foam pad is useful
ETS - great finish sander

ETS 150/3 - my first finish sander. Very smooth and I like the handle and balance. I could see adding a 150/5 for the form factor.
ETS EC 150/5 - great 5mm orbit - super lightweight and fast finisher
ETS EC 125/3 - same reason as above, just smaller pad and useful for certain sizes

DX93 - fits where others don't go and good for corners and certain applications
RAS115 - I have two of them - my go-to for sculpted work or rough paint removal - bought a second one since discontinued
RS2E - I am on my second one - first one died. The sander for larger surfaces like tables - so bummed discontinued recently
LS-130 - least used, but works great for profiles and certain applications. When you need it, it is nice to have in the arsenal.

 

[xedos]

Thomp - I hate you.

Because now I have to admit to myself that, like Scot, I also have a sander problem.  I was fine until I actually thought about it.

I could never do with only a Rotex - it's just too big and unruly for a finish sander.  I'd suggest looking into a finish sander.  ETS 125 is a gem at 200 bucks.

Porter Cable pc333  x2
Porter Cable pc121 splndle sander
Makita  GV5010 angled disc
Makita 9911 belt sander
B&D professional 4011 - 1/4 sheet gem that's 35 years old and still smooth.  Changing paper is still a PIA though.
Fein MultiMaster set up as a profile sander with their accessory
Bosch 3283 - the Swiss version
Bosch ps50 dedicated with a narrow finger sanding pad.
Festool ETS125
Festool Pro5  x2
Festool ETS EC125  plus the ec150 conversion pad
Festool rotex125
Festool rotex 90  - would probably face the death penalty if you tried to make me part with it.
Festool RAS115
Ridgid 2610 - metabo's german made 6" ETS competitor that cost me 35 bucks on clearance
Ridgid 4424 - combo belt sander that I got on a lark, but use a lot more than I though I would.
3m  D/F 70x115 hookit block - the vac hookup hand sander that is a clone of mirka and festool's
Metabo frankensander - an old 4 1/2" grinder with a flap sanding disc that get played with once a decade or so.

If you start a router thread , there's really gonna be trouble. 

 

[Thompmd]

Festoholics!!!

Is your wife named Sandy/Sandra or if I do start a Router thread is her name Rowdy!?

BTW, I’ll buy any/all tools for what you told your wives you paid for this stuff!!

I can’t imagine what your shops look like.

I should only have a Jr membership or Read-only privileges

I can’t honestly imagine what I would need them all for?

 

[MrToolJunkie]

I forgot the Fein MM with the profile set!

 

[deepcreek]

I prefer not to answer.  (Fourteen)

 

[leakyroof]

Festoholics!!!

Is your wife named Sandy/Sandra or if I do start a Router thread is her name Rowdy!?

BTW, I’ll buy any/all tools for what you told your wives you paid for this stuff!!

I can’t imagine what your shops look like.

I should only have a Jr membership or Read-only privileges

I can’t honestly imagine what I would need them all for?

  Some of them are bought for a particular project ,and then other uses for found for them later on.

 

[yetihunter]

Used to have heaps of sanders: 
Elu 1/3 sheet & Festo RS3E & RS1C 1/3 & 1/2 sheet Orbitals, plus an old 1/3 sheet B&D "linear action" sander that wasn't really.  Plus a Festo RS4 & Bosch GSS16A Palm sanders.

Couple of Bobbie Bosch(small) Deltas & a Festo Deltex

Couple of Festool LS130 Duplex Linear sanders, plus a swag of custom & OEM profiled bases.

Bobbie Bosch PBS 75AE, Kango Wolf 2424 & Festool BS105E kit belt sanders.

Mafell/Kress UX150 & Festo RO 150E 150mm dual action ROT(ary)/EX(zenter) gear driven sanders

Mirka DEROS ROS in 2.5, 5.0 & 8.0 diameters.

Mirka DEOS Orbitals in small, large & delta configurations.

Metabo SXE400 detail RO Sanders (70mm dia.) - no less than FOUR!!

Triton Random Orbital Sander attachment (for an Angle Grinder).  Super fast, super messy!

Fein FSC 500 QSL sanding attachments.  Absolutely useless as a sander!

As to what you want, need or (dare I say it) should get, well that all depends....  Time will tell.

I've refined my own collection down from the rather ridiculous 2 dozen odd to a much more rational 10 for my own SPECIFIC NEEDS.

The old Festo orbitals were good, but also fairly slow: a common characteristic of all orbitals.  The Elu eventually wore out.  Orbitals are useful for fine flattening, & especially good at fine denibbing between paint & lacquer coats. 

My small Mirka DEOS serves this purpose well, & takes the same size paper as the Festool Duplex & RS400 & the Bosch GSS16.  My only orbitals are now the small DEOS 80x133 & Delta.  Probably the Delta only would suffice at a pinch. The Mirkas are simply a better sander, having a larger (faster) 3mm orbit, lighter weight & superior balance to all others.  The larger DEOS with a plasterer's shaped & sized pad eventually just became surplus to requirements.

Detail work is undertaken by the 2 Bosch Deltas (PDA240 & GDA280), which I prefer due to their system of extra sanding fingers, custom profiles that I've made & louvre extensions, which is why I still use 2.  The tiny Metabo SXe400s are gems, allowing fairly fine concavities & complex mouldings to be smoothed & polished (i.e car headlights etc) in places any other sander can't.  Which is why I keep one only spare.  These were also ideal tools for the tiny hands of my young children, which is why I only retain a couple now.

The Festool Duplex LS130s proved utterly hopeless.  Worst tools (with the possible exception of Festo/ol's execrable cordless drills) that I've ever owned.  Despite dual counter-rotating counterweights, they're simply too vibratory for extended use, clog papers like a mo-fo, & their profiled bases literally crumble into uselessness with alarming & expensive rapidity.  Just....don't.  A hand block is actually faster!

Belt sanders have been reduced to the one big Festool BS105E.  With its fine belts & its fabulous sanding frame fitted, it's uncharacteristically smooth & fine, or as aggressive & rapid abrading in coarser grits as anything other than a dedicated floor sander.  I'd probably still have the small Bosch too, but for the fact that it was nicked.  A belt sander will do everything & more that any Rotex sander can do, but much smoother, easier & faster.  Provided the sanding frame is fitted.

As you've undoubtedly noticed the Rotex tools can become a bit of a handful at times, & must be firmly gripped & carefully guided.  A belt sander doesn't:  its own mass & inertia does the work, requiring the lightest restraint but no pressure, but its speed & power means that it, too, must be kept in perpetual smooth motion over the substrate.

As far as random orbitals are concerned, I've found that the Mafell/Kress & Festool Rotexes are just a bit too big, heavy & rough for my ageing hands.  As you've already noted, they're a bit too rough to provide a fine finish.  The Mafell was rubbish (too much power for the relatively weak geartrain), & when I "found" the Mirka sanders, everything else simply pales in comparison.  Less than HALF the weight of the Festool (maybe 1/3 of the Mafell!), smoother running and far superior results to any other I've tried.  So good, in fact that I've personally found the 2.5mm diameter DEROS to be redundant.

I think the difference is in the papers:  Mirka's Abranet mesh abrasives are just fantastic.  To be fair, though, maybe a but too susceptible to tearing on sharp or hard edges.  But so are paper-backed abrasives too.  The Abranet ACE & HD abrasives are super long lasting & (incomparison to Festool's range) fairly inexpensive.  Dust extraction through Abranet abrasives is in my opinion unequalled.  Plus the huge number of holes in Mirka's sanding pads means that just about any other rogue abrasive will work & extract well too.

Don't think that I'm unneccessarily down on Festo'ol's sanders here.  They're all (with the exception of those stupid LS130s) good tools, but the world has moved on a bit in the past 40-50 odd years since they were originally designed.  Whilst Festools are good, Mirkas are great.  Where Festool's products often prevent anybody else's pads & papers being used, most others use common mountings, hole patterns & readily available sizes.  If Mirka's sanders seem a bit too expensive, then one of their licensed clones (Indasa, Rupes, Carsystem, Metabo, Delmeq or Sumaki) which use the same hardware will possibly save you a bit.

My single remaining Festool sander is the BS105E, mainly by virtue of its sanding frame & commonly available belt sizes (for which I actually had to shorten the distance between the rollers).  It even takes Abranet Ace belts.  Since Festool Australia sacked my 2 preferred local agents & repairman & gutted the retail network, it's near impossible to access regular consumables, spares & parts in a timely fashion.  The last straw for me was an over 3 month wait-time for a basic delivery of some abrasives & a replacement pad for one of my Duplexes.  My nearest Festo "retailer" doesn't even stock the flamin' products: thety just order 'em in as required/prepaid.  Blow that for a joke!

So the 4 Mirkas, 2 Bosch Deltas, a brace of Metabo detail randoms & the big Festo/Holz Her belt sander now comprehensively serve just about each & every one of my (unique) sanding needs.

You will undoubtedly require a different suite of abrasive tools.

P.S.  Just remembered that I also (shortly) owned a RO90 DX kit from Festool too.  This ridiculous excuse for a sander probably ties with Metabo's Porsche Multihammer as one of the worst designed power tools of all time.  It was just terrible, & more than any other has probably turned me away from "modern" Festool designs for life.

The OP is from Indiana.  The Holz-Herr belt made it here under some names (including AEG), but that was a long time ago.  Black and Decker brought over an Elu router towards the end of the 80’s that I owned, but I don’t think much else (the miter saw?) other than the lesser Dewalt versions.  Metabo has only offered the SXE 400 and the SXE 450.  It’s a running joke at a local store because their dead stock from ages ago is still up to date. Rupes is only known to upscale car detailers.  Flex is mostly only known to upscale car detailers.  I know of Kress, but I’m not aware of anything making it here without someone else’s name on it.  If I want Mirka locally, it’s going to be sandpaper that says Festool on it. Fein only offers one sander that you can get through boat building supply houses.  Bosch discontinued all of their detail sanders.  The delta Mirka just started showing up on one or two websites, but I haven’t confirmed if they actually have the stock.  Said Mirka is only going to be available in yellow.  Realistically, his options are going to be Festool or Mirka.  If there’s a Festool dealer near him, it’s going to be Festool. I just noticed that my 150mm pads are toast.  In about six hours, I’m going to drive 20 minutes east to pick up some replacements.  Any other brand and I’ll be flipping through exploded diagrams while preparing to place a parts order and then sitting around from anywhere between 3 days and six weeks. Not to mention Bosch and Makita having a different size hose port on every tool....if you’re so lucky that said hose port isn’t a separate accessory that can only be ordered from the parts department.  It’s a sad scene out here.  Festool made it a lot better.

 

[yetihunter]

I have a RO150 only and was curious what some of the smaller or even another unit would benefit me? I’m new and curious if I’m missing something ?

I was thinking about having to stock all the necessary grits, extra space, cost etc and was just wondering if they do a better job?

I’m mostly happy with my current unit(other than some swirl marks at the extremely low end of grits get a lot of swirl marks I have to work at removing, btw: I have the suction set low and don’t adjust through rough-finish) and realize I’m kind of answering my own question just wondering?

I’d recommend some sort of delta or iron sander and a 5” finish sander.  Personally, I wouldn’t want to do anything but the rough stuff with the Rotex, and so I use a separate 6” random orbital where size dictates it. 

 

[xedos]

.  Bosch discontinued all of their detail sanders.  Not to mention Bosch and Makita having a different size hose port on every tool....if you’re so lucky that said hose port isn’t a separate accessory that can only be ordered from the parts department.

For future searches - this isn't entirely accurate.

Bosch, like Festool, have discontinued their purpose built triangle detail sander.  They have transferred that duty to their multi-tools that have dust fittings as part of setup.  Nowhere near what Festool's, Fein solution is , but hey .

They also have a new group of palm sanders to compete with Festool's ETS lineup , including a pointed pad model.  While not as refined or good at dust collection, there is a strong value proposition in that Bosch's version costs half AND has the ability to quick change the pads for three sanders in one.

Sadly  NAINA.  Yet.

Also, Bosch sanders may all have different catch containers - some borrowed from Rupes - but underneath they are one of two flavors.  Either a standard round port that fits Bosch and Festool rubber tool ends - or - an oval which requires a rs006  adapter which again has a standard round port for vac attachment.  That fitting has been around for decades and while frustrating that it's rarely stocked locally , it is available from the usual suspects via the internet.  I believe they ship with the sanders that use them these days too.  The trend clearly seems to be they come with a round port buried in the catch container.

Makita is a sad story though. Their ports seem consistent to me, but they don't work worth a flip.  Besides being too small a diameter to fit any vacuum hoses from the major players (including their own) , adapters are pretty difficult to source too.

 

[yetihunter]

[member=67935]xedos[/member]

Yes, I mangled some things there whilst typing past my bedtime.  Not only are you correct about the ports,  Bosch’s respective dust collection accessories are hanging right over their tools at my local shop (the routers, jigsaws and hammers, primarily). 

 

[Vondawg]

How about this palm sander
[https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Wlc-Wg__k/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Wlc-Wg__k/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet