Polishing with ets150

[JCLP]

I'm so confused. I've been doing a lot of reading about polishing wood to a high gloss finish and there seems to be an equal number of pros and cons about using a random orbital like the ets150 or a rotary sander/polishers like the ro150. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience using the ets150 as a polisher. I have seen the festool videos where they use the ro150, but I think the rotex would be overkill for me as I don't do a lot of aggressive sanding or large surfaces. Thanks.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

I think this was recently discussed.

The ETS is a random orbit sander, so it is not well suited for polishing. You would need a sander/polisher that is direct drive like the Rotex or Shinex.

Shane

 

[Roseland]

I think Shane's "not well suited" is an understatement.

I got a couple of sheepskin pads to try on my ETS-125 and immediately saw the error of my ways; absolutely all the orbital movement of the sander was absorbed in the sheepskin - the surface in contact with the wood didn't move at all!  [embarassed]

So I gave one pad to a friend who has an RO-125, and kept one for when I eventually succumb!

Andrew

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Forgot to mention there are some 20% off Rotex sanders available reconditioned.  [wink]

 

[grandpaS]

Please clarify that when I polish with the RO150, I set it in the gear-driven mode - correct?

thank you

 

[Brice Burrell]

Please clarify that when I polish with the RO150, I set it in the gear-driven mode - correct?

thank you

That is correct.