Ro 125 a good fit?

[Jarrett]

I bought a Domino a few months back and it has really increased the rate at which I can bang out some orders.  But I still find myself spending too many hours sanding with my porter cable random orbit.  I've been on the fence about whether or not to get a festool sander.  Been looking heavy at the RO 125.  I mainly build with reclaimed oak and cherry.  I have a planer with byrd cutter head, so getting stock to proper thickness isn't much of a problem, but I do use a good bit of barn wood and live edge when not building children's furniture (my main gig).  Most of the sanding is of 2-3" wide boards, or 9" boards/panels. Its mainly "finish" sanding, but I don't finish over 220 grit.  If I got the festool, I'd get the vac for it a few months down the road ( I use a shop vac with my Domino now).  I have also been looking at the bosch, even though I know dust collection and paper wear aren't as high on the ratings as the festool.  Is the RO 125 too big for my purpose?
Should I be looking at the bosch too? 
I've added a picture of what I typically build to show you what I'd be sanding.

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions!
-Jarrett

 

[Mort]

Either the RO125 or RO90 would be the right size. The 90 would get into the nooks and crannies a bit better, plus also has the delta pad. I was considering both of these, and since I have the ETS125 already the larger Rotex could've share the paper, but I went with the 90 due to the fact it has both pads and I don't do a lot of bigger stuff. It will do it, just takes a bit longer.

I even used it to polish the diamond plate on my truck. It has a million uses.

 

[mike_aa]

If you want only one sander, I would look into the ETS EC series.  Personally, I like using the 150 size abrasives, but for the type of work you are doing 125 may be a better fit.  See if you can try them out at a dealer or show.

One other suggestion if you are in the states is to pair your dust extractor purchase with the sander since you will get 10 percent off on the DE.

Oh, Almost forgot!

[welcome] to the FOG!

 

[Staniam]

I truly love the RO 125. I had thought about getting the Bosch and still might in the future. I went with the 125 because it has different wheels you can use on it thus extending it's versatility. I also do small to medium sized projects and furniture. The 125 and the Bosch detail sander are my only sanders and they cover all my needs and more.

My vote would be the RO 125 for its added versatility.

 

[SS Teach]

Welcome to  FOG. You do very nice work. A word of warning concerning the Ro sanders, there is a learning curve when it comes to their use. Check out YouTube videos and you will see how to do it properly. They are amazing sanders and should cut down your sanding time. You might want to get a CT along with the sander. The sanders function best when you turn down the CT's suction. Lastly Festool sanders seem to be like potato chips, bet you can't stop at one. 

 

[ear3]

The RO125 would be a great sander for this.  Since it looks like you don't need to get crisp edges, you don't have to worry about the occasional edge rounding that can happen with the Rotex sanders on narrower pieces.

As someone has already mentioned, the ETS-EC sanders are actually more aggressive than the Rotex in RO mode, due to faster pad rotation, but the nature of the wood you work with means that having the gear-driven mode on the Rotex (which beats the ETS-EC sanders in terms of material removal) would be a huge advantage and time-saver.

 

[tony_sheehan]

Nice work sir!
Me, I'd go for the RO90 for its ability to tackle more intricate tasks.

 

[Holmz]

The ETS EC is also lower and better ergonomically.

If you do not want the rounded over edge would a held sander with 180 a solution?
They do seem to leave a flatter surface.

Or do you have sacrificial pieces to avoid a rolled over edge?

 

[Jarrett]

Thanks for the great insight so far!  I think you guys may have me leaning towards the RO90.  I think it will give me the speed to complete a few pieces of furniture and versatility so that it won't be too much longer before I'm able to get enough funds for another sander to compliment it...this sounds like a better route than getting another sander and then later on ordering the RO 90 to compliment it...what do you guys think?
  I like the smaller footprint of the RO90, especially when thinking about sanding 3/4" stock on edge and things of that nature...but I also like that you can switch modes and really get aggressive with some reclaimed lumber. 

 

[Kev]

For the sort of thing you're doing I can see the RO90 fitting the needs very well. If you find your work moving to larger panels they're likely to require less finishing by nature .. so then you'd probably add an ETS150 (then you'd choose /3 /5, EC or not).

 

[Holmz]

Thanks for the great insight so far!  I think you guys may have me leaning towards the RO90.  I think it will give me the speed to complete a few pieces of furniture and versatility so that it won't be too much longer before I'm able to get enough funds for another sander to compliment it...this sounds like a better route than getting another sander and then later on ordering the RO 90 to compliment it...what do you guys think?
  I like the smaller footprint of the RO90, especially when thinking about sanding 3/4" stock on edge and things of that nature...but I also like that you can switch modes and really get aggressive with some reclaimed lumber.

Well Reno said that the ETS EC is faster than an RO in random orbit mode.
So are you removing material or just removing chatter marks from the thicknesser?

Your options are linear (LS, or belt), orbital, random orbital.
Personally I would not select a 'random orbital' for thin work. It would either be a linear or an orbital. For 3" wide an orbital or a belt. For 3/4" a hand plane or an orbital.

I do not know which Porter Cable you have (power, stroke)
I am using a 450W 1/2 sheet sander. It is nice and the edges are crisp, and 450W translates into a decent removal rate.

At the very least you would want to use a hard pad on a random orbital sander.
If you are not inclined towards a belt or orbital, then the ETS EC seems work getting you hands onto to try.

Here is about a minute of sanding for ~1 square foot of bench.
Random orbital 150/5 on the left with 80 | on the right an orbital 24000rpm/2.6-mm stroke 60 grit

The the 60 on the Orbit was pretty swirly, so I hit it with 120 for about 20 seconds on the right side. (mostly have 120, 180, and 240)

The picture is not too revealing except that it was black-brown to start.
In fact here it is :

~10 minutes with the orbit and the 60gr to get the cupping out. Mainly because I trust it better to be flat, only because I have used it more, and most of my 150 are in the 400-4000gr.

Then I gave it ~7 minutes with the RO and 80gr.

I don't know if that helps to answer your speed questions.
The fellow around the corner was off-loading it, and I like the idea of having a daggy bench with a couple of vices on it.
It could definitely stand to go to 120 or 180 if it was furniture, but ~20 minutes to get it pretty seems quick enough for me.

That ETS EC 150/5 would be the green-twin-cousin to the yellow DEROS, so I would expect it to also be about 20-25 minutes. The Orbital was definitely slower, but still pokes along.
Maybe with the orbital It would have been ~25 minutes with 60 and then 120.
The yellow RO would be ~15+ minutes.
I suspect that a PC would be an hour (or two)?

 

[Jarrett]

Wow!  Awesome, sound, in depth advice!    Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!  At the moment I have a Dewalt random orbit and a couple of Porter Cable 343's (random orbit as well) that I use for my sanding needs.  I have a good belt sander, but don't use it much due to its heft I find myself using a makita hand planer if I'm going after something real rough and don't want to screw up my powermatic planer. 
I am being drawn away slightly from the RO, but I like the versitilty of being able to knock down a stubborn section if need be.  With the reclaimed oak and chestnut I work with, I will at times thickness one side and leave the character of the other side, only hitting it with the sander, but that side will have a spot or two that will need some aggressive sanding.
  I finish the butcherblock tops and stubborn grain patterns of some of the lower panels with hand planes and card scrapers for now.  I dig the end result, but not the time.    My time will become even more of an issue as I'm expecting a new son in a month.  I have a couple of dining tables to build, but that will be later on in the summer and I'll pobably justify a sander for their purpose when the time comes if this one doesn't quite suit my needs.  For now, a small coffee table may be the largest surface I would be sanding, like the one I just finished below, where it's only a glue up top

 

[Jarrett]

After further discussion with Mort and learning that he and I do some of the same thing, I ordered the RO90 and later will look into a more dedicated finish sander.
Thanks to all for the info!