RO 125....HOLY COW

Get descriptive! ;)  What do you like so much about it and what did you just come from that's allowing this setup to blow your mind?
 
I have been using Ridgid,Bosch, and Dewalt for sanding and this blows all of them away. I took a rough sawn piece of 8/4 Walnut and in less then 4 minutes sanded it smooth and had NO dust, even on the wood.....Love it and wonder why it took so long to get one. I got to tell you even though I got it at a great price used I would Pay FULL RETAIL for this baby.
 
Zacharytanner said:
I have been using Ridgid,Bosch, and Dewalt for sanding and this blows all of them away. I took a rough sawn piece of 8/4 Walnut and in less then 4 minutes sanded it smooth and had NO dust, even on the wood.....Love it and wonder why it took so long to get one. I got to tell you even though I got it at a great price used I would Pay FULL RETAIL for this baby.
Click to expand...

Want a job at my front door ;)  Great testimonial.  Always awesome when someones comes over to the greenside and sees, first hand, what all the fuss is about.  So many folks are close minded and unwilling at times, to even accept something like a demo, when they see a price tag, etc.  It's really cool to hear your story as corny as that may sound.
 
I already called two of my :) woodworking buddies and went on and on and they both asked me how much of a commission from Festool I am getting  [laughing]
 
LOL.  That's what the cool aid will do to ya.
 
Hey, there's supposed to be a learning curve! It's not meant to be that easy (even if it is).
 
I too recently bought one and it is so much better than my Metabo - incredible piece of kit ( I got the hard pad too which is worth buying)

Reasons:
Balance
Dust extraction
Speed of sanding
Comfort (no vibration)

I look. For reasons to use it and my lie nielsen's are getting sad :(
 
The baby brother, the RO 90, will impress you even more.

But before the sanding, there's sawing planing and routing ...  [big grin]
 
The Ro125 is such a sweet little hot rod.

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I used mine to sand some paint off of a flower planter. My neighbor was amazed that I sanded down to the bare wood. I used it in the rotary mode to strip the paint. Aggressive and yet smooth as I removed paint that was thickly applied and had been on the wood for many years. This sander worked great! Another unsung Festool hero!
 
Zacharytanner said:
I have been using Ridgid,Bosch, and Dewalt for sanding and this blows all of them away. I took a rough sawn piece of 8/4 Walnut and in less then 4 minutes sanded it smooth and had NO dust, even on the wood.....Love it and wonder why it took so long to get one. I got to tell you even though I got it at a great price used I would Pay FULL RETAIL for this baby.
Click to expand...

You're not done with sanders yet, Zachary.  Now that you have the 5" abrasives, you will be needing an ETS-125.

You are asking, "What do I need that one for, I have the RO-125, and it does everything!"

I suggest you take the Festool test drive for a month, and do your finishing grits (120 and above) with the ETS. Turn the vacuum down so it doesn't vibrate, and let the sander do the work. It is much lighter, and you can practically do all your finishing steps just holding it by the hose (no vibration gets into your hand that way).

Let me know if this works for you.

Charles
 
Charles

Agree completely. We set up one abrasive systainer for both and they are beautiful companions. The RO technically can do what the ETS can do, but the ets is just such an easy one hand floater for finish sanding.

That said, if the RO125 was the first sander I bought, the 90 might be the second, mostly because of the delta.
 
I was just looking at the ETS125  [smile] Pour me another round of that delicious green drink  [big grin]

Frank
 
I made a video featuring the Rotex 125 and ETS 125 today to sand a curved cabinet leg. I also use both sanders in tandem, switching from the Rotex to the ETS as I get into higher grits. When it comes to polishing I switch back to the Rotex. It's a little long at 16 minutes-  [unsure]- and the ETS bit kicks in at the 12 minute mark. I use a couple of different pads, and the interface pad.

Check out the different holding positions of the two tools. With the Rotex, I like to have one hand on the head and one on the barrel, and I "drive" the sander with quite firm control. With the ETS, I just let the sander float across the surface with one hand.

Festool Rotex 125 and ETS 125 sander demo
 
Scott B. said:
That said, if the RO125 was the first sander I bought, the 90 might be the second, mostly because of the delta.
Click to expand...

I have the RO 150, and the same limitation (corners), but I'm actually leaning more toward the LS 130 myself rather than the RO 90.

It still has square edges to get into corners, but also does all the profiles and such, so I think it would add more value.  But maybe I just do different things...

Of course, I can always use the pads on my MultiMax if I need to in the meantime, and maybe clean it up a bit by hand in the end.  No dust collection to speak of, but for the rare occasion when I need something like that...
 
I gotta be honest,  I bought my RO125 with the intentions of using it temporarily while re-listing it right back on ebay...  a "stepping stone" towards the RO150 I wanted (and still do!)  but after using it on just one project, I canceled the listing, and there's no chance of releasing it from service from my Festool Corps unless I wear it out entirely.

The ETS125 seems like an excellent sander to add  and  there's a nice gap to bridge into the polishing area of the system  (my justification this month)
as pointed out here,  the ETS is a nice match to the RO125 for finish sanding duties,  but when polishing,  the ETS is specified within a couple Festool publications for polishing/buffing procedures.

Instead of a RO150,  I am leaning towards 1st an ETS125,  and then a Shinex,  followed by the RO150 and ETS150/3 later.

what I am unclear on,  is the compatibility of pads and abrasives ???
has anyone ever come across a compatibility chart for the different pad types among the sanders?  Jetstream -vs- 9 hole is what I am referring to...

I'd like to have a JETSTREAM pad for my RO125.
the videos and .pdf's have convinced me that the Jetstream design is peerless.  and while I intend to use Rotex for initial prep and ETS for finishing steps,  it would be advantageous to be able to stick the same abrasives on both, and hand each sander to my helpers when ganging up on a project.

the LEX 2 sanders add a few more concerns,  and this pad/abrasive compatibility is the only reason holding me back from adding those to the list as well.

is it possible to install Jetstream pads on all sanders,  AND, is it possible to use a 125mm pad on a 150mm or 185mm sander?
 
The Jetstream pads are not available for the 125 or 90 series.  The pads for the ETS series do not interchange with the RO series of the same sizes.  The paper can of course go across the same size platforms, and the old style 150 size paper can be used on the Jetstream pads but without the added benefits.  I admit my knowledge of the Lex products is lacking.

Peter
 
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