Rotax 125 or 150?

[mavrick1903]

which do you have? have the 125? Ever wished for the 150? have the 150? think it's overkill? could you have gotten by with the 125? curious for feed back between the two.

 

[bruegf]

I've got the 125 and have been very pleased with it.  On larger surfaces the 150 would be quicker I'm sure, but I spent a couple of days sanding a ceiling and I would not have wanted to do that with the 150. 

Fred

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I also have the RO 125 and am very pleased with it.  When I bought it, the RO 150 had not been updated to Plug-It, and since my initial purpose for buying it was to carve out cracks in the ceiling and walls of my old house, I wanted a smaller, lighter unit.  My next job was refinishing the varnished woodwork and doors in that house, and once again the RO 125's lighter weight and smaller size were beneficial on those door frames, but an RO 150 would probably have been better on the doors themselves.  I also like the lighter weight when I use the RO 125 to polish and wax my cars - using an oversized pad to minimize risk of the relatively hard edge of the pad from gouging.  If you have not read the other strings here on FOG and the several user reviews and comparisons of the different models of Festool RO sanders, I highly recommend that you do so.  Besides being bigger and thus covering more area in a given period of time, a greater variety of accessories and consumable supplies are available for the RO 150.

Dave R.

 

[tvgordon]

Even though I have an ES125 sander and lots of 5" sandpaper, earlier this year I bought a RO 150.  I've been very happy with it so far.  I put off the purchase because of the price and wish I'd bought one sooner.  It has more vibration to it than the ES125 (because of the larger orbit), but I've used it for a couple hours at a time and the vibration hasn't been a problem.  I thought about the RO 125 but decided the larger pad should mean faster material removal and fewer passes to sand a larger surface.
If I were you I would base my decision on what kind of projects you do.  If you need to sand larger surfaces go with the 150, if you make crafts or going to sand narrow material buy the 125.  I make both kinds of projects and have yet to wish I went with the smaller sander.

Tom.

 

[chrisrosenb]

I have both sanders. I bought the RO150 first & added the RO125 later. I use the 150 most of the time & the 125 for smaller items.
I love both models.

 

[Norm St.Onge]

I have the 125. I tried the 150 at Woodcraft demo day and it just felt too big in my hand. My main use is for cleaning up salvage yard doors for install in older homes...although I spent some quality time with it over the past couple of days sanding almost 300sq ft of old oak flooring in a condo I'm renovating. It has worked great for the type of work I do.

-Norm

 

[Brice Burrell]

  I have the RO125, I use it for removing large amounts of material, fast. I have yet to use it as finish sander, there is a bit of a learning curve to using the 125 for finish work. It can be done, But I've not spent the time doing so, I use my other Festool sanders for finishing. I know some members here suggest that the RO150 is a better finish sander than the it's little brother. This is because of it's larger sanding surface is easier to hold perfectly flat on the work piece. But as mentioned above the 150 is a heavier tool and the barrel grip is pretty big. I would highly recommend trying both sander before you buy. Good luck.

 

[chughes]

  Recently bought the ro125 for a stair job, it worked so well that it was commandeered and used as an edger.  The ro125 was great at that job as well.  In both cases the edge guard was essential to it usefulness.  As to comparing it to the ro150, which felt much bigger in my hand, I can not say.  The larger diameter of the 150 made  the tool inapplicable to my task.  I can only imagine how much more surface could be removed with the150     

 

[mysterium]

I own 9 different model Festool sanders but not the RO 125.  

However I would like the smaller lighter Rotex model for overhead work & to get into small places that the RO 150 can't.  To this end I placed "want" adds on three websites for a RO 125 FEQ (one is here on the FOG, one on Sawmill Creek, & one on Woodnet) and had 100's of lookers on all three sites.  Result: not one single person offered to sell their RO 125.   By the way, I am still looking...  preferably a newer one with edge protector

One thing that I don't believe the other posters have pointed out; the RO 125 has a smaller less aggressive 9/64" or 3.6 mm stroke then the RO 150's 3/16" or 5 mm stroke.

jim

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Even though I have an ES125 sander and lots of 5" sandpaper, earlier this year I bought a RO 150.  I've been very happy with it so far.  I put off the purchase because of the price and wish I'd bought one sooner.  It has more vibration to it than the ES125 (because of the larger orbit), but I've used it for a couple hours at a time and the vibration hasn't been a problem.  I thought about the RO 125 but decided the larger pad should mean faster material removal and fewer passes to sand a larger surface.
If I were you I would base my decision on what kind of projects you do.  If you need to sand larger surfaces go with the 150, if you make crafts or going to sand narrow material buy the 125.  I make both kinds of projects and have yet to wish I went with the smaller sander.

Tom.

In my planning for future Festool purchases, even though I already have an RO 125 (early model pre-edge guard groove housing) and lots of various grits and types of abrasives and all 3 different hardness pads, I am thinking of buying an ETS 150/3 sander Item #  571540 for fine finishing.  I has acquired a reputation on FOG of being an excellent, smooth operating, easy to control finishing machine and the larger base area helps with control and thus avoiding rounding off corners when you don't want to.  I figure the additional sanding supplies in the fine grits I would want are not that big an expense.  Of course, if I could try both machines side by side at a store on a project, I might change my thinking.

Dave R.

 

[Eli]

That's funny Dave. I have an RO150 and I'm thinking about getting the ETS125. Horses for courses, they say Down Under.....

 

[mavrick1903]

I do like the ETS125, and would like to add that to what I know will be a growing "fleet". I'm wondering if the Rotax 125 would be easier since they take the same grit then, or if the 150 would be better. I turn and do flat work (mostly hobbist stuff, not pro) and sizes of my work ranges from smallish boxes, to blanket chests and tables so far.

still looking for "the answer". more input is welcome.

 

[Eli]

Mav-
Although I have the RO150. I'd suggest the 125 for you since you already have the ETS125.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

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