Rotex 125

[Chief Team Player]

I have been a fan of Festool as many of you have been. I own several of their products and they are fanatastic. I decided to get a second sander (I have the ETS 125). I opted for the RO 125 and am very dissappointed. this sander is all over the place in both aggressive and finish mode. I can hardly keep it on the work piece and it is much louder than the ETS 125. Not sure what is wrong, I understand how to operate Festool sanders and the ETS 125 never gave me a problem. Looking for advice before maybe sending it back. Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

[bobfog]

I have been a fan of Festool as many of you have been. I own several of their products and they are fanatastic. I decided to get a second sander (I have the ETS 125). I opted for the RO 125 and am very dissappointed. this sander is all over the place in both aggressive and finish mode. I can hardly keep it on the work piece and it is much louder than the ETS 125. Not sure what is wrong, I understand how to operate Festool sanders and the ETS 125 never gave me a problem. Looking for advice before maybe sending it back. Thanks in advance for your comments.

Some people say that Festool/Rotex sanders needs running in for the gears to bed-in and mesh together as smoothly as possible and for the belt to properly conform/sit in the pulley, etc. some go as far as hanging it from a piece of wire/rope and just letting it run for a few hours.

A second school of thought is because the Rotex sanders are different shape to most sanders the user needs to practice and get used to handling it. A tip is to hold the extreme back of the sander with lighter thumb/finger pressure, rather than tightly gripping the body itself.

As for it being louder it's a much more powerful sander with a bigger motor, so I guess it's just a louder product.

 

[Shane Holland]

No need to run any of the tools for a "break-in" period.

The key to the Rotex 125 is balance. Put one hand at the back of the machine where the hose attaches to keep it balanced.Like so...

Keep the speed on 6. Practice with a finer grit, which will be less likely to be high-friction. After a short time with it, you'll get the hang of it and will even be able to run it one-handed.  [wink]

PS - If you decide the Rotex 125 doesn't work for you, I'd highly recommend you give the new ETS 125 EC a shot. It's going to be more powerful and aggressive than your ETS 125 EQ.

 

[tjbnwi]

I agree with Shane 100%. It is all in how you control the balance of the sander and how well secured the work piece is. A loose work piece will cause it to raise/lower/shift causing you a lot of grief.

I've never broken in any of my Rotex sanders, they were taken out of the Systainer and put to work.

In time you'll be running the Rotex with one hand.

I'm one of those guys who does all the prep sanding in the aggressive mode, very rarely will the random orbit mode be used on my Rotex's. I have other sander for finish work.

Tom

 

[Shane Holland]

Good point about the workpiece being secure, Tom.  [wink]

 

[TheMarvelousOne]

No need to run any of the tools for a "break-in" period.

The key to the Rotex 125 is balance. Put one hand at the back of the machine where the hose attaches to keep it balanced.Like so...

Keep the speed on 6. Practice with a finer grit, which will be less likely to be high-friction. After a short time with it, you'll get the hang of it and will even be able to run it one-handed.  [wink]

PS - If you decide the Rotex 125 doesn't work for you, I'd highly recommend you give the new ETS 125 EC a shot. It's going to be more powerful and aggressive than your ETS 125 EQ.

You need to clip your fingernails, Shane!  [eek] [big grin]

 

[tjbnwi]

No need to run any of the tools for a "break-in" period.

The key to the Rotex 125 is balance. Put one hand at the back of the machine where the hose attaches to keep it balanced.Like so...

Keep the speed on 6. Practice with a finer grit, which will be less likely to be high-friction. After a short time with it, you'll get the hang of it and will even be able to run it one-handed.  [wink]

PS - If you decide the Rotex 125 doesn't work for you, I'd highly recommend you give the new ETS 125 EC a shot. It's going to be more powerful and aggressive than your ETS 125 EQ.

You need to clip your fingernails, Shane!  [eek] [big grin]

Sand and buff with the Rotex.

Tom

 

[TylerC]

[member=48572]Shane Holland[/member] is dead on.

The other matter is that basically the RO125 has a TON of power (500 watts), (compared to ETS 125 EQ (200 watts)) coupled with a gear drive. It is a torque-y little sander. Take that power and put that on a smaller surface and it can be unwieldy in untrained hands. The RO 150 FEQ, for example, is 720 watts but with a 6” disc, which makes a big difference in balance to power ratio.

The RO 125 EQ takes a little time to get used to, but the benefits of Rotex aggressiveness and functionality should complement his ETS 125 quite well.  And they share the same abrasives, so even better.

 

[Holmz]

There is another sander that sits in between the ETS 125 and the RO125...

 

[m30rmf]

I'm currently thinking off investing in a sander and extractor combo, I am awaiting confirmation off a drywall job for the summer,I know the long reach sander is the one to go for as far as drywall sanding is concerned. My trail off thought being a dedicated long reach will soend 90% off its lifevdoing nothing . Therefore my thoughts trail currently is a 125 or 150 rotex which would see far more use in my primary joinery business . How would this fair being used in this environment with an extractor attached??

 

[mleny77]

It does take a little time to get use to the sander. The first few times I used the RO125 it was bouncing all over the place  [mad] Wanted to use something else...but as I used it more and more it become easier to use. I love using this sander for rough sanding. I used 80 & 120 grit in Rotex mode, then 120, 180 & 220 in random orbit mode.

 

[VW mick]

My RO 125 was probably about my 3rd or 4th Festool. And I absolutely love it I have never had an issue with it. Although you do need to respect it. It can be a beast if you need it to be

 

[mrboult]

I'm currently thinking off investing in a sander and extractor combo, I am awaiting confirmation off a drywall job for the summer,I know the long reach sander is the one to go for as far as drywall sanding is concerned. My trail off thought being a dedicated long reach will soend 90% off its lifevdoing nothing . Therefore my thoughts trail currently is a 125 or 150 rotex which would see far more use in my primary joinery business . How would this fair being used in this environment with an extractor attached??

I would think that for sanding drywall you are much better off with the newer "ETS EC 150" sander. It is lighter and comfier to use on the wall. Also I would think that using rotex mode on drywall would be way to severe, but I'm not very experienced in that task.

 

[m30rmf]

I'm currently thinking off investing in a sander and extractor combo, I am awaiting confirmation off a drywall job for the summer,I know the long reach sander is the one to go for as far as drywall sanding is concerned. My trail off thought being a dedicated long reach will soend 90% off its lifevdoing nothing . Therefore my thoughts trail currently is a 125 or 150 rotex which would see far more use in my primary joinery business . How would this fair being used in this environment with an extractor attached??

I would think that for sanding drywall you are much better off with the newer "ETS EC 150" sander. It is lighter and comfier to use on the wall. Also I would think that using rotex mode on drywall would be way to severe, but I'm not very experienced in that task.

I'm a joiner by trade so will be used 90% off the time doing that so thought the rotex would be ideal for that, the drywall sanding is for a few weeks over the summer hence being hesistant to buy the planex long reach...

 

[Holmz]

I'm currently thinking off investing in a sander and extractor combo, I am awaiting confirmation off a drywall job for the summer,I know the long reach sander is the one to go for as far as drywall sanding is concerned. My trail off thought being a dedicated long reach will soend 90% off its lifevdoing nothing . Therefore my thoughts trail currently is a 125 or 150 rotex which would see far more use in my primary joinery business . How would this fair being used in this environment with an extractor attached??

I would think that for sanding drywall you are much better off with the newer "ETS EC 150" sander. It is lighter and comfier to use on the wall. Also I would think that using rotex mode on drywall would be way to severe, but I'm not very experienced in that task.

I'm a joiner by trade so will be used 90% off the time doing that so thought the rotex would be ideal for that, the drywall sanding is for a few weeks over the summer hence being hesistant to buy the planex long reach...

I have done a small amount of drywall... Drywall does not usually require a geared sander.And a light weight sander is worthwhile.

The Mirka DEROS and the Festool ETS EC are similar.
While I like my DEROS, That ETS EC 150 recommendation [member=22067]mrB[/member] made is a sensible choice.

 

[harry_]

I'm currently thinking off investing in a sander and extractor combo, I am awaiting confirmation off a drywall job for the summer,I know the long reach sander is the one to go for as far as drywall sanding is concerned. My trail off thought being a dedicated long reach will soend 90% off its lifevdoing nothing . Therefore my thoughts trail currently is a 125 or 150 rotex which would see far more use in my primary joinery business . How would this fair being used in this environment with an extractor attached??

I have used my RO125 to sand drywall. More accurately, someone else's mud-work. It got the job done, while at the same time not being the best tool for the job.

Once upon a time, I was told "better to use the knife than a sander". Good mud-work should only need a "scuff".

 

[Staniam]

Here's a video of me using my RO 125 one handed. As you can see, it's most definitely possible to wield this sander with ease. It just takes a little bit of time.

Oh, and Festool reshared my post so that was cool!
https://www.instagram.com/p/_7tj-GIHYs/

 

[AlexThePalex]

I've used my Rotex 150 many times for drywall, just use the random orbit mode, dial the speed down and use a fine grit.

If you want a sander specifically for drywall, better choices are available, but if it's a job that comes up once in a while amongst a lot of other stuff, the Rotex doesn't need to shy away.

 

[m30rmf]

I've used my Rotex 150 many times for drywall, just use the random orbit mode, dial the speed down and use a fine grit.

If you want a sander specifically for drywall, better choices are available, but if it's a job that comes up once in a while amongst a lot of other stuff, the Rotex doesn't need to shy away.

Thanks for the reply,  at the moment it is a once in  while job doing drywall hence why insteadvif the dedicated planex I was thinking I would get more use out off the rotex in my main joinery area