Rotex fun

[mkasdin]

I did my floors in my present house 22 years ago, so I don’t remember the exact issues but I ended up giving up. There was no subfloor, the VG DF T&G was nailed onto the floor joist, the foundation had settled, there were low spots etc. in the end doing the restoration wasn’t worth the trouble and cost. Personally, not having any support in between hoisting makes for a soft floor. So in the end I kept the floors added 3/4” T&G Ply and then hand nailed through the 1 1/2” approx subfloor.
If your floors are old I would check to see how they are fastened down then make a determination on wether to fix or replace. If you jump up and down and the floor gives then that’s not a good sign? Is your house (flooring) on a raised foundation or slab on grade?

 

[AlexThePalex]

My house's floor is fine, carpet now but soon I'm going to put PVC laminate over it.

Flooring jobs I did were somewhere else on existing parquet floors, stable surface but lots of wear and tear.

 

[Bertotti]

I did have issues with the little ro90 bouncing all over the place for about 30 minutes when I tried to work one-handed. After about an hour that issue was gone while using two hands and today I was one handing it with no bouncing issues at all. It has a different balance point and that sweetspot is very small. I assume because of the disc diameter, but now that I got it I'm having no bounce issues at all. No wrist pain but I stopped early because I didn't want to repeat the event of the first two days. But that was my own fault. Once I had the little beast figured out it was fun and I just kept going even once I was fatigued. What I noticed is I was trying to palm the front like an old orbital I had but I actually had to slide my hand back and change my grip to keep the pad even on the floor. I had no idea what people meant by float until I achieved it. It really did just float once I modified my grip and hand position. Even so there is some wrist strength involved but nothing like my first attempts at manhandling it. Ease up level out and let it do the work really worked out in the end. Oddly I noticed the belt sander performed with a lot less dust when I connected the ct 26 and turned the vacuum down by half as well. I mean an incredible amount of dust was gone! I have no idea why since there are no perforations.

I always believed in the right tool for the job unless I didn't want to. I use this as an excuse to buy a tool or two. But in doing so I will certainly use them and since I am in no rush at all, its my own house and I can spend months on the work, then I'll use the tool I buy. The upside is it will be used again for other projects and the time I am spending on the floor is teaching me a lot of its quirks.

I like those rolls of paper when I scrolled down.

I always thought floor buffers should be just that oddly when I was in the Marines I found them quite relaxing to use. I always passed on the buffer rodeos. Sadly my builders were idiots who really ran me over the coals. 9 months to frame, the subfloor was uncovered through all the spring rains and it is anything but level which witnesses through. I don't care to try and level out my floor, a bit of unevenness reminds me of an old farm house and I like that character. When looking at it you don't notice it. The first section I did with the belt sander looks good but after refinishing I can see the areas where I missed some old poly. It bugs me now that I have the little area I have done with the ro90 next to it. I will be hitting the dark spots to get rid of them and spot finishing those.

I'll post a picture once I read how to on this forum. Thanks every one. Like I said before some of the further explanations of your points of view helped me understand why it seemed so many people dislike these rotex sanders. But I am really impressed with this one and will use it a lot. I am building my wife a new table as well so I will be seeing how well it really finishes in the next few weeks. Also trying my hand at two part epoxy on our counter tops. plenty to keep me busy now that the snow is rolling in and winter is here.

 

[Bertotti]

Thanks everyone the deed is almost done. Went to my local Stan Houston’s equipment but although they had one in the system there wasn’t one there, ro150. So I have it ordered with a hard pad and went home with three 50 pack boxes one each of P40-60-80 Granat. Thanks again!

 

[Bertotti]

Apparently, these RO150 are back ordered. I did a few searches at the normal places I look at online and they all say back ordered. I can only assume that’s why mine hasn’t shown up yet. I guess this is because of lockdowns. I have no finish by date on my own floor but sure would like to get it done sooner than later. Guess I just have to wait.

Frustrating, no work done this weekend. I keep checking online one shop says oversold till Nov 27, another says shipping Nov 2 another undetermined. Makes me wonder just how long my local shop will take. I actually considered the Bosch Get756n but someone here ordered one back in September and it still hasn't shipped.

 

[DeformedTree]

But that's our Dutch floor sanders of course, I wouldn't be suprised if they came with a V12 in America.  [smile]

Nah, biggest I could find is ones powered by a 18hp V-twin, propane powered to keep the air inside fresh.

 

[Bertotti]

It is here! And wow it is so much easier to handle than the RO90! The 90 even with good technique is very skittish when the extractor hose drags or shifts. Just harder to balance than the RO150, and let's talk about speed! In an area about 6 feet wide and 24feet long I stripped with the RO90 while waiting for the ro150. I spent another couple of hours going over it with 60 grit once the 40 had the finish off. I just tried the Ro150 with 80grit and finished the entire area in less than 20 minutes. I cannot believe how much easier it was and I knew it would be faster but this is incredible! So for everyone out there, do not fear the RO90 I have learned how to one hand it with my left or right hand but it is a bit of work to use effectively. I love it and it isn't going anywhere. My time on the floor with it taught me a lot about it. Now the RO150 is 100X easier to use it is also a beast and eats up wood quickly so you do have to stay in motion and pay attention. These are my observation of Rotex mode. I have not tried the 150 in orbital, I have tried the 90 in orbital and delta. In delta I have some technique to work on since it did seem to leave some marks along the wall, scratches parallel to the wall. In orbital mode, it is a handful for me. I have had a hard time learning how to hold it flat and get it to behave. My observations only but I am glad I have both.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Maybe I just got lucky by getting the RO90 first, but I have never had a problem with it. I bought it mainly for the versatility of the delta pad in addition to the rotex mode. At that time, it was my only electric sander, the others are pneumatic, all the way up to an 8" geared orbital. Dust collection is and absolute zero there though. The electrics also come into play if I need them away from the shop's air supply.
The ets ec125 came next, mostly because of abrasive availability. 5" is the most widely used 
where I work. So, when I decided to get a bigger rotex, the  RO125 was the easiest way to go.
I have used an RO150 a few times, but I don't see the difference as big enough to matter, in my situation.

 

[mrboult]

The ro150 is a fabulous machine, and always my recommendation unless you really want the smaller size.

I wanted the smaller size and so I have the ro125. It’s a brilliant sander but it makes you work quite hard. The 150 is an even better sander and it makes you work 1/4 as hard.

 

[marvinalleyne@europeankit]

This is my group and they work really well just need to add one more festool ets ex 150

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dltflt]

The RO150 is a great combo with the RO90. I see an ETS EC 150 in your future also.

 

[Bertotti]

The RO150 is a great combo with the RO90. I see an ETS EC 150 in your future also.

Ah yes, I was actually eyeballing the ets ec 150/3. Sadly I had a 1400$ tractor repair and 1100$ car repair so it is off the table for a while until I earn some of that back. But I need to see how well I can finish up through the fine grits and polish with these two first, if they work out for me I may not need the ets for a while. I am hopeful that is the case these darn Festool tools are expensive. I don't have many, the ts55 and the two Rotex various rails and  anMFT3. I would like a couple more but I have tools that currently get the job done fine so until I earn some more money with these the wish list will have to wait. Everyone who helped me choose these sanders thank you for the help and Merry Christmas a bit early. Stay Safe, Stay Happy!

 

[Thompmd]

Congratulations on the RO150!! It’s the only one I have. I only started using Festools this year and bought it because I work with larger surfaces more in general(Slabs) and love it. For me it took a little bit to get used to and I still have to be careful in Rotex at lower grits or it has wanted to take off but this could be my inexperience . I sand up to 1200 with it and have been happy.

After thoughts: I rented a drum sander for about 30 weekends and it would cost me about $75-$80 including the paper I had to rent. I too hate spending money on renting vs buying and am with you 100%. I used the sander to simply clean up the slabs for a better visual appearance before selling, it definitely wasn’t flattening but it was quick/effective as most of the slabs were 10-16’ and 12-44” wide .... I wish the sanders came in a zero-turn lol.

You might also check Festool online for Granat closeouts or individuals with extra to save some money.

Again congratulations

 

[Bertotti]

I’m still in shock in how much easier this ro150 is to wield compared to the ro90. The little beast is very very sensitive to how you handle it and it makes you earn a nice surface. The ro150 although big in my hand was so much easier to use and even one handing it was easier. Either way I’ll be working on a table or two so I am going to try using just these two all the way up to a nice oiled and polished surface.