Sander Bosch 1250 devs compare Festool rotex 150

[image-ine]

Hello
I'm sanding a maple wood floor.
I have a Bosch 1250 Devs 6¨ sandblaster.
I find it difficult to remove cuts in the wood 1 to 2 mm.
My question is, is it worth buying a festool rotex 150 sander?
Is this tool more efficient than the bosch 1250 DEVS?

Thank you for your help,
Regards,
Claude

 

[Svar]

It might be more refined, but unlikely more efficient.
If your 1250 Bosch is not enough, the next step is a belt sander.

 

[AlexThePalex]

If your Bosch doesn't cut it, the Rotex won't either. Better rent a floor sander.

 

[xedos]

what grit and type, brand sandpaper are you using?

does the floor have a finish on it ?

are you trying to do the whole floor or just the edges ?

If the whole floor, neither tool is the correct on for the job.

 

[serge0n]

What others have said. Rotex is much easier to control, but has about the same power as 1250 DEVS. I've used both. I would get a RAS 115 while it's still available on clearance. Or a flooring sander, it all depends where the cuts are (close to walls or not) and how many of them you have to sand out.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I’ve had success with the Metabo Paint Remover on floors when a lot of wood needed to be removed from a floor. Unconventional, but it worked.

 

[image-ine]

Hello
Thank you all for your help which I appreciate.
The job is to sand the entire floor, the edges like all the parquet.
I will rent a drum sandblaster despite the fact of the dust generated.
There are many pitches in the wood, 1/32 "and 1/16" and it is maple wood so very difficult to sand.
Thanks again!

Claude

 

[JimD]

Claude,

I think you have the right plan.  I used my Bosch 1250 DEVS to edge a small bedroom and hallway I refinished and to sand a staircase.  It worked fine for that.  But I used a drum sander for the large areas - I used the big sander everywhere I could.  I was sanding white oak that had been stained dark and I finished it natural. 

I paid two different flooring guys to do most of the floors.  They had bigger drum sanders than I could rent. 

I did not enjoy the smaller area I did.  I think the contractors earned their money on my larger rooms.

Jim

 

[SilviaS7]

Yeah you will really need to rent the big drum sanders that are specifically made for refinishing floors.  They also have a lot of weight to them to help get out those deeper scratches that you can't really do with a smaller hand held sander.  Now, for doing edging/corners, yes you could use a Rotex or similarly powerful sander to do that, but honestly the cost of renting the floor edger is relatively cheap and will be much faster.  That should still leave some space in corners, and yes a Festool sander will be killer in taking care of the corners quickly.  I used my ETS EC 125 on the corners in my house in the rooms I have refinished the hardwood floors in, it made super quick work of the corners compared to doing it by hand, which I did in my first room.

 

[mike_aa]

[member=62404]image-ine[/member]  Sorry I'm late to this thread, but for floors I have used a U-Sand machine and they are very effective and easy to use if you can find one to rent.  Kinda like four 150mm Rotexes in one machine.

Mike A.
https://www.u-sand.com/

 

[Cheese]

As others have said, spot repairs are fine with a Rotex but to edge the entire room I'd rent a real edger. I believe they take a 5-6" disc but they rotate 4-5 times faster than a Rotex and weigh 20-25 pounds. That means the machine does all the work rather than your arms. Your only job is to move it around the room while you sit on some type of moving cart/creeper.

For the remainder of the room a Hummel drum sander is the usual choice. However there are 3 issues to note, the thing is heavy, 150-175 pounds. It comes in pieces so that you can move it. There's a definite learning curve to using it. You need to PRACTICE A BUNCH on something disposable before you turn it loose on your maple flooring. They're only available in 230/240 volt. You'll need to tap into your oven or dryer circuit. The dust collection on the later models (10 years old or newer) is great, very little gets left behind.

Because of the 3 noted issues with the Hummel, the U-Sand that Mike mentioned has become very popular. Light weight, no learning curve and it uses 120 volts. The only down side is it doesn't cut as quickly as the Hummel.

 

[JimD]

Now that the sander is figured out, I will add that I had good luck with Zar wood putty.  HD sells it around here.  My house is 50+ years old and I had some pretty good sized cracks that I filled with Zar before sanding and they are a lot less noticable now. 

I did one bedroom and a hallway with a smaller 120V drum sander I rented at HD (Home Depot).  It was not nearly as capable as the 220V drum sanders the contractors used on the rest of my floors but it did the job.  It also collected a lot of it's dust. 

I was surprised but floors are not sanded like furniture.  They use a lot coarser grit.  Possibly because the drum sander sands with the grain I don't see scratches. 

 

[nickao]

Sorry if I chimed in late.

Luckily, I can can go to a RA 180, that thing can take an 1/8" off that Maple(Even Ironwood) in a heart beat.

You must be using the wrong sandpaper and sequence. I work with hard Maple and far harder woods on a  daily basis and I never had a time where my 1250 or Rotex was not enough to get the Maple and harder woods smooth as glass. I own several of both sanders.

I do floor stuff and I generally never sand past 80 grit, 100 at most if certain woods call for it and all the items come out fine, like mirror in some cases. After I send out my work some guys may go to a higher grit to match the main floor, but I never do on the raw wood.

If you have lines I am betting you are simply afraid to go down to the grit you need start and if you did you skipped a grit now you cant get those lines out. You will need to back  to a grit and paper type that take the lines away and go  through the progression. I guarantee the Rotex and 1250 can do it, you don't need anything else.

And a floor edger is the tool of choice for a floor of course.

 

[image-ine]

[member=62404]image-ine[/member]  Sorry I'm late to this thread, but for floors I have used a U-Sand machine and they are very effective and easy to use if you can find one to rent.  Kinda like four 150mm Rotexes in one machine.

Mike A.
https://www.u-sand.com/

Hello
I finally found a home depot rental store, and he is renting the machine which I will be renting out soon, Thank you very much for your advice
Regards,
Claude

 

[image-ine]

Good morning all,

I want to thank you for your help regarding my project, it was very useful to me,

Regards,
Claude