Slow speed RO sander?

[Aaron Berk]

I'm using my Ridgid 5" RO allot lately. It has variable speed, but I was looking for something slower.

I've got pad sanders, but they aren't what I'm looking for.

I know I could use a pneumatic RO or DA sander and just throttle down the pressure, but I don't have the CFM in my shop yet for that.


Any body got one they really like that's slower than the ridgid?

By the way, it's 7,000 to 12,000 OPM no load speed

[Will Overton]

I think most of these sanders need a minimum rpm to produce the random orbit.
20 years ago Bosch made one that the orbit was directly power driven, but I'm not sure they are still available.

[Aaron Berk]

The Festool 125 FEQ does what I'm looking for "4.2 Amps, 300-600 RPM rotary motion speed, 3000-6000 OPM eccentric motion speed."

But I don't like the Kool-Aid pricing.

I may bite the bullet, but at close to $400 ouch

[Greg R Bradley]

The Festool sander that is a 5" RO is the ETS 125 EQ. They are $170 list. It is a 2mm RO so it would be very fine. I assume that is what you are looking for when you want "slower". It will seem much slower due to the low vibration and smooth finish but it will work faster than seems possible with less effort than seems possible AND your hands won't tingle when you are done.

If you buy one and you use it for awhile, you will realize it is worth the money. I didn't believe it either until I used one. 30 day money back guarantee. You won't take it back.

I prefer the ETS 150 EQ for general 1 or 2 hand use. I have the ETS 150/5 (5mm RO) as that is a good step up from the ETS 125. They also make a ETS 150/3 (3mm RO) that is the more common very fine finish RO sander. The ETS 150 series are $285.

Also, a slow geared head unit would not be a RANDOM Orbital sander and would be a different tool.

[Rick Fisher]

Hmm..

I have a switch that creates Variable speed for a router on my router table.. It has a dial which goes from 1 - 10.. I wonder how it would work on a sander ? I suspect it would slow it down to almost nothing..

[Josiah Bartlett]

Be careful slowing down a sander motor with an external speed control, it may well overheat. It may not be able to blow enough air through the motor with the internal fan to keep it cool.

If you are going to spend $400, you could just upgrade your compressor. My $25 Chinese DA sander works fine at low speed.

The other option, if you put a sander pad on it, is to use a random orbit buffer, which would run at lower speed just fine. Something like a PC 7424 would do the trick at 2500-6000 opm.