rare for me, but hemming/hawing on a sander purchase - Festool related

[Richard Shaefer]

Having a bit of an issue here with a tool purchase. I'm undertaking a sortie against dust in my shop, and as one of the biggest offenders of airborne particulate, the sanders are dead in my sights for replacement. To that end, I'm looking at the ETS 150/3 or the Rotex 150 for a sander purchase, along with a dust collector (more on that later). For what it's worth, I plan on using the sander for general furniture building, but I do make quite a few table tops an the ability to quickly and cleanly bring a set of glued-up boards to level has value to me.

So I researched the hell out of these things, and the ETS 150 sanders get high marks pretty much everywhere. FWW likes it, It's popular on Amazon and here on SMC. FOG is friggin useless. Finding honest opinions about Festool products on that board is like finding honest opinion about the Bible in Vatican City. There's actually a good distribution of sources of the reviews on the sander, which is encouraging. The Rotex is a bit more nebulous. Some rave, some hate, and there are very very few independant reviews on the sander on the net, which is odd. You'd think with one of Festool's high end sanders, there'd be more out there. The German in me smells a conspiracy.

So here are my options:

1) go with the Rotex and use it for everything.
2) go with the ETS 150/3 (5?) and spend the spare change on a 6" Bosch EVS sander.

I'm leaning to option 2, but interested in opinions otherwise.

and one last thing about the Festool dust collectors:

I'm thinking the mini but contemplating the CT26. The mini should do, I think, but (and this is crazy) the friggin wheels on it irritate me. They're like little dime store Ikea wheels on this... $300 tool. The CT26 just looks more substantial, but for $120 more is a bit grating.

thoughts and comments are appreciated!!

[joe milana]

IMO, you won't want to do everything with the Rotex. It's a two handed sander, and a bit wielding, but you'll get better with it with use. And another thing, don't let anyone tell you you'll get "near belt sander performance" with it either. Not hardly....especially on hard woods like oak or maple. I bought mine to spot refinish some hardwood flooring during a remodel, and was disappointed. I think I have the CT33, and really like it.

[Leo Graywacz]

Just to throw a monkey wrench in your choices have you looked at the Mirka Ceros sander? It is getting good reviews from Festool users at FOG. I just picked it up on Monday and so far I am pretty impressed with it. Right now I have a good supply of 8 hole paper and the pad doesn't line up with the disc holes. So I do the best I can and have only about 2 holes that the vacuum can collect dust from. And yet it still does a great job. I am only using a 4 gallon Ridgid vacuum with an iSocket.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have both sanders. I bought 2 RO 150s in 2007 because my doctor told me I had to limit the dust I was around. I love the Rotex. I it very aggressive in Rotex mode. I have not used a belt sander since getting the Rotex. The dust collection is great also. It is also does a very good job of finish sanding in RO mode.
Last summer I got a ETS 150/3. I got the ETS 150/3 because it is smaller & lighter. I was using one Rotex 150 for rough sanding & the other for finish sanding. As I have gotten older, I want things lighter.

The other advantage the CT26 has over the CT Mini is a much larger bag. If you go with the Mini. be sure you get one of the updated units. The latest Minis have Hepa filters & they have the same suction power as the CT26/36/48.

[Steven Wayne]

I have the Rotex 150 and the ETS 150/3. I like the Rotex for removing a lot of material quickly. It is not a finish sander though. In RO mode its stroke is 5mm. The "3" in 150/3 is 3mm stroke, which is great for finish sanding. Personally, if I had it to do again I would probably get the Rotex 90 instead of the 150. I think it would suit what I do better. If the checkbook allows it, I plan to buy the 90 before the 10% off sale ends. I doubt you will have any regrets with the ETS 150/3.

I had a CT MIDI and recently got a good deal on a used CT22. I like the bigger dust extractor personally.

[Dan Clark]

I have the RO 150 and 3 other Festool sanders. And a Mirka Ceros. The Festool sanders are great, but the Ceros is my go to sander. A word of warning - when you use one of these sanders, you'll lose interest in most other sanders. Go with the CT 26. It's a better shop vac than the Midi or mini. For one thing, you can add a boom arm to the CT26.

Dan.

[Richard Shaefer]

Right now I'm leaning to the ETS. I can add an aggressive gear driven ROS later. Will also probably go with the bigger dust extractor, too.
Damn those that suggested the Mirka, no I at least have to look at it ;)

[Leo Graywacz]

The Festools are nice but the Mirka is just as nice and tiny and lightweight.

[Richard Shaefer]

Just looked at the Mirka a bit. is it me, or does it come in a Festoolish systainer?

[thomas prusak]

Richard,I have owned the rotex 150 for two yrs. and for heavy material removal I like it. For finer sanding I really don't. To much bounce and not very ergonomical IMHO. I recently purchased the ets 150/5 and can't be more impressed with it, both for fine sanding as well as heavier material removal. Never thought a sander could Perform so perfectly. Keep in mind the ets 150/3 has only a 3 mm stroke and is for very fine sanding. IMHO it's only really good for very fine sanding.

[johnny means]

Just looked at the Mirka a bit. is it me, or does it come in a Festoolish systainer?

I believe the "Systainer" is pretty much just a standard thing in Europe.

http://www.systainerworld.com/Articles.asp?ID=142

[Keith Harrell]

I started with the 150/3 and ct22 and just added the Rotex to get boards flat faster. The 150/3 is by far easier to handle but also takes time to remove material. It's my go to sander 80% of the time followed by the Rotex 150. I just picked up a smaller PC 130 5" palm sander to do curves on chairs but my return it for the Mirka which looks better and has better dust collection when attached to a vacuum. Having a dust collector that is attached 100% of the time and turns on every time you use your sander was my best decision for my health.

[Chris Tsutsui]

I have a rotex and ETS and I feel as though the Rotex can be set to the tiny circles mode and it operates similar to the ETS. Then when you want the rotex to remove a lot of material fast then you adjust it to rotex which causes it to spin powerfully and becomes a bit more difficult to handle.

The ETS is a lot more user friendly and is a one hand tool.

If I had to choose to own just one tool I think it would be the rotex because it's more versatile, though you just have to get over the bigger size and weight. One benefit I have with festool is there are about 3 dealers nearby where I can get parts, accessories that are in stock. I can't really say the same with Mirka, but I imagine it's probably a good sander as well.

[Jeff Monson]

I'm just the opposite of Keith, I started with the RO150 and a CT22, the RO is a big sander, 2 handed use most of the time for me. My next purchase was the ETS150, now its my sander of choice unless I need a lot of stock removed. The Festool sanders work well and the DC is excellent, I'd start with the RO and add the ETS when you can afford it.

[Jim Becker]

For overall general sanding, my 150/3 is my go-too tool. Like 95% of the time. I love my Rotex...and it does what it does extraordinarily well...but it's cumbersome for "normal sanding" since it really takes two hands to hold it. That's because when it's in "rotary" mode and very agressive, it really does take the extra leverage of two hands to keep it under control. But when you're doing ROS sanding, the physical length of the tool needs that extra hand to keep it balanced with even pressure across the pad. That's not a great thing when you also need to hold your workpiece as is often the case with finish sanding.

[Dan Clark]

I started with the 150/3 and ct22 and just added the Rotex to get boards flat faster. The 150/3 is by far easier to handle but also takes time to remove material. It's my go to sander 80% of the time followed by the Rotex 150. I just picked up a smaller PC 130 5" palm sander to do curves on chairs but my return it for the Mirka which looks better and has better dust collection when attached to a vacuum. Having a dust collector that is attached 100% of the time and turns on every time you use your sander was my best decision for my health.Keith,Mirka doesn't mention it but the Ceros OEM pad takes Festool 6" sandpaper. The pad holes line up with the outer ring of Festool paper, so you can leverage your supply of 150/3 paper and still get excellent dust collection. Speaking of dust collection, a D27 hose will fit into the Mirka dust port by removing the rubber connection. I keep a spare D27 hose hooked to the Ceros and use cord wraps to keep the hose and ceros together. The sander, hose, cord, and power supply is stored in a Festool Sys4 T-Loc. Regards,Dan

[Danny Hamsley]

I had the same questions about which 6" RO sander to get. Did a bunch or research on the Festools and other sanders (but not the Mirka....). In the end, I ordered the Bosch 3727DEV 3.3 amp 6" variable speed sander yesterday for half the price of the Festool. Maybe the Festool is twice as good. Anyway, it will be an upgrade from my 5" DeWalt that has sanded thousands of BF, so hopefully at least I am headed in the right direction.

One last thought. The best sander that I have ever purchased is the 15" 3 HP spiral head planer!!!!!!!!! The finish is so nice that sanding has become much less of a chore. I have found that doing the finish planing right really makes the down stream processes so much more pleasant, especially sanding.

[Stephen Cherry]

I'm looking at sanders also, and it seems to me that the price of these dedicated vacs would go a long way towards a used compressor to run air sanders, as well as giving the capability to do other things. It seems that the entry level compressor would be a real 5 hp, with 7.5 being more realistic.

I'm looking at mirka and dynabrade, with the self generating vacs. They look very simple and light weight. Plus these sanders are not super big money, like the festools.

[Phil Thien]

Wow, some of you guys have more invested in sanders than I have invested in my entire shop! Mark me impressed!

[Curt Putnam]

About 3 weeks ago I spent about 2 hours with a Festool rep checking out sanders & vacs. Decided the 6" Rotex and the mini or midi vac was what I needed. 10% off for another few days. Totally choked on the idea of spending nearly $1,000 for a vacuum and a sander - especially since I'm trying to move to hand tools. Spent $100 and bought a Ridgid 6" with lifetime warranty that hooks to my 20 year old ShopVac. The sander is not as good and the vac sure isn't. But $100 was just too attractive. Also added a 3M 7500 series half mask filter for when the dust is really flying.

[Dave Lewis]

Regarding the dust collection, I bought a 3M Bosch dust hose that connects my Bosch 6" ROS to cyclone ductwork that works OK. . I can also connect to a variable suction Fein vacuum; at full suction it's almost too much though, but it's quieter and auto-on/off is really nice.

[Don Bullock]

When I had multiple problems with a Bosch ETS sander quitting after very light use I bought a Festool 5" Dual Mode Sander RO 125 T-Loc. It's been very reliable with absolutely no problems. I wanted the 5" for more versatility and it's been my "go to" sander for almost everything. I don't know what I'd do with a more aggressive sander. After trying to hook the sander up to my ShopVac with some degree of success I decided that I "needed" a Festool CT 22. They had them available in "Package Deals" like they do now. After discussing my sanding needs with Bob Marino (Festool dealer) I decided on the Orbital 1/2 sheet sander RS 2 T-Loc. I do a lot of flat sanding, i.e. table tops, and Bob suggested this sander would be good for that. Wow, was he right. I love the Orbital 1/2 sheet sander for table tops and anything I want to make flat. Both sanders, of course, work flawlessly with my Festool CT 22. I decided rather that buying new bags or trying to empty them (very messy) I'd place an Oneida Dust Deputy between the sanders and the CT 22. It works great.

After stating my experience I'd like to say that most people seem to like the 150/3 better than the RO 125. There are times when the RO 125 is more difficult to control than the 150/3. If I had the cash I would buy a 150/3 to add to my shop, but that's not happening anytime soon. I's strongly suggest that you work with a dealer who will allow you to experiment with the sanders or at least has a good return policy.