Random Orbit Sander Choices - Help me decide

[Brent Ring]

All,

I am trying to decide which of the following ROS to purchase. In the ring are the Bosch ROS20VS, which has the best price for me at $59.00, but it seems to have need a special adapter to connect to a 2" shop vacuum. It also only has a 1 year warranty and a 2.2V motor. Next are both the Porter Cable 390K at $93.49, and the Dewalt D26456 at $84.97. These two sanders almost seem exactly the same, except for color and name. So, if push comes to shove, the lower price might win. Ability to connect to a full size shop vac is important.

I am leaning towards the Dewalt, but the other two are interesting to me. I am a hobbyist woodworker, but did wear out the brake on an older Porter Cable in about a year. So that might give you an idea of what I how much I sand. I do have a Dewalt 1/4 sheet palm sander that I have had for over 15 years that is still going strong.

Thoughts?

[Stew Hagerty]

Wood magazine just did a shop test of 6" ROS. Issue 211 May 2012. The "Best Tool" was the Bosch ROS65VC for $239. And the "Best Value" was the Rigid R2611 for $114. They also had an article on whether or not you need a 6" model instead of or in addition to a 5" model.

[Mike Henderson]

I have a couple of Porter Cable 390 sanders. Good sanders - very strong and reliable - brushless motor. Only issue is the grip - you need a large hand to grip it comfortably.

Woodcraft had a sale on these recently at $85 and PC was giving a $15 rebate. Don't know if it's still going on.

Mike

[And you don't need the 390K compared to the 390. The only thing added (that I can see) is a carrying case.

[Ron Natalie]

I've got the 6" version of the Bosch and have been quite happy with it.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

Try a Rotex. You have 30 days to return it. You won't.

[Prashun Patel]

You've asked a loaded question. EVERYONE seems to love the ROS they own. These threads come up often and I think it'd be more useful to ask: "Which ROS should I avoid?"

For me, I have the Bosch yr considering. It's great. You can get an adapter from HD for probably $10. I wouldn't let that deter you. The dust collection is great, and it's a light but aggressive sander. You can spend a million dollars on a Ceros (like I did) or a Rotex, but in the end, if you want to stay in the $100 range, then I don't think you'll go wrong with most anything. If yr partial to the Bosch get it. It's fine.

[Don Jarvie]

I have a Craftsman Professional (Red Model) I paid around 45 bucks for and works fine. The vacuum hooks right up.

If your going to do a lot of sanding maybe a better one would be more comfortable.

[Van Huskey]

Try a Rotex. You have 30 days to return it. You won't.

Actually, I hate the Rotex and all "angle grinder" sanders. The ETS series is very nice though and the 150 was my choice for an ROS, however, a friend of mine just got the "new" Bosch ROS65 and were I in need of another ROS after having used it I think the Bosch would be my choice, Bosch has always made good ROS and though a tick below the Festool in quality I think they may have jumped them with their new sander and at a slightly lower price point, if you get the full kit you have a 5" and 6" sander.

[Bruce Page]

I haven’t used any of the sanders you list but one thing to consider is both the DeWalt & PC have a stronger 3.5 amp motor.

I have a PC 333 and a PC 343 and haven’t been able to kill either one. My only complaint with them was vibration, so I bought a Festool 150 ETS.

[Bill White]

My old PC ROS #333 won't die. New pad and brake rings every so often. So what?
If it ever dies out, the Bosch will probably be my choice.
Bill

[Larry Whitlow]

For whatever it is worth, I have both a PC 333 (kind of old) and a Dewalt 420. Both get the job done. Between the two I lean towards the Porter Cable. Nothing scientific. Just my subjective opinion that it has a slight edge on overall performance.

Larry

[Alan Lightstone]

More expensive, but I really like the Festool ETS 150/3. I have the Rotex too, but like the ETS much better and use it far, far more.

[Sid Matheny]

I have the Dewalt and have had great service from it for 5 years now.

Sid

[Michael W. Clark]

I think I have the Dewalt you mentioned. It is agressive, but very noisy and vibrates terribly, I hate it.

I ended up getting the 6" Rotex, takes some getting used to, but I love it. I also got the RTS 400 which, to me, is much easier to use on face frames and narrower parts than a circular pad ROS. It still works well on mid-with parts like drawer fronts and parts, etc. The RTS is very quiet, low vibration, and works quickly. I sanded all the parts for 4 drawers the other day and never had to swap hands, and didn't have a numb arm when I was finished. I don't do this for a living, so I'm not accustomed to long sanding sessions on a daily basis.
Mike

[Richard Dragin]

If you break down the time spent on a project, sanding would be the most time consuming. The finest dust produced from any tool and therefore the most harmful and hardest to control is from finish sanding. If you look at most woodworker's shops the least expensive power tool would be the ROS.

I had no problem justifying my purchase of a Mirka Ceros and Festool vac. The Festool sanders are a good choice. All sand paper is not equal but that is another thread.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Odd - it must be an individual tool type of thing.
I have a DeWalt and a PC.
The DeWalt works great - not so the PC. The PC vibrates so bad I can't use it for anything other than rough initial sanding. The dust collector bag kept launching itself off so often I quit using it.

I honestly can't recommend either of them.

While the DeWalt has been great, replacement pads for it are ridiculously expensive. IIRC, they run nearly half of what I paid for the sander.

Whatever you settle on, make sure you price out replacement pads before you buy it.

[Steve Griffin]

Agree with Rich on Porter cable.

I have one of the old 5" models, which takes 10 minutes to get up to speed, and then another 10 minutes to stop spinning.

The brilliant rocket scientists at Porter cable probably heard about this while at the bar for lunch, and invented an aftermarket solution--instead of fixing the problem, they tried to sell what's what they called a "sander sitter", which basically is a little lazy susan for your sander to sit while it spools down.

I've also used the 6" Porter cable--the one with the heavy grinder motor dangling off the side. One of the guys in the shop got tendonitous, and I hated the thing. I believe this tool is pictured in the Wikipedia as an example of no ergonomics and out of balance construction.

[Michael W. Clark]

All the back and forth about PC, Bosch, and Dewalt (and my dislike for my Dewalt sander) is what ultimately drove me to Festool. I didn't want to spend the money, I was upgrading from a $40 Craftsman ROS. I bought the Dewalt and thought I was slplurging, but was less than impressed. I cringed at the price of the Festool, but haven't looked back. The sanders themselves are top quality without the consideration of the superior dust collection. I think the Festool ROS sanders are a little over 2X the price of the sanders being discussed. However, the Festool is quieter, quicker, and has much less vibration. In a way, I look forward to sanding, probably because it is still new to me. I would encourage you to visit somewhere near you that sells Festool and take a look. If I had bought Festool first, I would probably have less money invested in sanders overall. (Except for the fact that the quality is addictive, and you want to buy more.:))

Mike

[John Piwaron]

All,

I am a hobbyist woodworker, but did wear out the brake on an older Porter Cable in about a year.



May I inquire as to what you mean by wearing out a brake in that sander? On my P-C sander (a 334) it has a big o-ring it uses to slow the pad down, but I'm not sure I'd call that a brake. And I have replaced it 'cause that o-ring broke.

[John Piwaron]

I'd buy the P-C 390K if I were limited to those choices. My P-C sanders have lasted many years. I own a P-C 333 and a 334. If they failed, I'd buy a similar size and shape Festool sander. Because I *love* my Festool vac's ability to capture *all* the sanding dust. Aside from the chore that it can become, I love sanding now. Love it. Ever since I got that vac. And it happened that the P-C 333 and 334 will connect to the Festool vac's hose directly. No adaptor required. It's awesome. It's stupendous.:D:):p

[Chris Tsutsui]

I was just at Lowest Yesterday looking at sanders reminded of this thread and I saw the Dewalt Sander on Clearance for $71. The normal price was like $100.

This leads me to believe that Dewalt is coming out with a replacement, or the lowes just wants to stop selling that model and just sell the cheapy $50 models. Eitherway, I would check a few local lowes and keep an eye for the clearance items always decrease in price as the weeks go by until stock is gone.

[John Piwaron]

My old PC ROS #333 won't die. New pad and brake rings every so often.

Ditto. But, if it ever does, I'll go with a similarly sized Festool sander. But won't. So that Festool may join my stable of ultra reliable P-C sanders.

[Brent Ring]

I think thats what broke in mine. I may be able to cheaply replace it. But I am not sure... its a single speed only though and I have heard that VS is really good....

[Brent Ring]

All,

Thanks for the advice. Sometime in my life I will be able to afford the FESTOOL/ROTEX brand. Just not now... I am going with the Dewalt because of my history with other Dewalt tools. I hope I wont be disappointed. I really appreciate all the advice and opinions. You guys are great!

[Greg R Bradley]

Don't confuse the $59 Bosch RO with a good Bosch sander like the Swiss made ones.

I had an older 5" RO Bosch that cost around $100 10 years ago. It was excellent but when it disappeared, I bought one of the newer ones like the ROS20VS. It was junk. I replaced it with a Festool ETS150/5, which is excellent and was about $250. They are now about $300. The Bosch ROS65VC mentioned in another post is about the same price when you factor in the case. It is supposed to be an improvement on the DEVS series that was almost as good as the Festools.

In other markets the Bosch Commercial stuff is blue and the consumer junk is green. It is all blue in the US since we think in "brands" instead of quality but you can tell the difference by looking at the country of manufacture. The good sanders are made in Switzerland and the consumer stuff is made in China. Exactly the same as their jigsaws.

Bosch really should market the ROS20VS under their Skil brand name. You really can fool most of the people most of the time.

If you decide you want to try out the Bosch ROS65VC or its cousins, Bosch has a 30 day no questions asked guarantee for customer satisfaction just like Festool.

[paul cottingham]

My favorite sander is a hand plane. After that, I have used and liked the rigid, largely cause I could easily attach a vacuum.

[Jim O'Dell]

I'm always the odd man out...I like my new Milwaukee. Works great. Jim.