Festool Rotex RO90?

[Matt Meiser]

Thinking about one of these. It looks like it would be good for sanding face frames and other narrow parts. Who's has one? What do you think of it? Anyone returned one? why?

[Shawn Pixley]

I got one and it is a very useful sander. There is a lot of flexibility. I'd get it again.

[johnny means]

I've had one since they were first introduced. I love it for contoured and intricate worth pieces. I wouldn't recommend it for face frames though. It isn't that good when you want a flat surface. Also, the stock pad is fairly soft and trends to flex around corners.

[Michael W. Clark]

I got the small rectangular pad (RTS?) sander for face frames and small edges. It works great for them, but not well on small panels where the whole pad is on the work piece, leaves lots of swirlies.

I have the 6" Rotex and it is a beast, but does incredible sanding on panels and flat surfaces. I have used it on some large face frames (4"-5" wide).

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

Would a harder pad work or are there other reasons?

I have both 6" sanders and they can be a little big at times and I'm thinking this might fit the bill.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have the RO90. It has it's place, but narrow face frames is not one of them. I prefer a larger disk (RO150) for face frames. As others have said, it it difficult to keep a flat surface with the small pad.

[Victor Robinson]

I have the RO90 with all the fixins. I am torn about its utility in the woodshop, honestly.

As a renovation/remodeling/restoration sander around the house, it's fantastic. Stripping, finish sanding, detail sanding all-in-one. Not to mention it polishes too. It's the kind of sander you can find lots of uses for. So you'll find yourself using it for all sorts of things and projects around the house.

In the shop? Ehhh. Holding the sander flat to work is tricky. It requires sort of a special grip and it's a little annoying to keep the sander flat to the work. I've gouged a couple of face-frame type workpieces this way. I trust my ETS 150/3 (with a hard pad) much, much more, even with its large pad, for work like that. For sanding curves, the RO90 works well. I just don't find myself pulling it out much in the shop with other sanding options I have available (drum, spindle, belt, ETS 150/3). I have used it for polishing lacquer several times. That was neat.

If you have lots of remodeling and building-type of uses for it, I think you'll find the investment justified.

[joe milana]

+1 to everything stated here, except I prefer the DTS 150 (The one with the triangle head) for face frame sanding. Great control, and if you need more aggressive sanding than this sander offers, well...



I have the RO90 with all the fixins. I am torn about its utility in the woodshop, honestly.

As a renovation/remodeling/restoration sander around the house, it's fantastic. Stripping, finish sanding, detail sanding all-in-one. Not to mention it polishes too. It's the kind of sander you can find lots of uses for. So you'll find yourself using it for all sorts of things and projects around the house.

In the shop? Ehhh. Holding the sander flat to work is tricky. It requires sort of a special grip and it's a little annoying to keep the sander flat to the work. I've gouged a couple of face-frame type workpieces this way. I trust my ETS 150/3 (with a hard pad) much, much more, even with its large pad, for work like that. For sanding curves, the RO90 works well. I just don't find myself pulling it out much in the shop with other sanding options I have available (drum, spindle, belt, ETS 150/3). I have used it for polishing lacquer several times. That was neat.

If you have lots of remodeling and building-type of uses for it, I think you'll find the investment justified.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, I decided that this thing had enough going for it to at least take Festool up on the 90-day trial period. We gave the local Woodcraft a nice present and I'm told I can have it on Christmas morning.

I found a Festool dealer who makes up sandpaper assortments so i need to get one ordered. Sounds like I might be well served by the hard pad too.

[Mike Goetzke]

Well, I decided that this thing had enough going for it to at least take Festool up on the 90-day trial period. We gave the local Woodcraft a nice present and I'm told I can have it on Christmas morning.

I found a Festool dealer who makes up sandpaper assortments so i need to get one ordered. Sounds like I might be well served by the hard pad too.


Sort of thought this was coming:D.

FYI - I use my RO90 quite a bit - I also have ETS150 & RO150. I bought the hard pad and recently used the RO90 for FF components and to remove old finish from a couple hundred feet of base board. It is unblievable how long the paper last on this sander (forget the name - the blue stuff).

Mike

[Matt Meiser]

Granat! Love that stuff no matter the format. As my 6" paper supply needs replenishment I'm switching to that as well.

Try the foam backed pads. I had a roll of 220 foam back pads from Mirka and wanted something less agressive for sanding between coats so I bought 320 Granat. Should have bought 400. The Mirka after a few seconds of use is about as agressive as the 320 Granat. The Granat can sand a whole set of doors front and back and still cuts the same.