Mirka Ceros Sander

[William C Rogers]

I finally got to use my Ceros sander for the first time ( after selling my house, building a new pole barn and moving ). I had bought it at the end of March just before I retired because I knew I would have a lot of sanding building my kitchen cabinets. I had to build a new workshop (barely functional at this point with limited electricity) and building a new house. This sander is by far several steps above any finish sander I have ever used, green, blue, orange and red ones. It should be at $500. I have no regrets buying it. Under 2 lbs. I used it for about 5 hours yesterday with no fatigue and my hand was not still shaking when I quit. I used it with the Abranet sanding discs and there is virtually no visible dust. I bought this mainly for the dust control with the Abranet discs because with my new shop I am upgrading all of the dust control. Added benefits are the ease of sanding and low noise that I did not anticipate to the extent this sander provides. I really like the off on paddle control. The Abranet discs provide some of the benefit, but the sander itself provides much more. Glad I had the nerve to spend this amount of money on this sander and would do it again. As far as disadvantages it probably will not trigger a vac, but not an issue for me.

[John Schweikert]

I've been using the 6" Ceros for a year and agree that it is a superb sander. It triggers my Fein Turbo II vac with no problems. The sander power supply when turned on causes the vac to trigger for a few seconds and then off, then when using the sander, everything is in sync. The Abranet discs are the star. They last a long time, allow a vac to collect virtually all the dust. I like how the sander can be delicate at middle speeds and aggressive at full speed.

I bought PET braided sleeving and some heat shrink tubing and wrapped the power cord and hose together, less hassle and the hose can't catch on edges.

[Jeff Duncan]

It's on my short list of tools to upgrade, I've yet to hear a bad thing about them......except the price tag:o

Jeffd

[Peter Quinn]

I demoed one at a woodcraft.....ditto best sander I've tried. Once my green one croaks and the money tree ripens its on the short short list for me.

[John Sanford]

I demoed one at a woodcraft.....ditto best sander I've tried. Once my green one croaks and the money tree ripens its on the short short list for me.
Really? Better than the green one eh? I'm in the semi-fortuitous position of having naught but a PC 333 VS, so upgrading my sanding capacity is a fairly high priority for me, and lacking any current sunk costs in a high grade sanding system, this is a good thread for moi.

[John Huds0n]

When it comes to high end sanders, I have the 5" Ceros along with a Festool DTS 400 and I agree - the Ceros is by far my favorite. It is such a compact design - basically the size and shape of an air sander and I really like the paddle control on top

[John Piwaron]

The Ceros is better than a Festool sander? Really? How so? Can you describe it?

I recently got a couple of Festool sanders. They are much better than the Porter Cable sanders I've been using. You're saying the Ceros is better still?

[James Boster]

Never used a green sander but bit the bullet and bought a Ceros last year. Was probably the best investment in tools ( and I have a lot of tools) that I have ever made. Well worth the cost.

[Jim German]

I would hope the Ceros is better than the Festool, at $500 vs the $325 for the Festool, its significantly more expensive.

[Mark Wooden]

I glad to hear the good reviews; I've been considering one for a while.

[Joe Jensen]

I have a fleet of Festool sanders and LOTS of investment in paper. The Festool was a huge step up in smooth operation (little vibration) and a MASSIVE improvement in terms of dust collection over the PC sanders with the same WAP vacuum. I've played with the Ceros several times, maybe an hour in total and the size and shape are just better. Plenty of power but lighter, smaller, and even less vibration. I may see what I can see the Festool paper for first to see how much I'd lose in switching.

[John Schweikert]

Joe, as long as the Ceros pad and the Festool sandpaper discs mate just fine, I'm talking about matching hook and loop, then you can use the Festool paper on the Ceros, just pick the 5" or 6" depending on all your paper. The Ceros pad has enough holes for dust collection so that it will be close to matching any paper out there. Ceros paper discs are 1 hole center (matches Festool) 6 holes inside (Festool has 8) and 8 holes outer edge (matches Festool). At least an option so there is less risk in losing out on the paper you have already bought.

[William C Rogers]

One thing not to forget if you are using the Abranet mesh sandpaper (regardless of sander brand) is the Abranet pad protector. Otherwise you will wear out your original pad much faster than normal.

[George Octon]

Tried the Abranet, wouldn't give you 10 cents for it. Set it down and went right back to the discs I had. Do have a Porter cable 390 and it is a piece of junk. Although it may be defective (haven't found out for sure yet).

[Biff Phillips]

I have a fleet of Festool sanders and LOTS of investment in paper. The Festool was a huge step up in smooth operation (little vibration) and a MASSIVE improvement in terms of dust collection over the PC sanders with the same WAP vacuum. I've played with the Ceros several times, maybe an hour in total and the size and shape are just better. Plenty of power but lighter, smaller, and even less vibration. I may see what I can see the Festool paper for first to see how much I'd lose in switching.

Not sure what Festool sanders you have, but the 6" Rotex paper works on the Mirka 6" sander. The holes line up.
I went ahead and bought some Abranet paper anyhow, but if you have big $$ invested in paper, check it out.
I think the Abranet is better than the festool paper.

I still use the Rotex in rotex mode when I need to remove a lot of material, but I like the Ceros much better.
If I needed the money to make the Mirka purchase, I'd sell my Festool sander without hesistation.

[David Kuzdrall]

I will buy one of these as soon as my current ROS dies but until then....I bought an abernet baker pad, bored out a little bit of foam to accommodate the mounting assembly and installed it on my PC390 ROS so I can run the 5" abernet sanding discs...big improvement in finish quality.

[richard poitras]

I have had mine for about a year and love mine ....

[John Huds0n]

I see WoodWerks is running a great deal on the Ceros right now - 3 boxes of abranet sandpaper and a tool bag (allegedly a $180 value)
This is where I bought mine

http://www.woodwerks.com/mirka-ceros-compact-electric-random-orbital-sander-mim65020caus-p-9106.html

They also have the 3" version of the Ceros!

[Joe Samorodin]

The real test comes with the finish, with Festool I was getting swirl marks on large areas like gable ends. Switched to the Mirka and problem solved. The Festool resides in a drawer now. Also I used a dynabrade on panel that I was finishing at another shop most of the work had already been sanded by the Mirka but needed some touch up, big mistake a soon as I applied the stain the dynabrade swirl pattern popped against the Mirkas' exact same grit. I am currently doing some highly figured maple and even on 120 the quilting really stands out. This is one sander that gets my full recommendation.

[Kent A Bathurst]

The Ceros is better than a Festool sander? Really? How so? Can you describe it?

I recently got a couple of Festool sanders. They are much better than the Porter Cable sanders I've been using. You're saying the Ceros is better still?

Green Kool-Aid is out of stock in Milwaukee............. :p :p ;)

The marketing and the packaging/containers aren't always the definitive answer. The Festool gear is, without question, hands down, excellent stuff. But they do not, necessarily, have the only handle on truth with a capital "T".

[David Kuzdrall]

I finally got to use my Ceros sander for the first time ( after selling my house, building a new pole barn and moving ). I had bought it at the end of March just before I retired because I knew I would have a lot of sanding building my kitchen cabinets. I had to build a new workshop (barely functional at this point with limited electricity) and building a new house. This sander is by far several steps above any finish sander I have ever used, green, blue, orange and red ones. It should be at $500. I have no regrets buying it. Under 2 lbs. I used it for about 5 hours yesterday with no fatigue and my hand was not still shaking when I quit. I used it with the Abranet sanding discs and there is virtually no visible dust. I bought this mainly for the dust control with the Abranet discs because with my new shop I am upgrading all of the dust control. Added benefits are the ease of sanding and low noise that I did not anticipate to the extent this sander provides. I really like the off on paddle control. The Abranet discs provide some of the benefit, but the sander itself provides much more. Glad I had the nerve to spend this amount of money on this sander and would do it again. As far as disadvantages it probably will not trigger a vac, but not an issue for me.

which orbit size did you buy, the 3mm or 5mm?