The Best RO Sander - Period

[Joe Unni]

Hey all,

If you had to choose and Festool was NOT part of the equation, what RO sander would you choose? And why?

My little PC sander's break went and I discovered its effects upon delivery (actually loading up the freight elevator) of a couple of unfinished Adirondack chairs. I notice a couple of donut hollows. Yikes! Thankfully I was able to sand these out, but I can't risk this happening again.

Any input would be very helpful.

Thanks,
-joe

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I have a DW ROS and I love it. Cost me $69 at HD's and I've had it almost a year now.

[Jeff A. Smith]

You have a PC sander and it left "donut holes"? I'm not sure what you mean.

I remember a lesson I learned in a class with Michael Dresdner. Take a piece of notebook paper and move your finger down it at what you think is 1 inch per second. Time how long it takes you to go down the 11" side of the paper. To take a full 11 seconds is a really slow rate of travel. And then he said, "That's how fast you're supposed to move your ROS in order to have no swirl marks," and then with a laugh said, "and I know that none of you go faster than that." A long-winded story to illustrate that there's a lot to the technique of using a sander. At least more than meets the eye.

So my point (finally) is, that unless you're saying your PC is broken, then it's operational characteristics are no better or worse than most sanders in it's class (IMO). Going to a DeWalt or a Milwaukee, etc... I don't THINK you'd see an appreciable difference.

And why rule out the Festool? Price? But even with Festool, when you say "donut hole", I'm picturing a divot like one caused when the sander is not used flat on the surface (like when I get in a hurry and dig a trough in my wood by tilting it up on one side) -- and anything tilted will do that. Or maybe a donut hole occurs when a lot of pressure is applied to the sander??? (which is another no-no with any of them).

And finally, if I wasn't getting another Festool sander, I'd look at Makita, DeWalt, and PC, and find one that I liked the feel of... but beyond that, I wouldn't expect any of the three to be significantly different in what they produced.

Sorry to be so long-winded, long day, and I'm tired!

Jeff Smith

[Joe Unni]

Festool - priced to high for now.

The donut hole...

The problem I suspect was some of my tecnique, but also the brake that is supposed to slow down the spinning of the pad when the sander is released from the wood is broken and spins at like a billion mph. If I don't begin moving the sander (even for a split second) right away this "donut" occurs. This never happened before the brake was broken.

[Dino Makropoulos]

Hey all,

If you had to choose and Festool was NOT part of the equation, what RO sander would you choose? And why?

My little PC sander's break went and I discovered its effects upon delivery (actually loading up the freight elevator) of a couple of unfinished Adirondack chairs. I notice a couple of donut hollows. Yikes! Thankfully I was able to sand these out, but I can't risk this happening again.

Any input would be very helpful.

Thanks,
-joe

Joe. You may want to remove the "period" from your title. :cool:
Or at least put a price cup.
Like...The best under $150.00 ? period. ;)
welcome back.
YCF Dino

[Frank Pellow]

Hey all,

If you had to choose and Festool was NOT part of the equation, what RO sander would you choose? And why?

My little PC sander's break went and I discovered its effects upon delivery (actually loading up the freight elevator) of a couple of unfinished Adirondack chairs. I notice a couple of donut hollows. Yikes! Thankfully I was able to sand these out, but I can't risk this happening again.

Any input would be very helpful.

Thanks,
-joe
Sorry Joe but you have imposed an impossible restriction. You can't have the best Period and rule out Festool at the same time.

[Scott Coffelt]

Take a serious look at the Ridgid 6". I had it before I bought my Festool. It's heavier, but runs as about as smooth and had good dust collection.

[Bob Noles]

Joe,

I have the Dewalt and it does a good job.

[Phil Ordway]

PC 6". Works like a champ.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I've got both the PC and DeWalt, and have used from a 'pool' of three of each the past five or six years. I like the DeWalt better. They don't vibrate as much as the PC and my fingers don't go to sleep as quickly (they still DO, though), and they seem to have a bit more aggressive cut. I've also had switch/cord related problems with all of the PCs (surprise! :mad: ).

I always liked the PC Speedbloc finish sander...and still do...but I reach for the DeWalt 1/4 sheet first. Smaller, lighter, and just feels more 'positive' on flat surfaces. I do prefer the Speedbloc for contoured surfaces.

KC

[Ian Barley]

I have a Festool 150/5 and a Metabo 6" which is basically the same machine that Ridgid relabels. The Metabo is a good machine. It costs about half as much as the Festool. The Festool is still better value for money.

[Phil Maddox]

I think the Fein runs is an excellent tool. If this is out of the $ range, Bosch makes the best IMO.

Phil

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Joe,

I know what you mean about not having the break on those sanders! I had one go on a craftsman... If you didn't start the sander on the work peice, you would end up with a nasty "donut hole"!!

[Dave Tinley]

Joe-
I replaced two pC's with Dewalts and have been very happy with those. That said, I reach for my pnuematic sanders first tho. They are aggresive and to me not near the vibrations as the electric models.
One of these days I will look at getting a Festool, but that will be after I win the lottery - :D
And heaven forbid I have acctually been using a hand scraper alot more, once I got it sharpened correctly it has been a jam up tool.

Dave

[Charlie Kocourek]

I do own the Festool, but my second choice would be the RIGID from HD. Next would be the PC I think it is PC 333 or something like that. I KNOW that these are both good sanders.

[Joe Unni]

Thanks for all of your repsonses.

It looks like Rigid or Dewalt.

-joe

[Corey Hallagan]

I have the PC and the DW. The dust collection on the Dewalt is good. I like the PC and have used it for many years but the Dewalt has become my favorite. I did alot of touch up sanding on a stripped and sanded wood floor, I did not get any donuts as you say but the PC I found you have to becarefull on how you start and stop it.
The Ridgid without using it I think is just as good aof a sander.

Corey

[Pete Harbin]

Joe,

Another vote for Ridgid. I've had the 6" for about a year and a half, and I really like it. No vibration and the dust collection is great with my little, mini Shop-Vac or the Ridgid portable. I've also had the Ridgid 5" for about 9 months, and it's a nice, smooth machine as well.

Pete

[martyphee]

Dynabrade.

http://www.dynabrade.com/cgi-bin/Industrial/59029?JCLX2dIq;;14

[Don Slaughter]

I've had the Ridgid 6" for 3 years and am still singing it's praises. With the shopvac hooked up there is virtually no dust...and it performs as well as I will ever need.
good luck,
Don

[Tom Kelley]

Joe,
I use the Bosch 5 inch 3725DEVS and love it. I have had absolutely no problems. My small pad sander is an old Black & Decker "Professional" model that refuses to die. I think B&D makes DeWalt products. Personally, I think that the user's skill and experience is more important than the machine. I hope you find something you'll be happy with!

Tom Kelley

[Joe Unni]

Joe,
I use the Bosch 5 inch 3725DEVS and love it...
Tom Kelley

My concern - and please correct me if I'm wrong - is that it appears to have a proprietary dust collection connection. I would like to option to hook up to some type of vac instead of relying soley on the on-board dust bag. Is that possible with the Bosch?

Thanks,
-joe

[Harry Goodwin]

While on this subject I have a dewalt round sander RO and the long PC random orbital with speed control. Do you start the sander off the work like other sanders on placed on the work before starting? How about the speed recommendation? Harry

[Bill Arnold]

No matter what they say, folks who buy the most expensive tools are doing it to impress someone one way or another. Maybe the tool works pretty good; maybe they have so much money they want to impress you with what they can afford that you can't! :confused:

Now that I have that off my chest, I have two ROS's -- a PC and a Ryobi. I have a 1.25" vacuum hose that I connect to my dust collector. I can connect it to either one of the ROS's. With my setup in operation, I cannot find any dust escaping the vacuum system. The Ryobi ROS cost me about $60 several years ago. The PC about the same. :D

Oh, yeah, no 'donuts', either. Practice technique.:)

It's not the size or cost of your tool that counts, it's what you do with it! ;)

[Hikmet C. Sakman]

Both are the same other than the color. (Green/orange) I also have 6' Bosch, I think this sander is better due to its 1/8" and 1/4" (dual) orbiting. It's like a slower belt sender with extreme control. (lack of a better description.) It also works equally well with finer grits. (I've tried it with 600G max.) Orbiting mechanism is all metal gears. It's a very well made and very well performing tool.

Chico...

[Ian Barley]

No matter what they say, folks who buy the most expensive tools are doing it to impress someone one way or another. Maybe the tool works pretty good; maybe they have so much money they want to impress you with what they can afford that you can't! :confused:



Or maybe Bill - they are using it for 4 hours at a time sometimes 3 or 4 days a week and they have realised that
1 - 10% better might be worth 50% more
2 - A tool that is industrially rated and will run for thousands of hours is better value than one that will expire after dozens of hours.

We all have different reasons for our purchase choices. The question that was asked was "the best". Not "the best value".

[Jim Becker]

No matter what they say, folks who buy the most expensive tools are doing it to impress someone one way or another. Maybe the tool works pretty good; maybe they have so much money they want to impress you with what they can afford that you can't!

While there will always be some who take that road simply because it's a human trait, I disagree strongly with your statement, Bill. Generalizations like that don't reflect the majority, nor do they fairly portray the same.

Even with extreme part-time use, I've destroyed several typical (and popular) ROS, for example. In total, the cost for those machines was more than the machine I use now...money down the drain. I suffered from numbness from the vibration of the mass-market sanders and they didn't even do a particularly good job and took longer to do it. No more. I'd rather save longer and buy the better product up front...and if it has other advantages, such as being part of a system that works well together or is quieter and more vibration free...I'll even more gladly pay the extra money.

[Jim W. White]

I've had one for over a year now and never pass up the chance to endorse it!

[Hikmet C. Sakman]

It's simply put: "You get what you pay for!"

That is IT.

Chico...

[Joe Unni]

Thanks again all!

Simply put...I'm only 1 1/2 years into being pro and my budget is next to zero. My primary sander has failed (i.e. the pad brake) and I need another. I can not dish out $165 for Festool's cheapest (ES 125) - I simply don't have it! I was just looking for some input on peoples experiences with other sanders. I've proven to myself several times over that you get what you pay for, but no money means you can't pay for it. I'll live with having to replace it in a year or two.

I'll still be looking at the Dewalt or Rigid.

Thanks,
-joe

[Hikmet C. Sakman]

Sorry about the link ban rule. I am not ignoring it, I just didn't realize that's against the rules.

Chico...


It's simply put: "You get what you pay for!"

That is IT.

Chico...

[Dev Emch]

To Jim Da Mod-u-lator...

So Jim... You did not state which sander you finally selected. Which one do you like the best?

To Bill Arnold...

When you run these tools every day to pay the bills, two things come up every time. First, you need day-in, day-out reliability. No monkey business. This is esp. true if you have employees! I cannot afford to pay folks to fiddle around with a cheesy tool! Second, they have to perform flawlessly. No excuses.

But the irony is that the hobbyist is in an even tighter pickle then those of us who work wood every day. You only have a few hours to devote to the hobby every week or month. So you really need to make it count and running into the same issues we do makes it even more frustating.

In closing, not all tools are created equal. Given two tools, one will be a real joy to work with and the other will allow you to discover every four letter word in existance. In the long run, which one is better?

[Jay Kilpatrick]

To Jim Da Mod-u-lator...

Given two tools, one will be a real joy to work with and the other will allow you to discover every four letter word in existance. In the long run, which one is better?

Dev,
I quite enjoy using four letter explicatives to a degree. The garage (alone at night) allows me the means for the type of verbal expression that some circumstances desire, but cannot obtain in most of time due to the attended environment (hey! I've got a four year old who adores and attempts to emulate Dad... poor kid). So... I've got the dewalt, and haven't had to cuss at it once during its 2 year stay.

~Jay in Texas

[Ken Miller]

there is an adaptor you can buy to connect to the shop vac or your 2.5" round hose will fit over the rectangular connection on the sander and you get plenty of dust control without the adaptor. Before your final decision is reached, remember to check the amps of the tool. I know bosch makes two 5" models, one at 2.2 amps and one at 3.3 amps. It makes a big difference for heavier stock removal.

[Joe Unni]

there is an adaptor you can buy to connect to the shop vac or your 2.5" round hose will fit over the rectangular connection on the sander and you get plenty of dust control without the adaptor. Before your final decision is reached, remember to check the amps of the tool. I know bosch makes two 5" models, one at 2.2 amps and one at 3.3 amps. It makes a big difference for heavier stock removal.

Good info Ken.

Thanks,
-joe

[Charles McKinley]

Duct tape works well as an adaptor on the Bosch as well.