Mirka sander

[Mark Woodmark]

I was reading another thread about sanders and saw a brand I was unfamiliar with, Mirka. After a brief check on Amazon I found out the ROS sells for $495.00 (electric). What makes this sander roughly six times better (it is roughly six times the cost of anything else, except Fusstool) than any of the other ROS out there? I have a hard time believing it will sand that much better or last that much longer than my old PC or Bosch.

[mreza Salav]

Have you got one in your hands? I have and I felt it is much better than my Festool, lighter, low profile and feels just like an air sander.
If I didn't have the Festool and was on the market I'd seriously consider it. If you have a lot of sanding to do (especially on vertical surfaces) your wrists will appreciate it!

[Dave Stuve]

The Mikra Ceros is expensive, but due to the separate power supply it's very light and comfortable. The dust collection is pretty incredible too, especially with their mesh disks. It's quieter than most sanders too. If you do a LOT of sanding or hate it as much as I do, it's worth checking out. I've also got Bosch 6" orbital and half sheet sanders and a Makita belt sander that I haven't touched since I bought my Mirka.

[William C Rogers]

All I can say is ++ to the previous post. The weight, dust control is why I haven't had any regrets.

[John Schweikert]

If you ever do marathons of sanding, then a small palm sized sander (such as the compressor powered style for auto body work) is night and day different. The Mirka Ceros gives you that in an electric version, which I have yet to see any other company do. Is the actual surface left behind that much better will simply be the opinion of the user. But many more factors play into the Mirka than just the sanded surface. Small size, extremely low vibration, possibly the best dust collection due to almost a hundred holes collecting through the pad and mesh discs, comfort, paddle switch, 7 speed variable, add-on pads for contoured surfaces, superb Abranet sanding discs and most of all a sander which doesn't make you hate sanding.

Whether the price is high is entirely up the buyer. There are products of all price points.

Similar to Dave, I too have a bunch of other portable sanders, 6 more I believe, and use the Mirka nearly all the time. Is the Mirka worth 6x the cost of a PC or low end Bosch, after using one for several years, I'd say yes for my situation.

I use the 6" Ceros, more work with less time.

Also you get a $75 systainer included in that $495 price :)

[Mark Woodmark]

Can anyone speak about the life span of this sander. How long can I expect it to last before it needs work or replacement?

[Mark Woodmark]

Is this a finishing type sander? I noticed you mentioned it has replaced your belt sander.


The Mikra Ceros is expensive, but due to the separate power supply it's very light and comfortable. The dust collection is pretty incredible too, especially with their mesh disks. It's quieter than most sanders too. If you do a LOT of sanding or hate it as much as I do, it's worth checking out. I've also got Bosch 6" orbital and half sheet sanders and a Makita belt sander that I haven't touched since I bought my Mirka.

[Rob Haskell]

I've had mine for about a year and a couple of days ago it quite working. Bought one of those new Bosch sanders for about $250, it's great.
Couldn't say what is wrong with the Mirka.

[John Coloccia]

I've had mine for about a year and a couple of days ago it quite working. Bought one of those new Bosch sanders for about $250, it's great.
Couldn't say what is wrong with the Mirka.

It has a 2 year warranty.

[John Huds0n]

I have had my 5" Mirka Ceros for about 1 1/2 years now

I also have a Festool DTS 400, a Bosch 1274 belt sander and a Bosch 1250 ROS.

The Mirka is my favorite - well worth the money. I am partial to it because it weighs, feels and performs like an pneumatic sander.

Although I have several Festools - I don't drink the cool-aid. I strongly believe the Bosch 1250 is every bit as good as the Festool RO 90 (at about half the price). Can't say that about the Ceros - you get what you pay for. (I really could care less about the 'systainer' it comes with, I wish they had an option without it to save money)

When I bought mine - I got a ton of sandpaper for free and I still haven't used it all up. I believe the warranty is 3 years and I always use my AmEx to add another year.

[Matt Ellis]

I find myself in need of more sandpaper, and found some Mirka paper sheets on closeout (50 sheets of 150 grit for $9). Are their abrasives any good?

[Ken Krawford]

I believe Mirka has a 2 yr warranty and they extend it to 3 yrs if you register the tool.

[Ken Krawford]

I debated about the Ceros until I found it on sale for $350. I love the sander. Much better than my Festool. Woodworkers Shop shows a limited inventory for $350 - http://woodworkersshop.com/ceros5compactelectricrandomorbitsander.aspx

[John Coloccia]

I debated about the Ceros until I found it on sale for $350. I love the sander. Much better than my Festool. Woodworkers Shop shows a limited inventory for $350 - http://woodworkersshop.com/ceros5compactelectricrandomorbitsander.aspx

Holy cow, that's a great price! At that price, the decision is a no-brainer.

[Mark Bolton]

Holy cow, that's a great price! At that price, the decision is a no-brainer.

I think that may be a deal/price that has been on their site for a long time and for whatever reason they never take it down. I may be wrong but I believe I called them a long time ago about that deal and they havent had the sanders for a long time. I had called rather than put it in the basket and checkout and I believe someone tried and the transaction wouldnt complete or something.

Anyone interested ought to check it out before ordering.

[Mark Woodmark]

Thanks to all for the input. I'm sure this a great sander, but I just cant see spending nearly $500.00 for a finishing sander. Maybe a professional business can justify it, I don't know. I think what bothers me the most is the idea that this company has a patent on a great product and has decided to maximize it profit margin. I am not convinced this item cost them that much more to make than say the Bosch sander and it probably wont last six times as long.

A few years ago I bought a Festool router. I like it a lot, maybe a little better than my Elu, but its quality does not appear to be that much better and it is not that much better to use than my other routers. In reflection I would not buy it again for the money I paid. Each to his own

[fRED mCnEILL]

The Bosch 1250 is a 6" sander while the Festool RO90 is a 3" sander. Hardly a fair comparison.

[John Huds0n]

The Bosch 1250 is a 6" sander while the Festool RO90 is a 3" sander. Hardly a fair comparison.


Sorry got my numbers mixed up

I believe the Bosch 1250 6" is as good as the Festool RO 150 6" and is half the price

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1250DEVS-6-Inch-Random-Sander/dp/B0001408SO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418583931&sr=8-1&keywords=bosch+1250

http://www.amazon.com/Festool-571810-RO-150-FEQ/dp/B004R18WP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418583960&sr=8-1&keywords=festool+ro+150&pebp=1418583967912

[Dave Stuve]

I used my belt sander with a sanding shoe to work on big panels (no room in my garage for a drum sander,) but it was a big two-handed affair. My Ceros is one-handed and more comfortable for long periods. I've got sanding grits from 40-320, which go from scary aggressive (Abranet HD 40 grit) to nice and smooth. As my poor man's drum sander, I bought the 6" Ceros rather than the 5" to do like John said above "more work with less time." Again like I said, I truly hate sanding, and will pay just about any price to make it more comftable.

[Dave Cav]

If you have a big enough compressor (5 HP 60 gallon minimum) get a Dynabrade or two and never look back.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Holy cow, that's a great price! At that price, the decision is a no-brainer.


No kidding!!.

Ken - you are absolutely killing me here.........

Arrrgh..........

[Wade Lippman]

I debated about the Ceros until I found it on sale for $350. I love the sander. Much better than my Festool. Woodworkers Shop shows a limited inventory for $350 - http://woodworkersshop.com/ceros5compactelectricrandomorbitsander.aspx

Has anyone actually tried this? I bought one here 6 months ago, after it was OOS, but they shipped. Today I tried again and it seemed to work, though I didn't try to actually pay for it.

BTW I was quite disappointed by it. It certainly vibrated less than my old PC333, but not so little as to justify the price. I also found the dust collection to be terrible, so I sold it for about what I paid for it. I know most of you find it to be vibration free with wonderful dust collection, but that wasn't my experience. Maybe the $350 ones are seconds. :).

Anyhow, I tried a $170 Bosch Bosch ROS65VC-5. It is near vibration free, powerful, with great DC. It is also big and heavy.:( But nothing is perfect. Maybe I should try a Festool...

[Erich Larson]

I have one of these along with a couple of Festools. I mostly use this on vertical surfaces because of the light weight. It's a pretty robust tool.

Some people don't like the separate power supply, but that's what gives it the light weight.

Mirka is a pretty big name in automotive applications.

[Peter Quinn]

The mirka ceros is really in a class of its own relative to electric sanders. To me it is worth every penny they are charging. Which is why convinced my employer to buy 2.:D I'd love to have one for the home shop, but I've yet to acquire the finances, so its a festool there. I understand the reluctance to go there, thats reality. Most of the consumer grade ROS (and I've had the misfortune to try a lot of them) on the market are just junk. Oh, the wheels on the bus go round and round......but thats about it. They vibrate, they swirl, very unpredictable in tight spaces, add some vacuum and they go crazy jittering this way and that. I'm no stranger to sanding, mostly had used dynabrade previously at other shops, the electric ROS's Ive used have been by necessity at job sites, they are really really hard to control. And durable? Not when you use them for hours at a clip daily in a multi person shop. They may last longer at home....unfortunately. The mirka is balanced like a pneumatic, really really balanced, tons of power, can't stop it and I've tried. Its so smooth in use its hard to compare to other sanders, and equally important it is highly maneuverable in tight spaces. All this translates to better surface quality which to me is the ultimate goal. To me this means I can sand post assembled cabinets right into corners and not risk a runaway that gauges the adjacent panel, I can sand counter edges, door edges, and of course all the more traditional broad flat areas like door panels, rails and stiles, etc. Does pretty well on curves too. As a professional building custom cabinets, I can't risk ruining a multi thousand dollar box with a bad sanding job. Ever use a dark stain to highlight the sanding swirls from a cheap ROS? The repair cost on a few minor problems quickly out ways the cost of the mirka.


I've found the dust collection to be very good, deep in the acceptable range, not actually as good as festool, better than some others, can't understand how anybody would have a problem with the DC performance, would have to see it to believe it. So no, the mirka is not worth 6X the cost of most other sanders, its worth 10X at least and I wouldn't trade it for 10 of anything else I've tried. We had reached a point where the results from a few brands I wont mention were deemed no longer acceptable and the management was committed to improving the efficiency and performance of the sanding program immediately. We looked at the cost of upgrading our pneumatic system, running a larger compressor, cost of pneumatic sanders, all in it was considerably greater than a few ceros. And they are portable which helps on job sites. None of this may make an argument for the home user to switch. I suggest you try one before forming an opinion though. I was skeptical. First time I tried one was at my local woodcraft... must have thought I was nuts. They had a display set up and I sat there sanding the same little block of wood for 25 minutes, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, I wanted to see if it could go a while, sometimes I'm sanding virtually non stop for several 8 hour shifts in a row. Its just so much more tool than anything else.