Mirka Ceros Review

[Kelby Van Patten]

I've been eyeing a Mirka Ceros for a long time. I finally picked one up last week, and I thought I would post a review. The review ends with the fact that I no longer have the Mirka Ceros. (Not a good thing.)

I've used many different sanders over the years. I've owned just about every brand out there, and still have many of them. Four or five years ago, I bought a Dynabrade Silver Supreme 5" orbital sander, and it has been a great replacement for my heavy and noisy electric sanders. The Mirka Ceros seemed like the best of all worlds. It is as small and light as my Dynabrade, but I don't have to listen to a noisy compressor. Last week, my aging compressor started giving me some grief, so I took the plunge on the Mirka.

For the first half an hour, it seemed to be everything I wanted. It wasn't quite as smooth as the Dynabrade, but it was close enough. It produced a great finish. It didn't have a noisy compressor. It was small and light. Everything I wanted.

And then it broke. And then it broke some more.

First, the moving parts came free from the housing. I took some pictures. I removed the sanding pad to show how the innards easily slid in and out, which it's not supposed to do.

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I tried sanding a little while more, and the innards somehow re-seated themselves inside the housing, and it held together fine for a while. Every ten or fifteen minutes, things would come loose again, and then they would go back in and seat. I'm not sure what caused it.

Second, the sander periodically had an electrical problem. Sometimes, when I released the paddle, the sander would continue spinning, like it was stuck in the "on" position. I had to unplug it to get it to stop. Other times, it wouldn't start spinning in the first place, and the red light would come on and blink.

I managed to get 2-3 hours worth of use out of the sander over the five or six days that I had it, and every time, my job was interrupted by these mechanical and electrical problems. Each day, I had to finish my sanding with the Dynbabrade because the Mirka stopped working. Typically, when I came back to the shop the next day and started working again, the Mirka fired up and worked for a while before giving out. However, a couple days ago, the electrical side of it stopped working altogether. I couldn't get it to start, no matter how many times I turned it on and off, no matter how many times I reset the transformer. I couldn't get it going again. Just the red light.

I have no reason to doubt that Mirka stands behind its products, and that they would have repaired or replaced the unit if I had gone through the warranty process. However, I didn't spend $535 on a sander so that the manufacturer could stand behind it when it broke within the first hour or two's worth of use. For that much money, I expect a bulletproof sander. For a $535 sander to have this level of mechanical and electrical problems out of the box is not OK. So, I returned it.

I have instead realized that the Dynabrade is, without a doubt, the ultimate sander. There simply is no electrical substitute. Even when the Mirka was working at its best, it was not as smooth as the Dynabrade. So, rather than continuing to invest in electric sanders with high price tags and lots of parts that can (and eventually will) fail, I ordered a new Quincy compressor. The Quincy and the Dynabrade should both last a lifetime.

[Larry Edgerton]

Thanks. Been eyeing them, but already have a selection of air sanders. Hutchins 3800 straight line orbital is my favorite sander, best for flat work. Less than a Mirka.;)

[Peter Quinn]

Funny how experiences can differ. I've been using the Ceros sanders now for about 3 months, I'm one of a six man shop, sometimes we are literally sanding 8 hours per day with few breaks as jobs enter the sand and final prep to finish stages. These Ceros sanders have been flawless right out of the box, not so much as a hiccup, I've found them to be every bit as smooth as the dynabrades I've used previously and a bit lighter without an air hose to drag around. I had concerns about the longevity of an electric sander, not sure how many hours they go before rebuild is required, but I've seen enough dynabrades go out for rebuild to know that those are not forever, no sander is given the harsh requirements under which they operate. Sorry to hear you got a defectective unit, not convinced this is indicative of the general quality level of the Ceros sander.

[William C Rogers]

I have had my Ceros for about 2 years now. Haven't had one problem. I have never used a Dynabeade, so no comparison to that. But far above all other sanders I have used.

[Mark Woodmark]

"I have no reason to doubt that Mirka stands behind its products, and that they would have repaired or replaced the unit if I had gone through the warranty process. However, I didn't spend $535 on a sander so that the manufacturer could stand behind it when it broke within the first hour or two's worth of use. For that much money, I expect a bulletproof sander. For a $535 sander to have this level of mechanical and electrical problems out of the box is not OK. So, I returned it."


Sorry to hear of your experience. I agree with you on the cost and warranty thing. At that price one should not have a problem with it.

I posted a thread a couple weeks ago inquiring about this sander, its longevity included as I knew nothing about it and wanted to find out if it was worth its high cost. I was led to believe it was worth ever cent of its cost, buts its life length was a little grayer to determine.

I will be looking at the Dynabrade sander now also

[John Schweikert]

I've had a 6" Ceros for over 2 years and it's worked wonderfully. I use it for marathon sanding sessions. Any product at any price point can have issues, products are made by human beings which aren't perfect themselves. Nothing wrong with pneumatic sanders but they will never give you the option in portability over an electric sander, for some people that is an important feature.

As a side note on the electrical oddities you experienced, 2 things that are helpful in day to day use. Make sure the cord is fully seated, rotated and clicked into the transformer box. And also relieve any tension on that connection port during use. I hang the box on the side of the vacuum in such a way that the hose connection has all the tension and the power port on the box has none. I noticed a few years ago the same power quirks but once I changed my method that issue went away completely.

Festools have issues sometimes, Mafells have issues sometimes, expensive cars, boats, you name it, no product line will be flawless. Duds happen.

[John Coloccia]

Why didn't you just return it for a new one at the first sign of trouble? I've never been one to pull punches saying what I like or dislike about various tools I've owned, but reviewing a broken tool doesn't really seem fair.

[Larry Edgerton]

Why not? It broke.

[Peter Kelly]

The inverter on my new Ceros reads "Made in China". I was previously under the impression that the sander itself was made somewhere else but now I'm starting to wonder.

They've had a recall on these as well: http://www.mirkaceros.com/ceros_recall.html

[Kelby Van Patten]

Why didn't you just return it for a new one at the first sign of trouble? I've never been one to pull punches saying what I like or dislike about various tools I've owned, but reviewing a broken tool doesn't really seem fair.

As noted in the original post, I'm not interested in a $535 sander that needs to be fixed under warranty in the first few hours of use. I expect it to be bulletproof out of the box at that price. My Dynabrade has been bulletproof since day one. So I'm going back to that.

As for a fair review of a broken tool, IMHO, a fair review is one that accurately describes the experience. The sander I received broke, so a fair and accurate review requires me to describe that. Only reviewing tools when they don't break would leave the unfair and inaccurate impression that the tool is more reliable than it actually is. That would be an unfair approach to reviews.

[Jim German]

For the first half an hour, it seemed to be everything I wanted. It wasn't quite as smooth as the Dynabrade, but it was close enough. It produced a great finish. It didn't have a noisy compressor. It was small and light. Everything I wanted.

This seems to me to be the only relevant part of the review. Every manufacturer makes a bum unit every once in awhile. Thats why they have warranties. A single broken unit is not indicative of a quality issue.

[Leo Graywacz]

You got a lemon. It happens.

Mine had an electrical issue after 2 1/2 years. Still under warranty, they repaired it. I got a loaner from my supplier while it was gone. Nearly no down time. Lots of hours on the sander in that 2 1/2 years. Very happy with it otherwise. I'd certainly buy it again. Sanding sucks and this makes it a bit better.

[Dave Cav]

Another happy Dynabrade customer. I have two.

An acquaintance of mine is the manager of an industrial sharpening and tool jobbing business. He can use any sander he wants. He uses Dynabrades, too.

[Kelby Van Patten]

This seems to me to be the only relevant part of the review. Every manufacturer makes a bum unit every once in awhile. Thats why they have warranties. A single broken unit is not indicative of a quality issue.

If it's not relevant to you, then don't consider it. That doesn't mean it isn't relevant to others. It was certainly relevant to me.

[George Werner]

If it's not relevant to you, then don't consider it. That doesn't mean it isn't relevant to others. It was certainly relevant to me.

This is is a genuine question and not a wise-arse question. Since you expected it to be bullet proof out of the box at that price, would you have bought it if it didn't have a warranty?

[Rick Potter]

Try the Deros model, brand new, no inverter, and only $1500.

[Larry Edgerton]

Kelby, I appreciate your review. Yours is not the first one I have read about that has failed and these are the kind of things I like to know before I buy a tool. The logic of not writing a review because it failed so soon escapes me. If I was to put a new roof on someones house and it leaked would they feel the same way?

[Peter Quinn]

I appreciate the review even though I don't agree with the decision to return the unit and abandon the concept. I had a similar experience with a festool sander, though the details were a bit embarrassing. I was working with my the son of my boss on a cabinet job out of his shop, we were using a dynabrade sander when it seized up, largely I think due to the compressor being under sized and wet air in the lines. Point is air system was bad, we needed sanding back on line quick so just getting another dynabrade was out. I suggested the Ceros as a solution, he didn't want to make the investment at that time, next stop festool 125. I picked him one up, mine has always been flawless. Darn thing was shot brand new. Something was wrong with the planetary action, didn't spin right, swirled real bad, barely sanded. He used it for two hours before asking "is yours like this?". I used it for 12 seconds....certainly not! So now I look like an idiot, run home, get my 5 year old well used model, use that to finish the job. First two minutes and my young associate says "oh, now I get it! ". The original was returned and replaced with a new unit that has I'm told worked flawlessly since. More of an annoying blip than a show stopper, I have not sworn off festool, I've just realized that even they are human. Humans with a no questions asked return policy and great CS. I get the bad feelings regarding your experience, it's no way to start a relationship, only one first impression they say. And there is nothing wrong with dynabrade, great tools if you have the right compressor. But I'd guess your experience was far more of an exception than the rule.

[Chris Hachet]

You got a lemon. It happens.

Mine had an electrical issue after 2 1/2 years. Still under warranty, they repaired it. I got a loaner from my supplier while it was gone. Nearly no down time. Lots of hours on the sander in that 2 1/2 years. Very happy with it otherwise. I'd certainly buy it again. Sanding sucks and this makes it a bit better.

Those of us who use mostly hand planes and scrapers are still tempted by this tool...I have used it and it is a sweet piece.

[Dan Chouinard]

I hope it was the exception, bought one of those too on the 31st.

[Mark Bolton]

What feeder and tooling are you looking at for your shaper?
Whoops, wrong thread.. ;-)

[John Huds0n]

My Ceros has been flawless - it is one of my more expensive tools that I have no regrets about buying, at all.

My philosophy is if something fails within the first 30 days - it is going back to the vendor. I am not going to try to fix it myself or call the manufacturer.

In the case of the Ceros, I would have asked for a replacement, but to each his own and I could understand how someone may have been 'scared off'

[Mark Woodmark]

Try the Deros model, brand new, no inverter, and only $1500.

ONLY $1500.00.......PLaaaaaa

[scott vroom]

Try the Deros model, brand new, no inverter, and only $1500.

Mmmm....EBAY shows it for ~$600 excluding shipping (from Europe).

[Bill Orbine]

Mmmm....EBAY shows it for ~$600 excluding shipping (from Europe).

I saw that! The new Deros really hasn't been introduced to USA yet...... Coming soon in January 2015. There has been some anticipation. We have a whole month, yet.

[Brian Henderson]

I agree with you, I wouldn't put up with that either. Over the holiday, we bought the kids a new Nintendo Wii U. It came out of the box unable to read any game disc. I found that out after a 90-minute upgrade cycle and was not at all pleased. I got on the phone to Nintendo, they were unable to fix it over the phone and told me to return it for warranty repair that would take 3-6 weeks. Instead I took it back to the store and returned it for a new one that worked fine out of the box. It isn't that I wasn't sure that Nintendo wouldn't fix it (actually, they won't, they'll just send you a refurbished one, which I don't want, I bought new, I want new), I just don't want them to take the time to fix something that I bought now.

[Leo Graywacz]

The other day a buddy of mine asked if he could come by and make a bunch of exterior window casings in my shop because his heat wasn't working in his. Of course I told him to come by.

Well at the end of the day when he was done building the casings he needed to sand them. He was going to get he Rigid RO sander to do the job, he had it out in his van. I told him don't bother and handed him my Ceros with a couple of 120 grit discs.

Within 10 seconds he was already overwhelmed on how good it was. He loved it. After he finished up the 13 casings he made the comment at how aggressive it was and that it left no swirl marks. Over all I think he got his pants impressed right off.

[Peter Quinn]

The other day a buddy of mine asked if he could come by and make a bunch of exterior window casings in my shop because his heat wasn't working in his. Of course I told him to come by.

Well at the end of the day when he was done building the casings he needed to sand them. He was going to get he Rigid RO sander to do the job, he had it out in his van. I told him don't bother and handed him my Ceros with a couple of 120 grit discs.

Within 10 seconds he was already overwhelmed on how good it was. He loved it. After he finished up the 13 casings he made the comment at how aggressive it was and that it left no swirl marks. Over all I think he got his pants impressed right off.


I've seen that same experience at work. New job, they were having swirling issues, I keep pushing for an upgrade to Ceros sanders, sold the powers that be on them. I watched each guy use one for the first time....that look of pleasant disbelief comes over the face, they keep stopping just to look at it, can't belief how easy they are to control. Four months in nobody will even pick up another sander...when a Ceros is not available they just wait and do something else until it is. And every guy with a home shop wants one for home!

[Leo Graywacz]

Funny thing is after you use it for so long you forget how slow other sanders are. And it seems like the sander isn't performing like it use to. hen you pick up a normal sander and you realize that it's working just fine.