Owners of the Festool Rotex 150

[Russ Massery]

I've been looking at this unit for awhile. (I'll admit the price has kept me away) Just looking for some owners feedback. Is this a replacement for a ros? or do you still need one? My main use would be to sand after material has gone though the drum sander, and other sanding and polishing tasks.What do you use yours for? Would you buy it again?

Thanks,Russ

[Tim Sproul]

My main use would be to sand after material has gone though the drum sander, and other sanding and polishing tasks.What do you use yours for? Would you buy it again?



I would buy it again. I do use it for polishing....but the 150/3 is a better finish sander because of 2 big reasons

1. smaller stroke compared to rotex (3 mm versus 5 mm)

2. easier to use since the rotex is a right angle sander and the 150/3 is a finish sander. You can move the 150/3 around via the vacuum hose....I'd suggest you not try that with the Rotex.


The rotex is the choice for polishing though....unless you consider using 1200x sandpaper with the 150/3 polishing.

Since your main reason is to finish sand following the drum sander, the 150/3, IMO, is the better choice. Polishing has many alternatives to the Rotex.

[Michael Perata]

I agree with Tim and the 150/3 (see Tim, I CAN be agreeable :p ).

I also bought the RS 400 EQ sheet sander. Using both of these together is a virtually unbeatable sanding team.

[Tim Sproul]

I also bought the RS 400 EQ sheet sander. Using both of these together is a virtually unbeatable sanding team.

should I bring up something political and see how agreeable ...... :eek: :D


It is a little known secret but somewhere around $20 or so gets you the hardware to turn the RS into a DS. I think the RS is the rectangular pad....the DS is the triangular pad. Of course....you actually need quite a bit more than $20 since the pad without appropriately shaped abrasives isn't much good.

[Michael Perata]

should I bring up something political and see how agreeable ...... :eek: :D


It is a little known secret but somewhere around $20 or so gets you the hardware to turn the RS into a DS. I think the RS is the rectangular pad....the DS is the triangular pad. Of course....you actually need quite a bit more than $20 since the pad without appropriately shaped abrasives isn't much good.
Tim, now don't get me started...... :rolleyes: :p

RS to DS, that is good to know. Do you have a link to how to morph these little machines.

[timothy mckee]

I went back and forth as to which sanders to buy and finally went with the Festool RO 150, the 150(3) ES,and the RS 400. These three seem to cover any thing I need to do, but I had the money at the time so I went for it. It was a good decision as the RS 400 covers the small stuff that the others are too big for. When I tried the RO 150 for the first time(on a 2'x2' piece of birch plywood) I was blown away by how quick it acomplished the task and how dust free it was with the Festool CT33 dust extractor. The surface it left was more than adequate for most people, I'm sure. The benefit in having both IMHO, is most people that are stepping up to this level sander are probably going to do a fair amount of sanding, and the 150(3)ES is far more ergonomic and comfortable to use than the other, and does leave a finer finish. Where this really paid off for me was now being able to use the 150(3)ES for sanding of finishes, due to the finer action and quality of the dust collection offered by the CT33...no dust in the air at all. Quite a step up from my old Porter Cable 333 ROS...my hands would go numb using that thing. Could you go with the ROS 150 alone? Sure, it would do the job, and you would be happy. But the combination of both is worth it in my opinion. Hope this helps.

[Sam Blasco]

I've got both the Rotex 150 and the 150ES/3. I agree with everything that has been said so far. The Rotex is an okay finish sander, but it shines as a controlable aggressive sander (my hand held belt sander hasn't seen the light of day since I got it), and polisher when used with different sponge grades and compounds. The 150 ES/3 gets picked up most of the time for what I do -- finish sanding.

[Russ Massery]

Would the 150ES/3 sand out the scratch lines left behind by the drum sander? I've found my old dewalt a little to slow for this task.

[Bob Marino]

Would the 150ES/3 sand out the scratch lines left behind by the drum sander? I've found my old dewalt a little to slow for this task.

Russ,

The 150/3, as others have said, is primarily a finish sander - not that you can't use it with 50 grit - but that's not an efficient use of the tool. It is best used with grits of 150 and above. I would recommend you also consider the 150/5, essentially the same tool as the 150/3 - except for the 5 mm orbit intead of the 3 mm orbit. The larger orbit removes scratches/stock quicker and may be more in line with your applications.

Bob

[Dan Forman]

I recently got the Rotex 125 (5"), having smaller hands, seemed it would be a little easier to control. It seemed a little rowdy for finish sanding at first, but is great for shaping and aggressive stock removal. Will probably add the ROS 125 for easier finishing. The dust collection is great.

Dan