ROS 6" vs 5"

[Ron Citerone]

One of my 2 ROS died. Both were 5" I want to buy another and thought maybe a 6" this time, but the price is quite a bit more. Looking for thoughts on advantages of the 6" to see if it's worth it to me. I build furniture as a hobby and of course cutting boards mostly.

For furniture sides and tops will it save much time and/or improve quality etc?

Thanks, Ron

[glenn bradley]

If you do enough power sanding to kill a sander having a 6" in your stable will probably be beneficial. I make little use of a ROS but, find a good 5" and a 6" to be of great value. The 6" does so much more work in the same amount of time if the job is big. The 5" is lighter and nimbler and gets one closer to the next steps.

[Jim Becker]

I like the 6"/150mm sander size personally...both of mine are that size. I find them more stable for how I use them. The downside to having two sizes is that you need two sizes of abrasives, but that can partially be compensated for by the utility that the smaller unit brings on smaller workpieces. If you buy the larger unit, before you go hog-wild on buying abrasives, see which sander you use the most and for what. Then equip yourself accordingly to how you use them.

[Van Huskey]

I have both and use the 6" ones 90% of the time.

[Ole Anderson]

Usually the orbit on the 6" is larger than the 5", making them more aggressive. I changed out the pad on my PC 7345 5 incher to a 6" pad so I could use the dust collection kit, now it works much better, it will work flat, before I had to use it tipped up or the vibrations would go crazy.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41b983ku0KL._AC_US160_.jpg

[Tim Bueler]

I don't think I've used either of my 5" since I bought my first 6" almost 2 yrs ago. That first 6" has a 3mm orbit and a medium soft backing pad. I liked it so much I bought the companion 6" with 5mm orbit and hard backing pad which I use 75% of the time. That second one left my belt sander collecting dust on a shelf.

[Frank Pratt]

I had only a 5" for years & added a 6" a couple of years ago. Now it's the one I almost always use.

[Ben Rivel]

If you plan to go the Festool route (and I know there are others that do this to, just not sure I recall correctly which ones they are) and get the ETS EC 125/3 (5") you can swap the pad for their 6" one, so you get the best of both worlds. BUT note, you can not go with the ETC EC 150/3 (6") or 5 and swap that pad for the 125 (5") one. Just doesnt work.

That said, since moving up from a 5" DeWalt ROS to a 6" Festool ROS, I have yet to feel any regret.

[roger wiegand]

I've had two 6" ROS, a Bosch and Mirka Ceros. In the rare events I wanted something smaller I've reached for my multi-tool with the triangular head. 5" isn't small enough to get into corners and everything else will be that much slower (the area of the 5" is 70% the size of the 6"). Never seen the point of the 5" models.

[Ben Rivel]

For getting into corners I have a rectangular ROS.

[John TenEyck]

I bought a Bosch ROS 65VC ROS in the 6" version and love it. But some media only comes in 5" so I bought a 5" pad for it. I don't need to swap pads often, but it's a 2 minute job when I do.

John

[Wade Lippman]

Apparently I am the exception. I have both and never use the 6". I've put them on CL, but no one wants them. (Rigid branded Metabo, if anyone is interested)

[Ron Citerone]

Thanks guys, I think I will save my pennies that go for the 6" ROS.

Ron

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I had the German Ridgid as well, and when it died of extreme use, I sold it on CL for $10.00 for parts. Bought a Bosch 6” which is a really nice machine, and during the Festool $150.00 sale also got the 5” ROS and use it a lot.
The only fly in the Bosch ointment is the stupid exhaust port, and it limits my enjoyment so much I tend not to use it.

[Van Huskey]

Usually the orbit on the 6" is larger than the 5", making them more aggressive.


The higher end brands like Mirka, Festool, Airvantage, Surfprep etc allow you to choose the orbit for both 5 and 6" ROS. That said I have 3-5mm and 3/32-3/16" orbits and find the only thing I use the 3mm-3/32" orbits for is film finishes above 300 grit.

The big jump in usability and quality is when you move to the brushless sanders. I am hoping Bosch gets into the brushless market, they make good brushed sanders that aren't much of a step down from the Festool brushed sanders for less money but their best sanders now are a solid step behind the brushless versions particularly in ergonomics. The highest end brands don't make brushed ROS anymore.

[Joe Jensen]

A 6" sander will be more stable with less micro rocking than a 5". As a result you will get a flatter surface. I use a 1/2 sheet Festool for table tops. If one had the space, a stroke sander would result in an even flatter surface...joe

[Bruce Page]

I have both and use the 6" ones 90% of the time.

Same here. I rarely use my 5" PC333's since buying my 6".