How much less vibration between a Festool and other cheaper sub $100 sanders?

[Robert Mayer]

I really cant decide what to do. I don't mind paying for a Festool, but I don't want to pay 3-4 times the cost without a significant vibration reduction. The vibration on my 15 year old Bosch is killing my hands.

Can someone tell a estimated % vibration reduction between the Festool and other cheaper sanders?

[Jon Grider]

Depends on which Festool sander imo. My 6" Rotex that I use for flattening is like holding on to an angry cat after a few minutes. My 5" promotional Festool that I got for $99 several years back (don't remember the model #) is a little better than my DeWalt, and quite a bit better than my Hitachi, and Bosch. Festool has different sanding orbit diameters from 3mm -5mm if I remember correctly, with the smaller orbits more suited for finishing sanding with higher grits of sandpaper. Diameter of pad also plays a part in vibration. So there are variables. Go to their website for descriptions of each sander. I do like my 5" Festool in that it seems to run cooler than the other brands and the DC is superb.

[Andrew Seemann]

I'd probably give Makita a try before I would cough up for a Festool. I have a pair of them from 20 years ago that are friendlier than my 10 year old Bosch. I gave the PC I inherited away. I'll probably replace or augment the Makitas with a couple more Makitas one of these days.

[Doug Dawson]

I'd probably give Makita a try before I would cough up for a Festool. I have a pair of them from 20 years ago that are friendlier than my 10 year old Bosch. I gave the PC I inherited away. I'll probably replace or augment the Makitas with a couple more Makitas one of these days.

I have (well, almost) all the Festools, and they all have less vibration than my 20-year-old Makita ROS, which is otherwise a fine tool. The Rotexes a bit less, and the non-Rotexes dramatically less, to the point where I can sand with them all day long. Are they worth the money to me? How much does carpal tunnel surgery cost again? :^)

[Bill McNiel]

In my world 95% reduction with the ETS 125. I can sand all day with the Festool with no vibration issues (actually had to do this for 2 days a couple of months ago). Rotex is a different story.

[Robert Mayer]

In my world 95% reduction with the ETS 125. I can sand all day with the Festool with no vibration issues (actually had to do this for 2 days a couple of months ago). Rotex is a different story.

That is pretty significant. And this one is not priced too bad.

[Richard Coers]

Bosch 3725DEVS is plenty good for me.

[Lisa Starr]

I bought a EQ125 a few months ago and it is significantly easier on my hands than the old DeWalt it replaced. I feel the improvement more than justified the cost of that model.

[roger wiegand]

Both my Festool 3mm orbit and 5 mm Mirka Deros 150 mm sanders have _way_ less vibration than my old Bosch.

I found that a pair of anti-vibration gel pad gloves I had for biking made a huge difference as well when I had the older sander. I don't need to use them with the current ones

[John TenEyck]

Try the Bosch ROS65VC. Essentially no vibration. I can use it for hours w/o an issue. Moreover, it's a great sander with terrific onboard dust collection and an adapter if you want to hook it up to a vacuum. It's in the $230 range - and worth it.

John

[Bill Dufour]

15 years ago my brother bought the biggest chainsaw made by Sthil. He bought it to use with am Alaska sawmill. It had a warming that it produces lots of vibration and maybe you would prefer a smalller saw.
Bill D

[Doug Dawson]

15 years ago my brother bought the biggest chainsaw made by Sthil. He bought it to use with am Alaska sawmill. It had a warming that it produces lots of vibration and maybe you would prefer a smalller saw.
Bill D

My father used to have one of those, I think it was powered by a Chevy small block or something. Towards the end of his life he had problems lifting it. :^)

[Frank Pratt]

The Bosch ROS65VC is not sub $100, but it's way cheaper than an equivalent Festool & it is extremely smooth. Vibration will not be an issue no matter how long you use it. Dust collection without a vacuum is quite good as long as you keep the filter empty & clean. Powerful too.

[Jim Becker]

For me the difference was "Yuge"....my hands got numb to the point I could only sand for a few minutes at a time. When I bought my Festool sanders, could could sand for sometimes hours with little discomfort.

I will note that you would likely see a difference if you opted for one of the higher end Bosch sanders or Mirka, etc. The better tools tend to be better suited. I prefer Festool's dust extraction, however, at least with standard abrasives. Abranet and similar helps with dust extraction with tools that don't have the center hole.

[Robert Mayer]

The Bosch ROS65VC is not sub $100, but it's way cheaper than an equivalent Festool & it is extremely smooth. Vibration will not be an issue no matter how long you use it. Dust collection without a vacuum is quite good as long as you keep the filter empty & clean. Powerful too.

do you find this is a little heavy to single hand hold? I do this a lot to knock down sharp edges, or hold parts in one hand and the sander in the other. It looks kinda tall.

[Robert Mayer]

The Bosch ROS65VC is not sub $100, but it's way cheaper than an equivalent Festool & it is extremely smooth. Vibration will not be an issue no matter how long you use it. Dust collection without a vacuum is quite good as long as you keep the filter empty & clean. Powerful too.

Looks like its 1.8 pounds heavier. which is a lot

[Bruce Page]

The difference in vibration between my ETS125 and my old PC333’s is like night and day. I love the 6” pad, dust collection is excellent too.

[Clark Hussey]

With the ETS 125REQ I hold the vacuum hose in my right hand to balance the sander and just lay my left hand on top of the sander to guide it. With the Rotex 125 on rotary I hold it the same way only with more pressure on the left. My hands used to go numb in 15-20 minutes. It is no longer a problem

[Robert Mayer]

I am going to get the Festool tomorrow! Woodcraft has it in stock and I can support them. The Bosch is out of stock almost everywhere, except amazon where its listed for $70 more than anyone else.

[Myles Moran]

do you find this is a little heavy to single hand hold? I do this a lot to knock down sharp edges, or hold parts in one hand and the sander in the other. It looks kinda tall.

Yes, it's a two hander for sure. I absolutely love mine, but I only one hand it when I need to move the hose/cord around, otherwise it's 2 hands all the time. I still have my old 5" porter cable ROS for when I need something smaller and more controllable. I use a sanding block for all my edge breaking, but that's more because I find a ROS is too uncontrollable doing that for my liking.

[Michael W. Clark]

With the ETS 125REQ I hold the vacuum hose in my right hand to balance the sander and just lay my left hand on top of the sander to guide it. With the Rotex 125 on rotary I hold it the same way only with more pressure on the left. My hands used to go numb in 15-20 minutes. It is no longer a problem

This is my experience with the Rotex 150. It’s heavy enough that you can drag it around by the hose when in sander mode. Much less vibration than a Dewalt ROS I bought.

[Brian Holcombe]

I sold my festool in favor of the Mirka. The vibration level is much lower.

[John TenEyck]

do you find this is a little heavy to single hand hold? I do this a lot to knock down sharp edges, or hold parts in one hand and the sander in the other. It looks kinda tall.

I use it with one hand on horizontal surfaces w/o issue, but it is a poor choice if you need to knock down edges or otherwise sand at odd angles. Yes, it's fairly tall, and that contributes to the problems using it for anything other than horizontal surfaces.

John

[Harvey Miller]

My PC333 left my hands numb after a couple hours. I even tried padded bicycling gloves with it. I replaced it with a Festool ETS 150 which I could literally use all day without hand problems.

[Frank Pratt]

do you find this is a little heavy to single hand hold? I do this a lot to knock down sharp edges, or hold parts in one hand and the sander in the other. It looks kinda tall.

Yes Robert it is heavy, which is no concern on horizontal surfaces & not much bother on vertical surfaces. But holding it one handed while balancing it on a corner is not something you want to do a lot of. I've got an old 5" Dewalt that I use for stuff like that, but that's about the only use it gets anymore.

[Bill McNiel]

Robert you are welcome to come out to the "Quah" and test drive any and all of my 5 Festool sanders. Mask and social distancing of course.

[Jim Becker]

My PC333 left my hands numb after a couple hours. I even tried padded bicycling gloves with it. I replaced it with a Festool ETS 150 which I could literally use all day without hand problems.

Ironically...that was exactly the same situation and tool exchange I made as noted previously, including the attempt with padded gloves.

[Robert Mayer]

Robert you are welcome to come out to the "Quah" and test drive any and all of my 5 Festool sanders. Mask and social distancing of course.

Sending you a private message, definitely interested!

[Jim Becker]

Sending you a private message, definitely interested!

That's a really good opportunity, Robert. "Back in the day" I was very fortunate to be able to "test drive" a lot of the tools before I made the investment.

[Rob Damon]

Once thing about Festool sanders used with a Festool vacuum that is rarely talked about is the suction level set on the Vacuum. If you are using a FT Sander that seems to be jumping around, you may need to reduce the suction setting on the vacuum. I find that for me, setting the FT vacuum at 75% suction gives the best/smoothest ride with many of their sanders. If you are using the gear driven mode on some sanders where you use two hands to hold it then 100% setting works better because you are trying to be more aggressive with your sanding.

[Jim Becker]

Rob, great point and that need to adjust the vacuum varies with abrasive coarseness, too. As you get farther and farther toward the fine end, reduction of the vacuum extraction is necessary to reduce 'sticking" of the tool to the workpiece, especially on fine-grained woods and sheet stock. I sometimes forget to do this...."D'oh!"

[Bernie Kopfer]

I have the Mirka Deros and can use it extensively without discomfort. Only wish I had switched to 6 inch.

[Robert Mayer]

Picked up the Festool yesterday. Bill let me go check out his awesome workshop and try out all of his sanders. The ETS125 REQ-plus was the perfect size and the vibration was at least 80% less than my Bosch. Very happy!

[Jim Becker]

That's a very nice choice, Robert. Enjoy!