If I have a 6" do I need a 5" ROS?

[Rich Engelhardt]

I picked up a Ridgid 6" ROS a couple/three years ago to use sanding down floors in a house my wife and I we rehabbing.
I already had a DeWalt 5" single speed.

The DeWalt has seen better days and the pad needs replaced now. I can't see sticking that much money into an old single speed sander that doesn't do all that great - and never really did.

Since I have the 6" Ridgid - which is a really great tool - do I need a 5" ROS too?

[Joe Jensen]

I have three 6" Festool sanders and no 5" sander. I believe the larger the sanding pad the flatter the surface. For tighter areas I use a small Festool rectangular sander. I would want the square pad for corners anyway. So, I have sandpaper in 6" round and small rectangular. I've lusted after the 5" Festool with the 90 degree edge attachment but then I'd also have an inventory of 5" sandpaper.

[Jim Becker]

Both of my Festool sanders are 6". The only time I've wished for a smaller one is "occasionally" on my guitar work. Otherwise, no issue. So the answer to your question really comes down to the actual work you do...would you benefit from a smaller pad in enough situations to warrant both the tool and the disposables?

[Kevin Jenness]

No. Why stock two sizes"

[Stan Calow]

I have a 6" and two 5". I find the 6" only useful for large flat surfaces. Anything smaller than a table top, its too hard to balance and too aggressive. And you can one-hand the 5" if necessary. A pro would have a different experience.

[Richard Coers]

Totally dependent on the size of work you do. Some people even have a 3", like me for sanding the inside of large bowls.

[Brian Burns VT]

Definitely don't need 5" if you are comfortable with the 6". Orbit size is more of a reason to branch out than pad diameter. It is nice to use a smaller, lighter sander if you're doing a lot of edges or such where you have to deal with supporting the weight and size of the machine. If you have the compressor capacity, I'd save up for a 5" air sander for these scenarios and just use the 6" in the meantime

[Zachary Hoyt]

I mostly use my ROS for instrument building, so 5" is all I have since I need to be able to run it with one hand and hold and turn the wood parts with the other hand. If you don't feel a need for a 5" I wouldn't get one, I'm sure a 6" is handier for larger jobs.

[Mark Bolton]

Im with Stan, Both 5's and 6's here. I would not want to run the 6" for day to day work. Sanding a bunch of molding, rail and stile work, etc.. The 5" sanders get the workout day in and day out. 6" for larger flat work.

[roger wiegand]

No. I've only ever had 6" sanders and never wanted a slightly smaller one. As far as I can tell they are only slower. However, that said, small ROSs in the 1-3" range are incredibly useful for both curved work and getting into smaller places. I got a 2" pneumatic ROS for bowls, but now find myself grabbing it for all kinds of things. Of course now I need a bigger compressor...

[John TenEyck]

I never thought I needed a 5" ROS until I needed to do the edges of some table tops, so I got a low vibration Bosch model and it was the bomb for that application. It's also much better sanding faceframes and anything where balance would be an issue with the 6". It's surprising how much smaller and more balanced the 5" feels in my hand.

Also, some sanding media only is available in 5". Before I bought the 5" sander I bought a 5" pad for my 6" sander in order to use those media. With 2 sanders that would be unnecessary.

John

[Frank Pratt]

I got a 6" & now the 5" rarely gets used. It's sometimes nice to have because of the smaller size, but if I didn't already have it, I wouldn't go out & get one.

[Rod Wolfy]

i have a few 5" sanders. They are very useful to me, as I like to sand a routed edge on case goods and many other profiles. I have a 6" Festool; however, it rarely gets used. Too hard to control on small objects. It was great when I resurfaced my 8' cherry dining room table, though!

[Paul Haus]

Well there's always the option if you have a sander you like but it has a size pad you don't, why not change the pad? I had one I did that to and I'm happy with the results.

[Rich Engelhardt]

why not change the padDeWalt charges an insane price for a 5" pad.
The pad alone for a $59 single speed 5" DeWalt is over $20.
Pity - i was a decent tool for a cheapie.

[Richard Coers]

DeWalt charges an insane price for a 5" pad.
The pad alone for a $59 single speed 5" DeWalt is over $20.
Pity - i was a decent tool for a cheapie.
If $20 bothers you, you can get aftermarket replacements on eBay for less than $10. No idea if they last as long.

[Bruce Page]

I have a few 5" ROS in both H&L and PSA. I don't think I have touched them since buying my 6" ETS

[Mark Bolton]

DeWalt charges an insane price for a 5" pad.
The pad alone for a $59 single speed 5" DeWalt is over $20.
Pity - i was a decent tool for a cheapie.

You often times cant just change the pad because the counterbalance would also have to be changed. Putting a 5/6 pad on each other no workie.

[roger wiegand]

I suppose it depends on which sanders you are comparing. I've used 5" sanders that are a lot heavier and more awkward to use than my 6" Deros.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I suppose it depends on which sanders you are comparing. I've used 5" sanders that are a lot heavier and more awkward to use than my 6" Deros.Very good question!
Probably a 5" Bosch.
Maybe a Makita.

Maybe even a cordless Makita since I have a ton of Makita 18V batteries for all my other Makita stuff.

I don't know though - sanders always seemed to me like they were/are a "forever tool". Like a caulking gun or a grease gun. When you need one, you really need one so you buy one. It doesn't have to be top line since you aren't going to make a living with it, you just need it. Then you put it away until the next time you need it. With any luck, you inherited one from a parent or grandparent and other than looking funny, it still works and there's no reason to think it won't keep working forever.
With cordless tuff tough, you never know when the batteries will go away and never return.

I liked my DeWalt and I really like my Ridgid 6". I had thought of the 5" Ridgid, but, I'm afraid it might be made some place different than the 6" that I have - since there are a lot of negative comments about durability and power in the reviews.
I had also considered a 5" Rotex - but - for me the Festool boat has sailed.

I guess at this point I'm still up in the air as far as a brand if I do decide to get a 5".

[Jim Dwight]

The pad on my 5 inch DeWalt is also broken. I am using my Bosch DEVS 1250 sander. It is shaped like the Festool Rotex sanders and is a bit of a handful to use one handed, especially with coarse paper in what Bosch calls "turbo" mode. But even when the DeWalt worked, I seldom used it. It works a lot slower than the Bosch. I don't love sanding so I'd rather get it done as quickly as possible. So I use the Bosch and I haven't fixed the DeWalt. But I have not thrown it away yet either. I will probably fix it but I don't often feel the need for a slow sander. Knocking down a first coat of finish, however, it would be kind of nice to have functional.

[Andrew Seemann]

I have the cordless Makita 5". It is nice as a second (or in my case, 4th) sander in that you can grab it and take it to the work and not bother with a cord. I would not want it as my main sander though, I don't think the balance is as good as my corded Makitas.

If you are looking at Makitas, the 5" with variable speed is quite nice. I recently got it and find I do use the speed feature more than I thought I would. It is nice for edges, endgrain, sanding finishes, etc. where having less speed and power is actually helpful.

I have 3 ROS sanders at my downdraft table, so I can keep one of each grit that I primarily use on them. I like only changing the paper when the grit wears out, rather than each time I need a different size grit:)

[Warren Lake]

have three dynabrades 6 inch but only use one now. Pad size is 6 but i just grind them down to any size I want, it sits at 5 1/2" at the moment. Stuff off the stroke sander is good so dont need a ton of flat line sanding, radius work have done tons, Could not use any of your mercedes sanders they are a suit of armor encumbered by what they are. No dust collection dont care have to be able to move and get the work done.

[Mark Bolton]

have three dynabrades 6 inch but only use one now. Pad size is 6 but i just grind them down to any size I want, it sits at 5 1/2" at the moment. Stuff off the stroke sander is good so dont need a ton of flat line sanding, radius work have done tons, Could not use any of your mercedes sanders they are a suit of armor encumbered by what they are. No dust collection dont care have to be able to move and get the work done.

No dust collection is a dead dud for me now on any sander. I can sand for a week solid and not have to cleanup any dust at all. Dont have to blow my clothes and hair down at the end of the day. Dont have to see a fine layer of dust all over everything in the shop including behind doors. I'd never got back to no dust collection and the cost of generating air. My electric bill for everything goes nothing but up and the compressor is one of the biggest hogs in the shop. Every Dynabrade eats a high end 5HP compressor for lunch. For me there is no justifying a remotely connected 5HP motor to run a sander that can be run for about $0.20/hr

DC hoses suck. But cleaning the shop sucks worse.

[Warren Lake]

What took you so long Mark?

Ive done close to 7 figures of work with that one dynabrade. Most of the people are hobby and i probably sanded more in a few days than them in years. I toasted my 5Hp two stage 80 gallon with the dynabrade, it took over 30 years and its still running. So what small cost for the work it produced.

The cost to live with some dust most of which could have been avoided with a down draft table to be able to be free and move far surpasses the silly hoses and restrictions most of you have.

[Mark Bolton]

What took you so long Mark?

Ive done close to 7 figures of work with that one dynabrade. Most of the people are hobby and i probably sanded more in a few days than them in years. I toasted my 5Hp two stage 80 gallon with the dynabrade, it took over 30 years and its still running. So what small cost for the work it produced.

The cost to live with some dust most of which could have been avoided with a down draft table to be able to be free and move far surpasses the silly hoses and restrictions most of you have.

The amount of work is not really the issue for me. Its that I can pay to generate all that air, or I can put that money in my bank account. Every molecule of compressed air generated is the most expensive power source in my shop. Only 15HP of air in my small shop but the less often I hear that compressor run the happier I am. Its the single largest overhead expense in the shop. I dont have any desire to generate 5HP of air for every sander running in the shop that I can run for $0.20 an hour and generate no dust. But have at it.

[Warren Lake]

The customers pay to run stuff. It costs less as its faster and better to work. That was just two customers, it also did all the custom work all the finishing and all the sandblasting, there is no tool harder on a compressor than running a sandblaster at a non hobby level. The cost to run that stuff and even burn it out doesnt even register compared to the speed and what it generated and time saved and income it produced.

Like using new router bits on work likely 150 plus bits of one style as they left a cleaner end result saving sanding time even more. So what 150 plus bits more than paid for in sanding time saved.

False economy. Carry on with your suits of armour.

[Mark Bolton]

The customers pay to run stuff. It costs less as its faster and better to work. That was just two customers, it also did all the custom work all the finishing and all the sandblasting, there is no tool harder on a compressor than running a sandblaster at a non hobby level. The cost to run that stuff and even burn it out doesnt even register compared to the speed and what it generated and time saved and income it produced.

Like using new router bits on work likely 150 plus bits of one style as they left a cleaner end result saving sanding time even more. So what 150 plus bits more than paid for in sanding time saved.

False economy. Carry on with your suits of armour.

The customer doesnt pay for the cost of anything. They may pay for your ignorance of efficiency but if you invoice your customer for $xxx.xx/hr for a given operation that your only paying $0.XX/hr.. you profit (i.e. money in the bank). Industry on mass has been quantifying the cost of manufactured air for 10 years now. Every molecule you can avoid generating is money in your retirement account.

[Brian Burns VT]

Not looking to be the third man in on a fight but....you can get very good dust collection on an air sander between downdraft and vacuum. I think if someone is looking at breaking down costs, you can't ignore the fact that they last forever with almost no maintenance (a drop or two of oil every day or so) and they can be much faster and easier on all of the hand and wrist joints. 5" DeWalt, Porter Cable etc machines are almost disposable. You can change the brushes and bearings a couple times but once the armature starts to go, it's in the trash. I'd bet I've seen a Dynabrade last 25 times longer than these sanders. If OP doesn't have the compressor set up to run one, it's a moot point but, in a perfect world, they should be strongly considered for any shop.

[Mark Bolton]

Not looking to be the third man in on a fight but....you can get very good dust collection on an air sander between downdraft and vacuum. I think if someone is looking at breaking down costs, you can't ignore the fact that they last forever with almost no maintenance (a drop or two of oil every day or so) and they can be much faster and easier on all of the hand and wrist joints. 5" DeWalt, Porter Cable etc machines are almost disposable. You can change the brushes and bearings a couple times but once the armature starts to go, it's in the trash. I'd bet I've seen a Dynabrade last 25 times longer than these sanders. If OP doesn't have the compressor set up to run one, it's a moot point but, in a perfect world, they should be strongly considered for any shop.

Thats only true when your not factoring in new tech. Mirka, Surfprep, AirVantage, etc.. Ive had two 5" Mirka's and now 2 6" AirVantage that ive run the absolute guts out of for 5 years with zero signs of failure. Could happen any time but who knows. They are quieter. They cost fractions of pennies on the dollar to run. They cut just as fast. Industry on-mass is running from air for a reason. Any shop that is doing their math will tell you dynabrades are one of the biggest financial sucks on their annual budget. There is a reason your seeing DC brushless cordless on the assembly lines at places like Toyota, Ford, GM, etc.. Air drills, air anything.. costs a fortune to run.

Clean dry air costs a fortune to make. So anyone looking at the bottom line is driven to make it only when, and where, its absolutely necessary.

[Brian Burns VT]

Point taken. I was still looking from the OP perspective of low-end 5" sander. I think all of this math is totally dependent on usage, current compressor set-up, dust mitigation needs, ergonomics etc. and I think that a lot of people haven't used dynabrades and don't know just how comfortable they are compared to some other, corded options out there. I've used the new Mirka and Festool sanders and like them but would always choose a dynabrade over them if I were sanding stuff that required sander agility

[Rich Engelhardt]

If OP doesn't have the compressor set up to run one, it's a moot point but, in a perfect world, they should be strongly considered for any shop.At this stage of my life, I'm not really going to get a larger compressor. MY little Ingersoll Rand 2.5HP Twin Hot Dog - won't support an air sander.

This is strictly an electric (or battery) tool.

[Mark Bolton]

Point taken. I was still looking from the OP perspective of low-end 5" sander. I think all of this math is totally dependent on usage, current compressor set-up, dust mitigation needs, ergonomics etc. and I think that a lot of people haven't used dynabrades and don't know just how comfortable they are compared to some other, corded options out there. I've used the new Mirka and Festool sanders and like them but would always choose a dynabrade over them if I were sanding stuff that required sander agility

Agree'd on all points. Threads evolve. Look into the AirVantage or Surfprep with the separate transformer. Identical envelope of a dynabrade (why I like them) and a mere fraction of the operating cost with great dust pickup. Put the money in your kids college fund.

[Brian Burns VT]

Perfect. Stick with the 6" and disregard the previous handful of posts!

[Randy Heinemann]

I find that I use my 5" Festool sander for smaller jobs. Plus, with the new ETS models, you can get an edge sanding guide. For me, the guide yielded amazing results with almost no learning curve. Just for that alone, it's worth it to have the Festool 5".

[John K Jordan]

I...
Since I have the 6" Ridgid - which is a really great tool - do I need a 5" ROS too?

I doubt it but depending on what you do you might make good use of an even small ROS. I use a 3" pneumatic palm sander and a 2"/1" Grex pneumatic ROS. These are perfect for small things and curved things like some wood turnings. What I like most is I can run them at very low speeds with fine paper so the effect is much like hand sanding. These might not be as useful for large flatwork. They are extremely light weight since there is no electric motor.

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