Help me choose new ROS-please

[Lisa Starr]

Well, with a little research yesterday afternoon, I ordered the Festool from Hartville Tool thru Amazon at 3:00. Amazingly, it arrived a bit before 9:00 this morning! So far, I'm very happy with the choice. The grip is definitely smaller than the Dewalt making it more comfortable for me to hold. I sanded a couple of scraps with the Dust Collector bag in place and it seemed to do an okay job. I'll probably hook it up to the dust collection after I locate the appropriate adapters. The vibration seems to be less also. Now I'm off to locate paper/mesh/pads etc. Again, thank you everyone for your input.

[Mark Bolton]

Please register as a dynabrade salesman or disclose that you already are. Hope those power supplies don't have the same problems Mira's had when they came out .

No salesman here just a happy user since the old Mirka's. Have two Ceros from the beginning that have had the guts run out of them with zero issues whatsoever. The AirVantage is pretty much the identical machine to what 3M was offering in their electric Dynabrade offering (before they stopped offering electrics) and pretty much identical to Surfprep. No different than anything they likely all come out of the same factory but built to whatever spec'd price point but none the less absolutely everyone who has ever come into my shop running anything from Festool to home center model sanders is mind blown at the speed, smoothness, low noise, and pretty much zero dust. Operator fatigue with your palm as close to the work as reasonably possible is almost nothing. When there is a ton of sanding going on and with only two Ceros' in the shop you can imagine the scramble for who gets one and who has to pull an old school ROS out of the cabinet.

The switch is absolutely nothing and you can toggle it from variable to simply on/off or any max speed range you choose to pre-set if you wish. We rarely run the paddle in the variable mode because its electric and doesnt have the hard feedback like a dynabrade does with air pressure against the paddle.

Unlike the Mirka, the AirVantage is far more affordable and not a heck of a lot more than any of the ultra high end conventional sanders and I will guarantee you the day you get your hands on one youll either say you dont like it in spite, or slink off and buy one lol... They are a game changer.

I have zero connection to any tool and rarely praise much in the way of tools but these sanders are literally game changing when your sanding for many hours a day or at a time.

But thanks for the feedback

[Dave Sabo]

Huh ?

Perhaps more specificity is in order, lowell .

[QUOTE]I'll probably hook it up to the dust collection after I locate the appropriate adapters. [/QUOTE]

We can help with that too. Tell us what vacuum you’ll be using, but this pretty much is the go to hose nowadays for value, compatibility, and performance:

https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tec-Syste...kle_mcd_asin_0


You may find this useful too:
https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Eto.../dp/B07YK9VBQK





Mark , you make some good points. They just aren’t really germane to a low use homeowner on a hobby budget.

[Mark Bolton]

homeowner on a hobby budget.

Festool, in any way, shape, or form, is far far from a what has ever been considered a homeowner/hobby budget even though I know OP stated hopes to stay under 200. The AirVantage is 319.00. Other than the uber low end Festool 319 is far less than any of Festools higher end sanders (running all the way up to 600+).

Once your out of the big box $49-$129 category, forget about the leap to Festool, its a different ball game.

My point is that she already mentioned "the big C". So a bump of $120 to spend on a sander when your having wrist/pain/surgery issues, is an absolute no brainer though its understood if the money isnt there it just isnt there. When they were up in the 499-699 range, yeah.. no dice. As opposed to wrist surgery or having to forego the hobby? Id pull the pin on the smoothest most ergonomic sander I could.

[Erik Loza]

...The AirVantage is 319.00...

"BUT", customers will need a decently sized air compressor to use it and perhaps don't want to deal with the noise. So, it's not necessarily as straightforward as just the price of that unit. For the OP, I think electric is the way to go. Just my 2-cents.

Erik

[mike stenson]

So now I'm lost. I need to spend $319 on an pneumatic powered sander, and then make sure I have enough air to power it to save on the $200 festool ETS 125?

[Lisa Starr]

Mark - My "Big C" isn't carpel tunnel, but rather Cancer. I'm twice now in remission, but the second go around involved a stem cell transplant. I'll never recover from the fatigue induced by the uber chemotherapy required with that procedure. That's fine, but the tools that make the most of my stamina are "the best" for me. In this case, the little $200 Festool fits my needs and my budget.

[Mark Bolton]

"BUT", customers will need a decently sized air compressor to use it and perhaps don't want to deal with the noise. So, it's not necessarily as straightforward as just the price of that unit. For the OP, I think electric is the way to go. Just my 2-cents.

Erik

Nope, Its a DC brushless electric. Thats the point. No air, and compared to any "normal" sander they are silky silent. That was why I asked if you'd been able to get your hands on one. Mirka, Surfprep, Airvantage, 3M had the exact AirVantage on their sheet (for a ton more money of course) for a while.

I would never run air sanders in my shop. To loud, manufacturing clean dry air is too expensive.

[Mark Bolton]

Mark - My "Big C" isn't carpel tunnel, but rather Cancer

Ahh, I guess I should have thought of carpel tunnel as "the little c" One of my major moves to these sanders way back when was because I had an employee who had Carpel Tunnel issues in a past job and part of his job was a lot of sanding and I greatly feared a workers comp claim so a batch of sanders wast cheap insurance. Again, full time shop or hobby, it was painful but as with any investment once the bandaid is ripped you wonder why you hadnt done it sooner. I would never, will never, go back to conventional sanders but happy you found a sander upgrade regardless.

[Erik Loza]

Nope, Its a DC brushless electric. Thats the point. No air, and compared to any "normal" sander they are silky silent. That was why I asked if you'd been able to get your hands on one. Mirka, Surfprep, Airvantage, 3M had the exact AirVantage on their sheet (for a ton more money of course) for a while.

I would never run air sanders in my shop. To loud, manufacturing clean dry air is too expensive.

I see now. Saw the paddle on top and assumed it was pneumatic. Gott'a try one of these out.

Erik

[Mark Bolton]

Gott'a try one of these out. Erik

Game changers for us.

[Mark Bolton]

So now I'm lost. I need to spend $319 on an pneumatic powered sander, and then make sure I have enough air to power it to save on the $200 festool ETS 125?

Its not pneumatic. Its DC brushless, quiet, smooth, fast, read,.. I would never pay the cost to manufacture clean dry air for an air dynabrade. Not to mention 319 dollars would be a total rape job. You can buy decent quality air dynabrades with no DC option for like $100 bucks.

[Frank Martin]

I had no idea these existed. I changed most of my sanders to Mirka Deros and Deos models. They are substantially better than the Festool versions they replaced, although even more expensive than Festool. If these are like the Mirka offerings at a significantly lower price, they may be a winner. I love Mirka sanders for being very light, very ergonomic, low vibration and excellent dust collection.

[Mark Bolton]

I had no idea these existed. I changed most of my sanders to Mirka Deros and Deos models. They are substantially better than the Festool versions they replaced, although even more expensive than Festool. If these are like the Mirka offerings at a significantly lower price, they may be a winner. I love Mirka sanders for being very light, very ergonomic, low vibration and excellent dust collection.

Smart man...... (Dave Sabo edit.. I have no affiliation with Mirka, nor Frank Martin, and am not a salesman nor representative for either entity and am just posting my personal experience)

[Jim Becker]

Lisa, congrats on your new sander! Enjoy! And yes...it will perform even better hooked up to dust extraction...you'll want to adjust the air flow down as you move up to finer and finer grits, either with the vac if it has that capability or with a bleeder on the hose if not. And the center hole is critical for optimum dust extraction and longer abrasive life.