Help me choose new ROS-please

[Mark Bolton]

. It's also bigger, clunkier to use.

Thats why you need to move to the electric dynabrade envelope. With the collection of sanders you have you could likely have bought a couple of 5" or a 5" and a 6" and they would likely be the last two sanders you'd ever own (unless you wanted more to not have to swap grits lol).

[Jim Becker]

I agree with this. I replaced my old PC with a Festool and the vibration reduction alone was worth it. If I actually used these things more often, it'd have been worth much more to me. Ergonomically it's much better than my PC ever was, the dust collection is far superior too.

Vibration was the primary reason for my switch years ago...my hands were going numb with the PC sanders even if I wore gel filled gloves.

[Michael Drew]

Thats why you need to move to the electric dynabrade envelope. With the collection of sanders you have you could likely have bought a couple of 5" or a 5" and a 6" and they would likely be the last two sanders you'd ever own (unless you wanted more to not have to swap grits lol).

I have no idea what that is. Link?

[Mark Bolton]

I have no idea what that is. Link?

Look back to post 14. Its handy to read all the previous posts when you post. Lots of juicy information buried in the other responses

[Erik Loza]

Vibration was the primary reason for my switch years ago...my hands were going numb with the PC sanders even if I wore gel filled gloves.

I'm rocking an old Craftsman (which works great for my needs). Then, I got to use one my customer's Festools and was like, "Wow, how smooth!".

Erik

[Jim Becker]

I'm rocking an old Craftsman (which works great for my needs). Then, I got to use one my customer's Festools and was like, "Wow, how smooth!".

Erik

Yea, whether it's Festool or another brand higher end tool, they definitely work smoother and with less vibration. I can sand "all day" without numbness, although I certainly would get tired for obvious reasons. Before for getting the better tool in my hand...a half hour was painful.

[Mark Bolton]

Then, I got to use one my customer's Festools and was like, "Wow, how smooth!"

Have you had your hands on a a DC brushless dynabrade type sander? Even the Festools are an utter joke with regards to smooth/operator fatigue, weight, speed, and so on. They are not going to out-hog a Rotex or the better Bosh/Makita Dual mode hogging sander but the footprint/envelope/speed for day to day work they are insane. 8 hours straight of non stop sanding, while not fun, is not all that bad.

[Erik Loza]

Yea, whether it's Festool or another brand higher end tool, they definitely work smoother and with less vibration. I can sand "all day" without numbness, although I certainly would get tired for obvious reasons. Before for getting the better tool in my hand...a half hour was painful.

I definitely found myself taking regular breaks last time I was doing a batch of pine shelves. One of those things were you never notice it until you use something better.

Have you had your hands on a a DC brushless dynabrade type sander? Even the Festools are an utter joke with regards to smooth/operator fatigue, weight, speed, and so on. They are not going to out-hog a Rotex or the better Bosh/Makita Dual mode hogging sander but the footprint/envelope/speed for day to day work they are insane. 8 hours straight of non stop sanding, while not fun, is not all that bad.

Not yet, unfortunately. I always look forward to seeing that stuff at the big shows like IWF but of course, that got canceled this year. For most of my customers, it's Festool.

Erik

[Mark Bolton]

IFor most of my customers, it's Festool.

Erik

Pull the.pin on a couple (if your allowed to) and i guarantee you you'll change your customers world. But if channeled distribution and controlling the offering is an issue that's understood. We had a hard time putting our hands on surfprep, Mirka, and now airvantage, for those reasons. Im shocked festfool hasn't poached this by now but undoubtedly their version would be $1000 for a sander that would never sell so they've done the math.

This envelope is far and away better than anything on the market.

[Michael Drew]

Look back to post 14. Its handy to read all the previous posts when you post. Lots of juicy information buried in the other responses

The term you used "electric dynabrade envelope" is what confused me, and inspired my question. I have not heard that before. Sounds like sales jargon?

[Dave Sabo]

Mark - methinks thou dost protest too much. 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 .

Lisa - forget about that sander. It's outa your price range by 50% and it doesn't have noticably less vibration that the festool despite what Mark says. It also has a very different switch than you've seen before, which you may or may not like. Dealers are practically non existent, the co. is fairly new with little to no track record and they don't even have a complete or accurate website. They still think they're going to IWF and SEMA - which have been cancelled for a good while now. Waste of time for you.

Also, forget about the crazy suggestion to get an air powered sander. Even more ludicrous for your situation. Roughly the same as thinking you need a sander to run 8 hours a day.

Fellas, get a clue and stop pushing your own agendas if you really want to help.

[Mark Bolton]

The term you used "electric dynabrade envelope" is what confused me, and inspired my question. I have not heard that before. Sounds like sales jargon?

No idea on jargon. Juat that there is finally an electric option in pretty much the identical form of the go-to industry standard for sanding that doesn't require the cost of manufacturing miles of expensive air. Made the switch lobf ago and wish we'd been able to do it sooner.

Close to the work, lowest fatigue, fast, quiet, no comparison.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

I'm more than happy with my Bosch ROS65VC-6 ROS. I bought the renewed version for $160 and it was in brand new condition. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post where I bought it but I'm pretty sure a quick google search will find it.
I also had the Dewalt 5" ROS. This Bosch is an entirely higher level unit than the Dewalt. There's virtually no sanding dust with it connected to my dust collection system. I'm using the Abranet sanding discs which provide great results and allow for air flow to make the dust collection work wonderfully.
I compared it against the Festool offering. I'm sure the Festool is nice (I did try it out at my local woodworking store). But the Bosch is extremely hard to beat at the price I purchased it for especially compared to the Festool.
I'm really happy with the 6" version as well. It provides more coverage which speeds up sanding substantially (1.44x coverage area increase).

[Bobby Robbinett]

The best budget sander on the market is the Porter Cable 382. I made the switch to the Festool Rotex and it’s the best sander that fits my needs. Almost just as good as the Festool Rotex is the duel mode Bosch. Don’t bother with the other Bosch sanders as every one that I have tried are basically lightweight finish sanders and won’t remove even simple cross grain scratches from a wide belt sander on softwoods let alone hardwoods. The duel mode Bosch is excellent. The AirVantage linked on a previous post are very nice too. Mirka is the best in my opinion.

[lowell holmes]

I am fond of Lee Valley, I bet Rob Lee can help you and you will not be disappointed.