Festool ETS 150 and Mirka Deros 5" switch to 6" pads...

[Jeffrey Hood]

Has anyone been using a 6" pad either on the ETS 125 or the Mirka 5" sander...? I use both of mine and like them both, but probably should have bought the 6" Mirka (which I know has an "approved" 5" pad for it...) but since I had all my sandpaper in 5" size, I went with the 5"... and what part number did you get from where...?

But I'd like to try a 6" pad, particularly on the Mirka since it has a 5mm stroke... I've heard that it is possible to use a 6" pad on both, but I'm looking for real world experience from someone who has done it for a while without messing up a $600 sander... Now if someone wanted to swap a Mirka 5" (with only a few dozen hours of sanding on it...) for a 6" Mirka, I'd might be interested...

Thanks in advance...

JH

[Warren Lake]

call your distributor and ask. Some sanders say Dynabrade have two different models one for each pad size and its to do with counterweights. I use 6" but did buy a Dyna recently that has a five and supposed to be a six, will replace the pad if there is any extra vibration.

[Jim Becker]

Jeffery, I've owned a 150/3 since the mid-2000s and "love" it. I honestly don't own a 125mm/5" sander, although that might change to better support my guitar work. That said, if there is a Mirka approved 150mm/6" pad available for the 125mm/5" Mirka sander you have, that likely would be the most cost effective solution for you to be able to leverage that 5mm stroke on the larger abrasive.

[Jeffrey Hood]

My bad... in my original post, I meant to say a 6" Festool pad on an ETS 125... I said an ETC 150 in error... I have both the Festool ETS and Mirka only in the 125mm/5" versions...

Unfortunately, Mirka only has the "Mirka approved" pad for the 5" pad that fits on the 6" sander... There are guys out there that run the 6" pad on a 5" sander apparently, but I was hoping someone on here could verify that it doesn't harm the sanders...

From what I have been able to piece together, BOTH the Festool ETS 125 and the Mirka 5" can have the larger 150mm 6" pads mounted, as the holes and mounting line up just fine... one guy I talked to said that for my use (very light hobby use...) it probably wouldn't make a bit of difference even if the larger pad was slightly heavier, which maybe it would under heavy daily use... I'm just trying to get as much confirmation as I can before trying this...

JH

[Jim Becker]

On the Festool side, only the specific 125mm/5" ETS EC sander can take the larger, 150mm pad. There's a similar thread in the Festool group where someone modified a pad to be able to use the smaller size on a 150mm sander. That might be an option for you on the Mirka, but I've never touched one unfortunately and don't know what the physical differences might be for attaching the pads on that brand.