Buy Festool Rotex RO 150, Mirka Deros or Metabo SXE 450 Turb

[aduk]

Hi

im not sure which to buy and ive not actually had the chance to get my hands on any of the 3 to try.

Im looking for a random orbital sander and i need to purchase it pretty quickly.
It will mainly be used for Solid Surface worktops, Solid wood worktops, MDF, and other general sanding.
I would possibly also use it for drywalll compound and/or fillers on walls for patch repairs etc with a vacume.

This will not be in daily use.

This is what ive gathered so far from my research but i dont know which to buy:

Metabo SXE 450 Turbo Tec random orbital sander 150mm.
3 year warranty.
£140 and so is by far the cheapest.
it looks like it has a more aggressive 6.2mm mode and a fine sanding mode of 2.8mm.
ive seen a few people on here do recommend this.


Mirka Deros 125mm and 150mm random orbital sander.
3 year warranty.
£340 for just the sander.
Special offer of £390 for the Deros, sanding disks, vacume 4m hose, 125mm and 150mm attachments, systainer.
This is more expensive than the Metabo but cheaper by a little than the Festool.
This has a lot of fans both here and around the internet.
From what i can see, it is variable speed however it doesnt have an 'agressive mode' but it is a 5mm random orbital sander.
This seems to have the best dust extraction.


Festool Rotex RO150.
3 year warranty
£420 for sander, systainer, edge protector.
This looks by far the most aggressive with the orbital mode and then also has the finer random orbital mode.
The dust extraction seems good, maybe not quite as good as the mirka though?
Its heavier than the mirka and possibly about the same weight as the metabo.


From what i can see, the festool seems like it offers more with the more aggressive orbital mode compared to the others and then is probably on par with them for the finer sanding. The mirka probably has the best dust extraction. The metabo is the cheapest.


Price says go for the metabo.
Functions says go for the festool but its 3x the price of the metabo.
Dust extraction seems to be best with the mirka, but is the mirka as aggressive as the festool?

Is the Mirka worth just over double the Metabo?
Is the festool worth 3x the metabo?
is the festool worth £80 more than the mirka?

No idea which to go for.....
Im tempted to just go for the metabo due to the price, however i dont mind spending money on tools if its worth it.
The tool probably wouldnt get weekly use, and certainly not daily use. It would just be used on and off for job specific things.

Thanks for any advice

 

[rdesign]

go for the 150 orbital festool no 3 or 5, I would suggest 3. u aren't doing work that needs really aggressive sanding from what u listed. the rotex isn't that comfortable to use, its heavy, unbalanced so it needs 2 hands. Haven't used the others you have mentioned but they would be more similar to the festool 3 and 5 sander than the rotex.

 

[n0legs]

Mirka all the way.

 

[aduk]

The Festool ETS 150/3-EQ Plus Sander and the 5 are both £282.
Double the price of the metabo and a little cheaper than the Mirka

thans for advice so far.... i hadnt considered that sander

 

[petermillard]

There's also the (relatively) new brushless Festool ETS EC 150 / 3 and /5 - nice sanders, some say they give the Mirka a run for its money in terms of size and weight. FWIW I have the older Festool ETS 150/5 and the 150/3, and the /5 gets far and away the most use. Also have the Rotexes, and they get used for very specific aggressive tasks e.g. paint stripping etc.. For occasional drywall sanding I find an orbital/eccentric sander better suited, personally.

I owned the non-turbo version of the Metabo, and moved onto the Festool side of things which, IME, were a significant improvement on several levels - ergonomics, noise, vibration etc... I like the versatility of the Rotex sanders, but they're compromised in terms of weight - too heavy (for me) to use as a general purpose sander on anything other than horizontal surfaces, so forget walls or ceilings! I do find the Festool plug-it chords to be very, very useful though.

If I was starting again, I'd give the Mirka Deros a long hard look - the deal with the 5" & 6" pads is pretty hard to beat, provided you can deal with the paddle-action switch - I've never used air-powered sanders so the whole action was alien to me when I tried one!

HTH Pete

 

[aduk]

hi
thanks for replies

so if spending a bit more than the metabo, its looking like either the newer festool ets 5, or the mirka diros.
the diros deal with the systainer, sanding disks and hose for £110 extra than the festool is ending today and goes up by about £40-£50.

decision to be made then is the festool worth £140 more than the metabo and is the mirka worth £80-£110 more than the festool if the tool wont get every day or every week use, but it has to be upto the job and powerful enough to get it done quickly.

regarding solid surface - is the metabo powerful enough? is the festool ets 5 powerful enough? the mirka seems to be because they have demo videos showing them doing solid surface. i know the festool rotex is but i think that a bit over kill unless i was doing solid surface every day.

 

[aduk]

the Makita BO6040 has been mentioned to me.
this has both orbital and random orbital modes just like the festool rotex and is £260 with a 3 year warranty just like all the other sanders.

This is £120 more expensive than the metabo and cheaper than the rest. this seems to be a good contender however ive read a few reviews saying the dust extraction isnt the best but they might not have it hooked up to a vacuum?


just to also add a bit of info
i will be using the mirka abranet/autonet sanding disks with a pad saver and i also use dust extraction.

 

[Mike.S]

I have the Metabo and would recommend it but if budget permitted I'd go for Mirka, then Metabo and Festool last.

By the way, I've read an article (can't find where though ) which argued persuasively imo that the 'aggressive' modes of ROS are the exact opposite i.e. a larger oscillation gives finer abrassion. Argument, using a 150mm diameter sander for an example, ran along the lines that in actual use the most aggressive mode is just rotary, as all the rotation/weight is concentrated in the smallest area i.e. 150mm diameter. Once the oscillation is turned up, e.g. to 6mm, then the weight/rotation is spread over a greater area i.e. 156mm. I'm not entirely convinced but must experiment in future.

In my experince so far the Metabo just chomps through everything - the grit choice is far more important

 

[aduk]

great info so far.... still not decided just yet.
so from the above post the user would suggest to pay the difference for the mirka if available, if not then the metabo

regarding solid surface only:
is the matabo upto the job especially breaking down the seams quickly, and bringing it to a nice polish??
is the mirka upto the job especially breaking down the seams quicly? mirkas own website and youtube videos do supply lots of information regarding solid surface and so it seems that the mirka should do the job fine.

 

[n0legs]

hi

is the mirka worth £80-£110 more than the festool if the tool wont get every day or every week use, but it has to be upto the job and powerful enough to get it done quickly.
.

Like my mentor told me when I was an apprentice,
"If you use it every day, buy the best there is or you can afford"
"If you use it once a week, buy a good one"
"If it comes out once a month, get something that will get the job done"
"If you never need it more than once, borrow it" :lol:

 

[aduk]

not that id use the sander for this very often at all, however would the mirka and would the metabo be easy enough to use as a bit of a one off to sand drywall compound / filler on ceilings with dust extraction?

 

[aduk]

looking like the metabo to get the job done as long as its good enough for solid surface now and again, and

the mirka as a luxury with better dust extraction, better to use over a longer period, and probably a bit easier to use for vertical applications and edges of mdf/doors/worktops.

 

[n0legs]

My BIL owns a body shop and over the years he's had on test probably all the ROS/DA type sanders available.
Yes he does mainly use the air powered tools but he has tested the electric versions as well.
The two from Mirka, Ceros and Deros, are absolutely excellent.
When the Deros was on test he also had the Festool Rotex, I'll be honest I don't know which version/model it was.
He and his senior panel beaters agreed the Mirka was the better machine, and when connected to the Mirka dust extraction they were a treat to use.
I've had a go of both the Ceros and Deros and I've said it many times that when my Mirka air powered finally dies (if ever) I'll be having one of them.
Maybe the Deros. Maybe the Ceros.
I'm not 100% sure which one, I'm used to my air powered and the Ceros just kind of feels right.
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

I tried one of the Mirkas - I think it was before the Deros came out - and there's no question that that's what I'll get if/when my Axminster cheapo dies. Very easy to handle, very little vibration, almost no dust coming out (with the Mirka extraction). I have not tried the others though.

 

[PAC1]

The new Festool ETS 150 gives the Mirka a good run for its money. In fact when I bought mine the Festool was slightly cheaper :shock:
I have not used it a lot but it certainly works well and dust free

 

[aduk]

and last there is the Bosch GEX 150 turbo - not to be confuesed with the non turbo version.
there is an indepth review of it over on axminster and it seems that this is just as good as the festool rotex ro 150 in sanding but just doesnt have the edge protector and not quite a good at dust controll.
its meant to be comparable to the makita too.
the reviewer doesnt mention the mirka, however they seem to have used every other sander there is and suggest getting this one if not used daily to warrant the spending on the festool rotex ro150 for the build quality and dust.

one reviewer says its comparable to the makita, one reviewer says the makita is slightly better.
the makita is more powerful at 750w and the bosch is 600w

i want to like the mirka, but im thinking the bosch, makita and the festool rotex ro150 may all be a little better.

 

[PAC1]

The Festool Rotex and the ETS are completely different. The ETS is comparable to the Mirka in weight, size and operation. I would put the Rotex and the Bosch in a different class

 

[Claud1]

I have both Festool and Mirka and both are excellent but I find that if I am sanding for more than ten mins or so on the Mirka my wrist starts to ache with having to hold the paddle switch down and also when I turn it over on the bench to change the disc without turning it off It can just take off because you are pressing down on the paddle switch, but all in all I don't think there is much between them.

 

[aduk]

hi
thats a very good point about the switch on the mirka upside down to watch out for.

which festool are you comparing it to?

thanks

 

[Claud1]

I have both Rotex and ETS 30 it just depends on what I am doing But for longer finish sanding I tend to reach for the ETS but only because I find it more comfortable, also I find the dust collection hose a lot more stiffer on the Mirka than the Festool I can say that both give a excellent finish and I think it is just a personal preference in the end. I would also say that if you could handle both before you buy you will find a big difference.