Sander purchase - fence sitting and bit of advice needed.

[shed9]

About to push the button on a couple of sanders.

I've gone round in circles with the whole Mirka / Festool / Other brand debate. I'm about to push the button on a Festool Rotex 150 and an ETS 150.

Anyone have these devices or both? I'd be particularly interested in their comparison to other good brands.

I was almost convinced on the Mirka Deros, but I've not regretted any of my Festool purchases and this is kind of where I'm leaning to at the moment.

All help / advice appreciated.

 

[carlb40]

Tagging along on this with interest

 

[petermillard]

I have the Rotex 150 and ETS 150/5 (and Rotex 125 and ETS125) and they're great sanders; I've run the Rotex almost all day long doing edging on a stripped floor, and by the end of the day it was almost too hot to hold without wearing gloves, but still working fine.

The Rotex line are very different sanders from the ETS - heavier, but more powerful / aggressive in Rotex mode, though they still handle well. I've never used the Mirka Deros, though I did trial the Ceros when it was first out - I liked it as a sander, but disliked the clunky power brick and the short cable / hose - things that, to be fair, I think are sorted with the Deros. The Ceros was also impressively low-profile - low enough to be used to sand the floor under regular kitchen cabinets, say, which could be useful.

AFAIK, Mirka only make one abrasive for Abranet, whereas Festool have a variety - Granat is a fantastic all-round abrasive, Brilliant 2 is excellent with painted woodwork, Cristal for plaster/filler, Rubin for bare wood, Safire for heavy-duty work. And of course, you could also use Abranet with your Festool sander if you really wanted.

Like yourself, I have no particular regrets about buying Festool, and I am quite heavily invested in 'the system'.

Let us know what you decide, and how you get on.

Best, Pete

 

[shed9]

Thanks Pete, good info and exactly what I was looking for.

I'm looking for a decent unit that will take fair amounts of material away but also want a decent finishing sander, hence the lean towards the Rotex and ETS.

I quite like the idea of the power unit being separate in the Mirka Ceros unit as I work exclusively stationary and anything that shifts weight elsewhere is a plus - that said I don't work long continuous hours and the Festool seems to tick a lot of boxes.

 

[Grahamshed]

Good as the mirka system may be you know you want the Festool so get the button pushed. It is not as if you were debating cheap versus quality.

 

[Rowbear]

Hi Shed9,

I also run a Rotex 150 and an ETS 150/3. I haven't tried the Mirka products, though some people swear by them. But for me, doing sometimes 4+ hours of sanding through 100 to 4000 grit on diverse projects, I couldn't fault the ETS150/3 as a finishing sander, nor the Rotex for fast stock removal. What's also interesting is how well the Rotex acts as a finishing sander in ROS mode. It's brilliant! A great back up for the ETS150/3. But the ETS is my go to sander,

Good luck with the purchase.

Regards,

Rob

 

[hansonread]

Im going to chuck my vote in for the mirka, Having owned both brands of sander I have to say the festool is mainly stuck in a box in the corner gathering dust. Depending on your use for the sander, if your more situated in a workshop standing at a bench than you are say lugging tools to and from site, then having the heavy transformer and associated gubbins stuck in a transformer box really lightens the load of the sander to the profile of a standard pneumatic one which makes using it a real pleasure.

In my workshop I also have the Mirka extractor (which the ceros transformer fits to the back of) which when coupled with an abranet disk and the convenience of the auto take off feature, really knocks the socks off the Festool by the way of dust collection.

I have a 77mm 2.5mm orbit, a 77mm 5mm orbit, a 125mm 5mm orbit, a 150mm 5mm orbit and a 150mm 8mm orbit. And I really would like a 150mm 2.5mm orbit for de nibbing. They really are such awesome sanders, I cant speak highly enough of them.

And if your really that bothered about your systainer with the festool then the mirka has the option for a bright yellow branded one for 30 quid