which sander?

[roman]

Two of my sanders have recently expired. A 125mm triton ros and a dewalt palm sander, leaving me with my 150 mm metabo ros and an old mutimaster.

Probably only 10% of my work involves sanding timber. The rest is painted surfaces and filler including the usual suspects such as, walls,skirtings, architraves, spindles, sash windows, fitted units etc.

I'm considering maybe two of four at the mo-

mirka ceros 125mm
festool ro90
fstool linear sander
festool orbital palm sander.

I had a quick go of ceros a whie back and was impressed. The only thing stopping me is the price and the feeling that where they have led (light brushless motor) others will surely follow, but when? also rumours of a 75mm version appeal

r090 impresively powerful and versatile but a bugger to control in orbital format and uncomfortable too. Yet I appreciat e its virtues. Anyone use one?

Linear sander really appeals although I hear its not that aggressive. However but I cant think of another machine that does what it claims to do. Has anyone tried the custom pads? I'm wondering whether it would be effective on ogee skirts and archs, spindles on stairs etc. I know some will suggest multimaster for this but I find it frustrating. Pads melt, paper slips, surface area too small, extraction fiddly and erratic.

Finally the palm sander. Its cheaper than the rest and might partner ceros well but again I sense even smaller brushless must surely be around the corner.

Good extraction is a must on any I buy as is weight. Working verical surfaces with my metabo is tiring and its bulky too so plenty of areas it wont reach.

I'd appreciate your views of these and any others to consider.

cheers

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

If weight and extraction are your priorities then festool can't be beaten........except you need a modest sized central bank vault to afford one!

 

[petermillard]

Two of my sanders have recently expired...

r090 impresively powerful and versatile but a pipper to control in orbital format and uncomfortable too. Yet I appreciat e its virtues. Anyone use one?

I've used one, don't own one yet - still waiting for a well-priced 240v one to come back in stock. I have the RO150 and the RO125 - the 125 is harder to handle than the 150, so I'd expect the 90 to be the same again in full use. There's a definite technique to handling a Rotex though - not difficult, but unless you have arms like legs, they're not one-handed machines! RO 90 is surprisingly tall, so prone to being a bit 'tippy' on narrow materials, I'd expect.

Linear sander really appeals although I hear its not that aggressive. However but I cant think of another machine that does what it claims to do. Has anyone tried the custom pads? I'm wondering whether it would be effective on ogee skirts and archs, spindles on stairs etc.

I have the linear sander (LS130) and would have to say that the custom pads are only worthwhile of you have an awful lot of exactly the same profile to go through. I found making the custom pads to be pretty fiddly, and not particularly accurate on finely-detailed mouldings. OTOH I found it to be excellent sander for sash-window refurbs, and plenty aggressive with a coarse-grit abrasive - particularly useful on the inside rebate of the sash box, where it gets a crusted 'lip' of built-up old paint. Worth keeping your eyes peeled on eBay for one as they frequently come up used.

I know some will suggest multimaster for this but I find it frustrating. Pads melt, paper slips, surface area too small, extraction fiddly and erratic.

Ditto - Multimaster's a saw to me, with terrible DC...

Finally the palm sander. Its cheaper than the rest and might partner ceros well but again I sense even smaller brushless must surely be around the corner.

The RTS400? Probably also worth also looking at the delta-pad DTS 400 as well - very handy to have a pointy ended abrasive sometimes! Again, worth keeping an eye on eBay for an older RS400 - you could change the pads on these for a delta-pad, which is handy feature that was taken away when they introduced the newer ones.

My always-carried sanders are an old RS400 with a delta pad, and an ETS 125 (5" random orbital) - I can cover an awful lot with just these two; the ETS 125 is particularly light, so good for working vertically/one-handed, although it has a relatively small stroke (2mm) so isn't particularly aggressive, but again, a coarse abrasive can change this. There was a small Bosch with a 4mm stroke if you needed something even more aggressive, I think?

And FWIW I haven't found anything that'll take away the pain of prepping spindles properly!

HTH Pete.

 

[Sailormantom]

The mirka is the one for me - best sander I have ever owned in terms of dust extraction and the abranet discs are superb. It's light and comfortable to hold for long periods when sanding verticals as well as horizontals. I have even used it for polishing GRP at it's slowest speed with reasonable results.

Quite expensive but you get the choice of power source between electric (1 or 3 phase) or air powered and it seems to be lasting very well.

Cheers

Tom

 

[roman]

Two of my sanders have recently expired...
Thank you. Very helpful posts. You clearly appreciate the difficulty with sash windows! A small ros is a must I think. Despite not being made to last I quite liked my 125mm triton. I think the ceros would be best althugh I wonder what the paddle control is like on verticals. I will then need something to get in the corners a circular pad wont reach. The 400 is tempting as is the r090. The linear sander is as you say probably best bought second hand. I should probably have a go with one first. Maybe at a festool open day. I tried the r090 at the dm tools fair last year and it really is quite tricky.

r090 impresively powerful and versatile but a bugger to control in orbital format and uncomfortable too. Yet I appreciat e its virtues. Anyone use one?

I've used one, don't own one yet - still waiting for a well-priced 240v one to come back in stock. I have the RO150 and the RO125 - the 125 is harder to handle than the 150, so I'd expect the 90 to be the same again in full use. There's a definite technique to handling a Rotex though - not difficult, but unless you have arms like legs, they're not one-handed machines! RO 90 is surprisingly tall, so prone to being a bit 'tippy' on narrow materials, I'd expect.

Linear sander really appeals although I hear its not that aggressive. However but I cant think of another machine that does what it claims to do. Has anyone tried the custom pads? I'm wondering whether it would be effective on ogee skirts and archs, spindles on stairs etc.

I have the linear sander (LS130) and would have to say that the custom pads are only worthwhile of you have an awful lot of exactly the same profile to go through. I found making the custom pads to be pretty fiddly, and not particularly accurate on finely-detailed mouldings. OTOH I found it to be excellent sander for sash-window refurbs, and plenty aggressive with a coarse-grit abrasive - particularly useful on the inside rebate of the sash box, where it gets a crusted 'lip' of built-up old paint. Worth keeping your eyes peeled on eBay for one as they frequently come up used.

I know some will suggest multimaster for this but I find it frustrating. Pads melt, paper slips, surface area too small, extraction fiddly and erratic.

Ditto - Multimaster's a saw to me, with terrible DC...

Finally the palm sander. Its cheaper than the rest and might partner ceros well but again I sense even smaller brushless must surely be around the corner.

The RTS400? Probably also worth also looking at the delta-pad DTS 400 as well - very handy to have a pointy ended abrasive sometimes! Again, worth keeping an eye on eBay for an older RS400 - you could change the pads on these for a delta-pad, which is handy feature that was taken away when they introduced the newer ones.

My always-carried sanders are an old RS400 with a delta pad, and an ETS 125 (5" random orbital) - I can cover an awful lot with just these two; the ETS 125 is particularly light, so good for working vertically/one-handed, although it has a relatively small stroke (2mm) so isn't particularly aggressive, but again, a coarse abrasive can change this. There was a small Bosch with a 4mm stroke if you needed something even more aggressive, I think?

And FWIW I haven't found anything that'll take away the pain of prepping spindles properly!

HTH Pete.

 

[cambournepete]

I have the rts400 with a ct22 and it is an excellent combination.

 

[petermillard]

Thank you. Very helpful posts. You clearly appreciate the difficulty with sash windows! A small ros is a must I think. Despite not being made to last I quite liked my 125mm triton. I think the ceros would be best althugh I wonder what the paddle control is like on verticals. I will then need something to get in the corners a circular pad wont reach. The 400 is tempting as is the r090. The linear sander is as you say probably best bought second hand. I should probably have a go with one first. Maybe at a festool open day. I tried the r090 at the dm tools fair last year and it really is quite tricky.

Horses for courses; if it suits how you work, then I'm sure the Ceros is a fine ROS. I don't personally, think I could live with having a separate power brick / transformer for each sander when I'm out on a job, and I can't overstate the convenience of the 'system' approach - having a single power chord and extractor hose for everything when, say, I'm up a ladder prepping a sash frame & cill, and need to juggle between three sanders makes life a lot easier.

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

Cheers, Pete

 

[carbo]

I have a festool sander / extractor package potentially for sale and I've pm'd ya

 

[Peter Gee]

non vale la pena...

 

[roman]

Thank you. Very helpful posts. You clearly appreciate the difficulty with sash windows! A small ros is a must I think. Despite not being made to last I quite liked my 125mm triton. I think the ceros would be best althugh I wonder what the paddle control is like on verticals. I will then need something to get in the corners a circular pad wont reach. The 400 is tempting as is the r090. The linear sander is as you say probably best bought second hand. I should probably have a go with one first. Maybe at a festool open day. I tried the r090 at the dm tools fair last year and it really is quite tricky.

Horses for courses; if it suits how you work, then I'm sure the Ceros is a fine ROS. I don't personally, think I could live with having a separate power brick / transformer for each sander when I'm out on a job, and I can't overstate the convenience of the 'system' approach - having a single power chord and extractor hose for everything when, say, I'm up a ladder prepping a sash frame & cill, and need to juggle between three sanders makes life a lot easier.

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

Cheers, Pete

Thats a godpoint about the system approach. I'll bear it in mind. These days the ceros is also available without the transformer. That side of things is taken on in the 'handle' and now weighs marginally more than it did. I've no idea how that is possible or why the transformer was needed before. Most oulets still sell the older version and I must say there is something a little odd and opaque about how mirka sanders are sold. When I had a try of one last year at axminster, the demonstrator said there was a 'deros' in the pipeline which he thought would be an orbital or delta sander, also using the brushless motor. I've done a search and found nothing more on this though.

 

[roman]

I have a festool sander / extractor package potentially for sale and I've pm'd ya

pm replied to

cheers

Roman

 

[petermillard]

These days the ceros is also available without the transformer. That side of things is taken on in the 'handle' and now weighs marginally more than it did. I've no idea how that is possible or why the transformer was needed before. Most oulets still sell the older version and I must say there is something a little odd and opaque about how mirka sanders are sold...

That's interesting - I haven't seen any reference to a 'transformer-less' version anywhere! FWIW the Ceros needs a transformer to convert mains AC voltage to the 22v DC motor that it uses.

Cheers, Pete

 

[roman]

These days the ceros is also available without the transformer. That side of things is taken on in the 'handle' and now weighs marginally more than it did. I've no idea how that is possible or why the transformer was needed before. Most oulets still sell the older version and I must say there is something a little odd and opaque about how mirka sanders are sold...

That's interesting - I haven't seen any reference to a 'transformer-less' version anywhere! FWIW the Ceros needs a transformer to convert mains AC voltage to the 22v DC motor that it uses.

Cheers, Pete

Its odd. I've just looked at all the usual suspects and all have the transformer. Yet at axminster in High Wycombe I used one without. The rep expained that many potential users were put off by it and so they developed one without. Maybe there was something built into the extractor but I don't think so.

cheers,

Roman

 

[roman]

I've just searched for mirka deros and found a video of the new machine on youtube, its the new ROS without transformer. A bit bigger and heavier than the ceros. There is also a 77mm ceros, but neither available here as far as I can see.

I would love a chance to try ceros and deros side by side. The transformer is off putting but I would only ever use it with extraction and since I now use a festool ctl mini I could clip a systainer containing it and some discs to the top. Otherwise the deros is an attractive proposition except that its slightly more to hold and carry in use.

Anyway some form of mirka is a definite for me and probably r090 too although I've been alerted to a small metabo disk sander SXE 400) for much less, albeit without delta option. Its meant to be good also. Any users out there?