There is a Festool ROS that is considerable less expensive than the Rotex125/150. It is more of a finish sander rather than an all around agressive/finish sander. And yes the Rotex 125/150 are $400/$500 respectively IIRC.
You have to be specific as the 125 more describes a round 5" sander, not one in particular as indicated below.
Apparently Festool has come out with a new sander and dust extraction system,
What are your thoughts on them?
Do you feel old fashioned and behind the times yet? ;-)
I'm glad I took your advice and bought into the Festool sander gig, and I'm glad I took your advice and got the Rotex125 instead of the 150.
I tend to go toward bigger is better in that kind of tool (the more surface area the quicker I'm done kinda thinking), but the 150 would be a bit much to handle in the marathon sanding sessions that I'm wont to do when I finally get started.
Rotex... that's the key word, indeed.
The new sander is the RO-90 ... check it out on youtube. Dealers are taking orders on them but they either just arrived here in the US/Canada, or will shortly.
Awesome piece of machinery, a lot of dynamite in a small package.
There's always bigger and better no matter what ... always a better bass player, guitar player, drummer, somebody with a bigger deck, etc. wherever you go, so you learn to get used to it. :)
IOW, do/buy something you get satisfaction out of and resist looking back.
errrmmm... the 150 Rotex is a totally different sander doing much more amazing things...stay tuned...LOL
EEK! 40 hours per week _sanding_? Even with a festerl, that would be hell.
-- Woe be to him that reads but one book. -- George Herbert
Yeah, it'd be cheaper to pre-prime/paint and reside the entire barn.
-- Woe be to him that reads but one book. -- George Herbert
I'm sure it is, especially for big wide jobs like countertops.
After using the Rotex 125 for drawer parts and face frames, which is about 90% of its work, the Rotex 125 has turned out to be an excellent choice ... I'm not second guessing my decision in the least.
Here's my sanding setup for cabinet parts:
But I get a day off...
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OK, thanks for the input...
After having done some more looking, I've determined I can still get all the parts need to rebuild 3 of the old ones for about the price of slightly under the price of a new PC or that ilk. So, yesterday evening I ordered the stuff other than the bearings I can get locally and started teardown assembly line in waiting...
The anti-rotation ring on the dust shroud/collector on these when used so hard/long gradually wears through the case and gets annoyingly loose as a result. I ordered two sets of rings and found somebody actually had a lot of 3 cases (NOS) on eBay so I've go them coming, too, as well as one armature and a few other odds'n'ends. Meanwhile, I'm looking into a couple of modifications of these cases and shrouds by fitting a piece of metal strap in lieu of the plastic wing. That'll have more surface area instead of the more or less sharp edge of the thin plastic piece. There's a cavity in the outer case where the wear occurs that looks like it could be filled in as well.
Three working old ones plus the two newer replacements on hand _should_ get through the coming spring flurry at which I'm hoping I'll get the rest of the prep done and paint on before really hot weather (in between spring planting and well before wheat harvest, of course).
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I strongly considered the 150 but knew that large wide spaces were not going to be my main area of sanding. Even the Festool rep was suggesting the 150 over the 125 until I made him understand that face frames and cabinet doors and drawers were going to be the larger projects. He then totally agreed that the 150 would be more difficult to handle/balance on the narrow parts. If I was doing counter tops all the time I would have gone with the 150. I too have never given it a second thought my decision to go with the 125 over the 150. Actually I often see instances where the 150 would not have gone where the 125 could go.
I totally agree. One should have both. If I had to have only one, it'd be the 5" This one would be cumbersome when sanding faceframes:
Looks like it's designed for removing manhole covers.
Run face frames thru the drum sander and not only get a better job but also save time.
Lew
Good trick if you could do it ... final face frame sanding on a cabinet run is generally done after installation.
In any case, cross grain sanding marks tend to make things look bad.
But you'll see 'em on many commercial boxes... :(
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