orbital sander

[News]

Without considering price, what is the best orbital sander to buy.

Thanks, Shoe

[Robatoy]

RO 150 ES Festool. Period.

[Lew Hodgett]

Bigger is better IMHO.

The sanding area varies as the square of the diameter, thus a 5"=25, a

6"=36, and an 8"=64.

64/25 = 2.56, which means an 8" unit has 2.56 times the area of a 5" unit, which means you spend less time sanding.

Obviously, an 8" requires more investment than a 5".

If you can afford the investment, look Fein, Festool.

If not, look at Bosch.

Lew

[Edwin Pawlowski]

All that is true, but it still has to feel good in your hand. And there can be too big at times also, so having a 5" around it not such a bad thing either, depending on what has to be sanded.

[Leon]

Yeah What he said.

[Leon]

I have lived with a 5 incher,, um err uh sander. My other tool is much bigger. Anyway the bigger area sands more quickly but does not fit in to smaller spots as well as the smaller diameter sanders.

[Robatoy]

Although I must admit that I am somewhat curious about that big 6" from Bosch.

[Mike Dembroge]

I agree as well. I have one and it's great. One of the best aspects to Festool tools is that they are much quieter to operate and don't spin out of control when you lift them while running. They are pricey though.

[Mike Dembroge]

There is the "bigger is better" arguement and that's fine. I have the Festool RO 150 which is the metric equivalent to a 6" inch sander and while bigger is better, there are times I prefer to use my smaller 5" PC which I've had for years. The 6" sanders are better suited for 2-hand operation where you can get by with using just 1 hand with the 5" sanders. There are times when you need to hold the piece while sanding it which is easier to do with the 5" sanders.

Mike

[Leon]

Except for maybe my Bosch routers, I am jinxed with their products. I have used and tested 3 or 4 Bosch drills and they all failed while I was using them, add to that I was using Swingman's Bosch ROS and it stopped working.....

[Swingman]

Yeah ... some folks shouldn't even be allowed to wear watches! :)

It was nothing serious, just the switch ... it's still ticking right along. I'm surprised that with all the dust these things whip up, that more switch problems don't crop up.

I like my 6" Bosch ROS, but I find myself using that little 1/4 sheet Porter Cable 340(?), (inherited in mystery box of "stuff"), as the first choice, mainly because it doesn't aggravate my CTS like the ROS does.

[Robatoy]

I had a couple of 2HP Bosch routers. I forgot the model numbers, but the height adjustmernt was a cam-like rotatey thang..and the damn bit was never in the centre of the base..blech. The motors ran forever, but I went through half a dozen switches. I still have a 1/2 sheet and a new 1/4 sheet sander. I like them both. I sold my barrel-grip jig-saw when I retired..but I liked it. I got a top-handle Milwaukee now, but sometimes miss the upside-down handyness of the barrel grip. I just bought a litium-ion Bosch screwdriver. The guys like it. Too soon to tell.

Now...seeing that your sweet wife bought you the Domino, does she keep the $ 40.00 as well?

PS.. I'm still waiting to hear about the Pinot Popsicle.

[Greg O]

Better check your math. Round area uses a differant formula.

5"= ~19 sqin 6"= ~28 sqin 8"= ~50 sqin The ratio does stay the same. Greg

[Wes Stewart]

|Without considering price, what is the best orbital sander to buy.

Don't know for sure but it isn't a DeWalt. I have a number of other tools from DW and like them, but my sander has failed (partially) twice now.

The speed control seems to be susceptible to ESD (electrostatic discharge) something that appears in abundance when you have a combination of friction, dust and moving air.

Correspondence with DW has been unanswered, so my answer is to not buy or recommend anymore of their products.

[Barry Lennox]

I have two, a PC 333 VS and a larger Bosch. I'm very pleased with both.

Barry

[Lew Hodgett]

You are getting bogged down in the details.

It is only the area ratio that counts, not the actual area.

Lew

[Lew Hodgett]

That's why Fein offers a detail sander.

Lew

[Leon]

I have that too. I Prefer to finish every thing with a quick run with the PC SpeedBloc.

[Mike Berger]

I was sure you'd recommend your new favorite at

Robatoy wrote:

[Robatoy]

The dust control is way better on the Festool.