Serious sander, seriously expensive

Thanks for the review looks like a great sander.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

This is a pretty nice review. I have been thinking about adding a new sander and your review of this one makes it look pretty good.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Thanks for the review. I know where I’ll be looking when it comes time to get a random orbit sander.

-- Big John's Woodshed - Farmington, IL

These really are a serious sander. We have 3 in our shop for use in sanding Solid Surface material. The high orbit “chisel” or “turbo” mode is a force to be reckoned with. I think that this sander greatly outperforms the Festool Rotex sanders, but that is just my opinion.

I have a question about random orbit sander: the one I use has a tendency to “dig in” when I first start it.
This seems to be a stupid question but how do you use this kind of sander?
Do you first start it and then apply it to the surface to be sanded or do you first apply it to the surface to be sanded and then start it ?
I had no much luck either way.
The one I use works very well after started but it leave some marks where I just start it because then the whole disc wants to rotate as an old disc sander did.

-- Bert

Starting it when it’s already on the surface is suppose to eliminate the gouging. At least that’s my understanding. I don’t have that problem with my two ROS and I actually turn them on first and come in for a “landing”.

-- Failure is the road to success if you learn to learn from your mistakes - Vince, Greenville, SC

I have the Bosch 3727 ROS and agree that they are the best I have ever used. I got this one because of the 6” diameter discs but think I might have been better off with the 5” discs because they are much easier to find. Mine has the adjustable speed but not the turbo mode you mentioned. Another thing I really like about this sander and all Bosch tools in general are the long, flexible power cords unlike some other brands that use shorter, very stiff cord. I bought mine as a “factory reconditioned” model and saved about $50. I’ve bought a lot of tools this way and have never had any problems with them.

Jim

-- A veteran is someone who, at one point in his/her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including his/her life".

b2rtch, i had the same problem you had. I replaced my sander with bosch (not this model, PEX400 which is also good but not as good as this) and its gone.
I think it has to do with the quality of the pad. it has to be just soft and flexible enough around the edges not to dig in but still firm enough for good sanding.

-- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...