Thoughts on Random Orbital Sanders?

Look in the review section of this site. There are a few in there.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Some of the tool review magazines have some of the best side to side comparisons for smoothness, vibration, aggressiveness, price, etc. I would spend $5 on one of those magazines before choosing. I think the Makita got pretty high marks, which is what I have and love it.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Make sure you get dust collection that will hook up to your shop vac.

-- If we learn from our mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education.

Woody’s recommendation above makes a lot of sense. In the past, I sanded with an inexpensive B&D sander, and hand held a dust clollector hose alongside as I sanded. This was awkward and only about 50% efficient, but better than nothing.

I’ve now treated myself to a Festool sander. It cost around $200, but it has the dust collector adaptor on the back and small holes on the sanding pad to further increase sanding efficiency. This is a very well designed tool.

Anoither treat for myself (and another $200) got me a Fein shop vac with the automatic mode that turns the vac on when I turn on the sander, and then runs for 10 seconds after the sander is turned off to clear the dust out of the hose.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I agree with 8Iowa, get a Festool and you will never regret it. I was in the same situation about a month ago and I bought the 5” RAS. It was $165 and it was one of the best purchases I have made to date. Check it out, its worth your time and money.

Jeff

-- Jeff, Indiana

The Bosch 5˝ ROS got a great review from FWW recently and at about 120 bucks less than the Festool. When my DeWalt finally goes south, that’s what I’m going for. I have the Fein tool-activated shop vac. It’s a winner.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

My humble opinion

If you have compressed air. get an air driven ROS. ......night and day performance. you will wonder why you didnt use it earlier? Not every one has a compressor and those who do, usaully dont have the volume of air needed to drive it. You can cheat by pumping up another air tank.

I bought a Freud Biscuit cutter…......didnt last 3 months

I bought one DeWalt…........lasted less then a year so I bought another one while it was being fixed. Neither one of them finished a year.

I finally broke down and bought a Lamelo. It’s been 5 years now and it works the same as the day I bought it.

I have heard nothing but good reviews on Festool. I just wish I would have bought there “job site table saw” instead of the previous 4 I did buy and the one I presently curse.

I own a few Bosch toys and nothing bad to say about them

I understand the word “budget” and “usage” and all those “cost effective” words. You get what you pay for when buying new toys. If possible I try and cry once and never cry again.

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/