Hi Paul, You are a very knowledgeable guy so maybe you can please help me here a bit. I bought a random orbital sander and it came with a hard pad (backing). The manufacturer also sells soft pads. What is the reason for this? Also the hard pad seems to make the ROS jump around whenever I put it down on the wood. I have to push down on the sander for it to stop jumping. Do you think that is due to the hard pad or maybe the 80grit that I used? Many Thanks
HI, I bought an assortment Systainer when there was a promo for one long ago for mine. The pricing on that is actually pretty good (though you pay for the Systainer over the paper). The papers do seem to last a very long time as the combination of the papers and dust collection keeps the paper from loading. Other hook n loop paper will work, but not as well because only Festool has the 9-hole pattern that gets air flowing across the paper for extraction. I know that Tom at Tool-Home.com puts together custom assortments; this can cut the cost a bit over buying several boxes.. Maybe email him to see if you can get a progression of grits and count of sheets for each. He's done that in the past. Definitely get more of the lower grits.
Hi Paul, I keep going back and forth from the 150 to the 125 for my next purchase, I heard the 125 is more unwieldy , have you experienced this and also did you have to break in the sander before it ran smoothly? thanks a lot for all your help your videos are super helpful Ben
I've heard people say the 150 is unwieldy, and it is as it requires two hands to operate. I can operate the 125 on-handed in ROS mode; in direct-drive mode, I cup the head and you get great control. 150 is 44% more surface area so it sands a larger surface much faster. If you do face-frames and don't have a smaller sander for those, the 125 would be perfect as it still does face frames very easily. Between the two, the 125 is much easier to handle. As for breaking it in, there really isn't a break-in period. If anything, there's an operator break-in period where you learn how to modulate the dust extractor's suction to the workload to avoid skipping and, of course, getting the feel for handling it in different situations.
Hi Paul, thanks for these great videos. You've disappeared! Anyways, any idea how the RS 2e would compare to the Rotex 125? I already have the ETS 125 ( the new pro5 ltd ) and was wondering which one of these to get to complement the gentleness of the pro5.
The RS2e is great for large surfaces. Since you have an ETS 125 for fine sanding, I think I'd look at a Rotex model. Combining the direct-drive sanding and fine RO sanding makes blasting through grits so much faster. With that in mind, an RO-125 can be useful since you'll use the same papers. But if you want a large surface sander, the 150 would be better (45% more surface) though then you start having to stock other size papers.
Love the hat in the profile pic :) It's hard to know which sander is a good general one for someone without knowing their projects. If you do face-frames or have a lot of relatively small areas to sand (because big areas are ply and generally needs a fast pass on fine grit) then the RO-90 is my new favorite since those videos. I'd say I use it 9 out of 10 of the Rotexes. Granted, for large flat surfaces, I can do fine sanding with the RS2e. If you build a lot of large flat surfaces from hardwood, then an RO-150 would be great (or 125, slightly slower, but much more comfortable). If you do face-frames or other narrow-ish stock with ply, then RO-90 is fantastic. On my current Angle Madness project, I'll be using the RO-150 to sand the boxes since they are all Maple. The veneered panels I sanded with the RO-150 as well as they are large and needed some work to get the veneer tape residue off. RS2e is what I'll use to finish sand them, but the RO-150 would work equally well for that. In my sculpted/shaped projects, I used the RO-90 with an interface pad to finesse the shape after shaping with the RAS-115, but I use that like a slow controlled grinder for shaping... it isn't a sander in the normal sense. Dunno if that answered your question :) if you have other questions, ask away!
Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge. I am impressed.
thx a lot Paul for your reply
its soo appreciated,
I hope all is well.
Best
Ben
What was the name of the "Plate" foam pads you suggested for polishing metal tool tables?
Hi Paul, You are a very knowledgeable guy so maybe you can please help me here a bit. I bought a random orbital sander and it came with a hard pad (backing). The manufacturer also sells soft pads. What is the reason for this? Also the hard pad seems to make the ROS jump around whenever I put it down on the wood. I have to push down on the sander for it to stop jumping. Do you think that is due to the hard pad or maybe the 80grit that I used? Many Thanks
Paul, can you use sand paper other than festool paper? Is the festool paper worth it? I have the Rs2 sander, but I have been looking at these.
HI, I bought an assortment Systainer when there was a promo for one long ago for mine. The pricing on that is actually pretty good (though you pay for the Systainer over the paper). The papers do seem to last a very long time as the combination of the papers and dust collection keeps the paper from loading.
Other hook n loop paper will work, but not as well because only Festool has the 9-hole pattern that gets air flowing across the paper for extraction.
I know that Tom at Tool-Home.com puts together custom assortments; this can cut the cost a bit over buying several boxes.. Maybe email him to see if you can get a progression of grits and count of sheets for each. He's done that in the past. Definitely get more of the lower grits.
Hi Paul,
I keep going back and forth from the 150 to the 125 for my next purchase,
I heard the 125 is more unwieldy , have you experienced this and also did you have to break in the sander before it ran smoothly?
thanks a lot for all your help
your videos are super helpful
Ben
I've heard people say the 150 is unwieldy, and it is as it requires two hands to operate. I can operate the 125 on-handed in ROS mode; in direct-drive mode, I cup the head and you get great control. 150 is 44% more surface area so it sands a larger surface much faster. If you do face-frames and don't have a smaller sander for those, the 125 would be perfect as it still does face frames very easily. Between the two, the 125 is much easier to handle. As for breaking it in, there really isn't a break-in period. If anything, there's an operator break-in period where you learn how to modulate the dust extractor's suction to the workload to avoid skipping and, of course, getting the feel for handling it in different situations.
Hi Paul, thanks for these great videos. You've disappeared! Anyways, any idea how the RS 2e would compare to the Rotex 125? I already have the ETS 125 ( the new pro5 ltd ) and was wondering which one of these to get to complement the gentleness of the pro5.
The RS2e is great for large surfaces. Since you have an ETS 125 for fine sanding, I think I'd look at a Rotex model. Combining the direct-drive sanding and fine RO sanding makes blasting through grits so much faster. With that in mind, an RO-125 can be useful since you'll use the same papers. But if you want a large surface sander, the 150 would be better (45% more surface) though then you start having to stock other size papers.
Half-Inch Shy Thanks for the advice
what festool sander is a good all purpose sander
Love the hat in the profile pic :)
It's hard to know which sander is a good general one for someone without knowing their projects. If you do face-frames or have a lot of relatively small areas to sand (because big areas are ply and generally needs a fast pass on fine grit) then the RO-90 is my new favorite since those videos. I'd say I use it 9 out of 10 of the Rotexes. Granted, for large flat surfaces, I can do fine sanding with the RS2e.
If you build a lot of large flat surfaces from hardwood, then an RO-150 would be great (or 125, slightly slower, but much more comfortable). If you do face-frames or other narrow-ish stock with ply, then RO-90 is fantastic.
On my current Angle Madness project, I'll be using the RO-150 to sand the boxes since they are all Maple. The veneered panels I sanded with the RO-150 as well as they are large and needed some work to get the veneer tape residue off. RS2e is what I'll use to finish sand them, but the RO-150 would work equally well for that.
In my sculpted/shaped projects, I used the RO-90 with an interface pad to finesse the shape after shaping with the RAS-115, but I use that like a slow controlled grinder for shaping... it isn't a sander in the normal sense.
Dunno if that answered your question :) if you have other questions, ask away!
Thanks