What is a good brand random sander

[Craptastic]

They require a large compressor. Also, if you are concerned with hooking it up to a vac for dust control, it makes since to just go with an electric. I much prefer a 5" dynabrade to 6" electric hooked up to a vacuum, but my shop and my lungs are much cleaner with a vacuum.

That and they usually top out around the 5" mark and lack dust control for the most part.

I loved my jitterbugs when I was making doors for a living but I also was doing so in a climate controlled spray room that had some great dust collection and some pretty huge air compressors and tanks. In a home shop you will dust blow yourself out of the room without some proper dust collection at the sander. Not many air sanders I have seen support that.

 

[teesquare]

They require a large compressor. Also, if you are concerned with hooking it up to a vac for dust control, it makes since to just go with an electric. I much prefer a 5" dynabrade to 6" electric hooked up to a vacuum, but my shop and my lungs are much cleaner with a vacuum.

I agree - partially.....
And - NOT trying to be a buzz-kill.
Vacuums hooked up to electric sanders do nothing to prevent the escape of the finest particles - which are the dangerous ones for our health. We fool ourselves into thinking "I am doing the best I can"....until that COPD - OR WORSE...diagnosis. So - please - I hope that everyone reading this will look seriously at a PAPR for them selves, and then maybe a sanding table with vacuum. Regardless of whether one chooses an air - or electric powered sander.
Dust masks are truly not adequate protection. YOU "think" you are capturing a lot of dust - but you are only getting a part of it. HEPA rated and better should be considered - as in fresh filtered air supplied units such as the Sundstrom 500/570.

Sanding wood with inadequate protection for your lungs is the complete equivalent with smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes. Don't believe me. Believe the clear evidence and information available to you via a Google search.

 

[Michael Mathews]

I think I still have a Bosch ROS that I no longer use! I've replaced it with a Festool ROS along with a Festool Dust Extractor and never looked back. IF....I still have it, I'd be willing to make you a deal on it. DM me if interested and I'll make sure I still have it and send you some pics. There was nothing wrong with it when I got the Festool, just stumbled upon a great deal to upgrade!

 

[cyclopentadiene]

I agree - partially.....
And - NOT trying to be a buzz-kill.
Vacuums hooked up to electric sanders do nothing to prevent the escape of the finest particles - which are the dangerous ones for our health. We fool ourselves into thinking "I am doing the best I can"....until that COPD - OR WORSE...diagnosis. So - please - I hope that everyone reading this will look seriously at a PAPR for them selves, and then maybe a sanding table with vacuum. Regardless of whether one chooses an air - or electric powered sander.
Dust masks are truly not adequate protection. YOU "think" you are capturing a lot of dust - but you are only getting a part of it. HEPA rated and better should be considered - as in fresh filtered air supplied units such as the Sundstrom 500/570.

Sanding wood with inadequate protection for your lungs is the complete equivalent with smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes. Don't believe me. Believe the clear evidence and information available to you via a Google search.

I have asthma so lung health is important. I have a trend air shield for that purpose. It was expensive, hot and claustrophobic but works well. The fine particles are there with any sander. The other place is spraying finishes. The helmet makes it too hard to see but a half face mask and safety glasses works great

 

[teesquare]

I have asthma so lung health is important. I have a trend air shield for that purpose. It was expensive, hot and claustrophobic but works well. The fine particles are there with any sander. The other place is spraying finishes. The helmet makes it too hard to see but a half face mask and safety glasses works great

Understood. I am not a Trend fan. Too top heavy the view isn't that great. But the Sundstrom I now use in a different league.

 

[lhmayberry]

Wow! I didn't expect so much feed back. I just have to wait for the money to put things in motion.
Thanks for all of your information and offers, they are in consideration also.
Thanks again for all the valuable info as well as many things to consider. You have always been the best reference for woodworking.

 

[Wilsoncb]

They require a large compressor. Also, if you are concerned with hooking it up to a vac for dust control, it makes since to just go with an electric. I much prefer a 5" dynabrade to 6" electric hooked up to a vacuum, but my shop and my lungs are much cleaner with a vacuum.

I have a prototype Dynabrade sander that was retrofitted with a vacuum hook up and holes in the sanding pad. One of our production engineers was working on the project about 20 years ago. The guy was laid off before he finished and the project faded away…and production was moved to Mexico and China.

It worked, but not nearly as good as the typical electric sanders you can get today. I think the key was when they added a little fan inside the sander to boost the air draw through the holes in the pad. Either way, that Dynabrade is a great little sander.

 

[Kelly]

OK, you guys have me thinking about the Festool. Any thoughts on the 150/3 vs 150/5 ?
I understand the different stroke length, but I can only buy one. Which is most versatile ?

 

[zargon]

I have a Festool 6”, Bosch 5”, Ryobi 5” battery unit, & a couple others.
Festool is the #1 go to for most things. Sometimes the 6” is a little too big & I have to go to one of the smaller 5” ones or the even smaller Bosch with the 4 x4 platter. Ryobi gets tiring cause it’s so heavy with the battery and not well balanced. Also have a 6” pneumatic random orbit - dust collection on that one is not available so, as a result is rarely used.

 

[zargon]

OK, you guys have me thinking about the Festool. Any thoughts on the 150/3 vs 150/5 ?
I understand the different stroke length, but I can only buy one. Which is most versatile ?

I would get the 3. The smaller one will get you into tighter areas and still work ok on larger surfaces.
on the other hand … the 5” should do well & will be easier to get supplies at more affordable prices.

 

[cyclopentadiene]

Each sander has its own purpose. My 31/2”RO90DX is the go to sander for rough work, generally with 80 and 120 grit on curved surfaces. The RO 125 is the goto for coarser grit sanding on flat surfaces. These are mainly used to remove tool marks. Once I get to 180 grit and above on any surface, I use an ETS 125 as it provides the best finish.
Ultimately, it depends on the type work you do. If you build tables, casework or others with primarily flat surfaces, a card scraper and basic random orbit sander is really all you need. If you do curved pieces, a spokeshave and basic ROS will suffice for large radius curves. I do a lot of sculptured work beginning with rasps and carbide burrs and the rotex technology takes out several hand tool steps. The RO90 is preferred due to the small sanding pad as it allows more fine control. The 5” is heavy but the wider pad flattens seat bottoms as a smaller disk can generate a wavy pattern with low spots. The ETS 125 is more for a final finish. The missing element is a small pad basic ROS so most tight location finish sanding is by hand. Long answer but hope my thoughts help

 

[FredP]

OK, you guys have me thinking about the Festool. Any thoughts on the 150/3 vs 150/5 ?
I understand the different stroke length, but I can only buy one. Which is most versatile ?

There are a few festool fans here. I'm not one of those so here goes. Dust can be delt with in a variety of ways. Admittedly festool exels at that. You can buy 4 or 5 RO Sanders for the price of 1 festool. Dealing with the vacuum hose is IMO a pain I don't want to deal with. It's clumsy. I put different grits on several Sanders and use them in order. Changing Sanders instead of paper works for me. YMMV.

 

[Echd]

Dealing with the hose can be cumbersome, but vacuum aided dust removal is more effective than the small bags or dust boxes on many sanders, and in addition to the health benefit (as that is definitely the more dangerous kind of dust) you do get a better sanding job more quickly and with less grit stuck in the paper with good dust removal.

I have a few festool items (domino, jigsaw, dust extractor) and the one I never would have expected to value so highly is the dust extractor. It simply makes sanding so much more pleasant, and as the tool plugs into the dust extractor, you were already "tethered" anyway unless you're using a cordless sander.

Incidentally, festool has their reconditioned RO150 (six inch) up on their website right now for about 20% off. Still comes with a limited warranty. It's not worth it to me over my bosch get65n, but if I didn't have the Bosch I would consider it.

Ro150

 

[Martin Roper]

Here's a comparison of 5" battery-powered sanders.

 

[jlwest]

I have several Dewalts ROS,s and one Makita palm sander. Never had a problem with any of them.

 

[debgreene]

I'd consider the Bosch GET65N or 75N (5 and 6 inch dual action orbital sanders). I have the 65N. I've considered also picking up the 75. I have no complaints at all about the sander and in my opinion it compares well with the festool sanders it competes with. I generally use it with 3M cubitron mesh sandpaper and a festool midi dust extractor. It does an excellent job with dust collection and leaves a great finish, and the turbo setting can really hog off wood.

If you're not averse to factory recon tools here is a six incher for $210.

Bosch Reconditioned 6 In. Dual-Mode Random Orbit Sander

Bosch Reconditioned 6 In. Dual-Mode Random Orbit Sander - GET75-6N-RT

www.acmetools.com

Got the 75N - LOVE IT

 

[Bill J]

a related question...
I had a Bosch and wore it out, then got a Porter-Cable palm sander that I have been happy with. But I have arthritis in my hands and the vibration really limits the time I can spend. I also work with a lot of smaller pieces so the palm sanded is nice for that.
Do the Festool or 3M sanders have less vibration?

 

[Echd]

I would say yes, and they are more comfortable to hold and use.

But if you turn up the power they will try and run away from you. One of the "big boy" sanders is simply so much more powerful than the smaller sanders. It can take some getting used to, not unlike bearing down on a belt sander. Luckily you can turn them up and down in intensity, although I prefer to go full throttle- why sand any longer than I have to?