Which Random Orbital Sander?

[CSutton]

Hi all,

I’m renovating a 5 bedroom house and we are currently having our kitchen fitted. Our fitter has ‘flattened’ out our walls using his random orbital sander - think it’s a Festool with dust extraction using p240 abranet discs. Am looking to purchase something similar to get the same great effect in my other rooms.

What shall I go for? Am happy to invest (within reason) as I have a lot of rooms to do!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Chris

 

[SammyInnit]

I'd suggest festool or mirka. I use my OMT with a delta pad for hard to reach/detail spots.

 

[CSutton]

Yes been looking a Mirka. Thanks. Model suggestions?

 

[SammyInnit]

I've heard good things about the Deros 150.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

For walls I'd go with a giraffe sander - way faster than a punky little 150mm sander and with the larger discs will flatten more effectivelty. And P240? Must have taken him ages unless the walls were already pretty good

 

[^woody^]

Our fitter has ‘flattened’ out our walls using

I used ready-mixed board joint compound, put on with a big spreader, and then sanded with a hand Mirka connected to a vacuum (with HEPA filter).

Very quick and very easy, and more importantly very smooth and flat.

 

[opps]

I have 5 different models of Festool sanders. The one that I use the most is the 150mm Rotex random orbital sander. That said I am considering purchasing the Mirka Deros.

The Deros will be for doing overhead work given that it is much lighter. It is also quite a bit cheaper than the lightweight Festool ETS EC 150. That said, IMO the Rotex is a more versatile sander given that it has both a random orbital mode and a rotary random orbital mode which allows for faster stock removal and allows you to use the machine for polishing.

Don't forget that you will need to buy a decent dust extractor as well. A Deros sander and Festool CT Mini dust extractor is going to set you back about £730 before you buy the abrasives and spare bags.

And sanding plaster clogs the pores in the bags really quickly. You will need to open the dust extractor quite frequently and then tap the bag to make the plaster dust fall off the inner surface of the bags.

 

[opps]

I used ready-mixed board joint compound, put on with a big spreader, and then sanded with a hand Mirka connected to a vacuum (with HEPA filter).

Very quick and very easy, and more importantly very smooth and flat.

The main problem with joint compound is that it is often much softer that plaster and in areas of high traffic you soon see lots of dents. I have done something similar on many occasions though.

 

[opps]

For walls I'd go with a giraffe sander - way faster than a punky little 150mm sander and with the larger discs will flatten more effectivelty. And P240? Must have taken him ages unless the walls were already pretty good

I'd never considered one of those before. I had only ever associated them with dry wall joints.

The Mirka LEROS 950CV sander definitely looks interesting, as does the festool planex.

 

[SammyInnit]

I wouldn't be spending money on a festool extractor. Over hyped for what they cost. You can get a better unit for similar money from nilfisk.

 

[opps]

I wouldn't be spending money on a festool extractor. Over hyped for what they cost. You can get a better unit for similar money from nilfisk.

Good point, I had forgotten about Nilfisk.