Killed Another Sander

I will be willing to brave the wrath of the Festoolians (even though I own some Festool-s) and disagree. The 6" Porter Cable VS sander is top notch and I would put it up against the 150 any day of the week. It has DC via a hose that will attach to any vac. I have had one for 4 years now and it "da bomb" and I have compared it directly to the 150. But, if you like black and green and you have plenty of green to spend then...
 
I will be willing to brave the wrath of the Festoolians (even though I own some Festool-s) and disagree. The 6" Porter Cable VS sander is top notch and I would put it up against the 150 any day of the week.

I'll actually second that. I had a boat builder friend who bought the rotex based on my recommendation. He wasn't that impressed after using it for a week, went and got the PC to see if there was a difference, and after another 5 days and tests that I dropped in on after hours with each sander, he sent the Festool back for a full refund (kudos to festool taking it back). For him it was about speed in random orbit mode, and the PC was considerably faster and left the same finish using the same papers.

Also when I was attending a certification course for Solid Surface work, the instructor swore by his rotex (it was just like mine and at the time I felt special because there were so few of us out there then). Half way through the first day his Rotex died! and he had to finish the rest of the seminar going to his backup, an old PC 6" vs.

My Rotex also died a month after the 3 year warranty period was up (good German precision, eh). I took it apart and discovered lots of carbon build up, real dark dust. Blew it out, checked the brushes, which were fine, put it back together and it worked again. It is still going, but when it finally dies I doubt I will replace it with another, and probably go the Fein or PC route.

So, those are some examples that showed I may have wasted some money, and some rare lack of praise for Festool. All that being said, the ES 150/3 is my favorite orbital sander of all time, and the vac is an excellent design. My boat builder buddy did keep the vac, too. Now if they could make some square drive bits to work with their chuck systems. :huh:
 
I have the 6" PC right angle ROM and have worked the heck out of for over 3 years. It is connected to my Fein vac with the PC 1.5" vacuum kit. I would dare to say that it has as much if not more power than the Festool and the dust collection is just as good too. It is about 1/3 the price and the sandpaper is available anywhere.

nic
 
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The Festool 150/3 and the 150/5 are the finest sanders I have ever used. I agree with Sam about the Rotex. I have the newer Rotex and have never been crazy about it. To be honest I do very little "rough" sanding so I might not be a good person to give an opinion.
I am an admitted Festool junky. Like Sam and many others I do not understand why Festool cant make a square drive bit. I would think the US market would be very big for them. I know Uncle Bob has told them we use square drive bits by the boat load.

Brian
 
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