I Need a New ROS.... Which one?

Can it be bought by someone in the US and shipped to you Stu ???? Seems it would save you a lot of $$

The Bosch unit shipped from the US via Amazon is quite reasonable, that is what I did, I bought it from Amazon.com and I'll get it with shipping and duty for about $130. Living over here you get used to adding a fair bit to any price you see in the US in shipping charges, still, it is often a LOT cheaper than paying for the same unit here in Japan.

Cheers!
 
Stu, I bought a DeWalt D26453 about a year ago, and like it a lot. It's the same as the PC sander, just yellow.

I had worn out and rebuilt twice, my Makita BO5001 sander, but that has been retired completely since I got the DeWalt.

One feature I like well in the DeWalt is the "non-spinning" disk. Even off the surface it just orbits. The Makita used to take off spinning whenever I lifted the sander up while it was running. That's really nice.

Of course, I am only a hobbiest, not a pro, so How you use your sanders will be different.

Maybe this helps?

Aloha.

+1 on the DeWalt. I wore out the PC 390 same as DeWalt but grey and picked up the DeWalt on Amazon Prime for $69 and free two day shipping.

Jack
 
As a Canadian, you should be used to it... :rofl:
Kind of ironic that you moved from one gouged country to one that is even more gouged. :eek:

Lately, most of the stuff that I have bought in the US, and had sent USPS, has come in duty-free. Someone in CRA figured out that they only get a small percentage of their revenue from personal shipments and border-crossing shoppers, so they are more generous in their practises now.
 
....
What exactly do these super duper expensive ones have that the Bosch doesn't?

In my mind, the two differences are

1. If you are sanding for three hours, do your hands tingle or go numb? My hands are worth whatever cost.

2. How efficient are they at removing material and collection of the material removed (dust collection).

Cheaper sanders make my hands tired, and despite the shorter sanding sessions, do a very good job of transferring the sanding dust to my clothes. Since I retired to do this every day, these are big issues. Not to mention mean time between failures - rebuilding sanders can cost 60% of the new cost or more.
 
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This is a good thread. Makes me think about tools I don't have on the list to replace with better quality ones. I've got an old B&D ROS that I've used for years, have taken it apart and cleaned it several times, but getting to the point the velcro hoops aren't holding very well and it needs taken apart again. I don't tend to think of the ease of use and such when it comes to sanders, or the improvements that have been made over the years. I used to think that all jig saws were all alike and worked the same as my B&D my dad had given me out of HS...boy was I wrong.
 
Bosch stopped making the little 1295 despite its winning all the bake-offs several years back. I'd been caught in similar situations (discontinuance of a well liked tool) and so bought two. The original has yet to go through a set of brushes, let alone anything else. I strongly suspect this is why they were discontinued. Willy Wonka's 'Everlasting Gobstopper' wasn't a financial success either for the same reason :rofl:

Bosch-w-hose.jpg
 
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Despite my general avoidance of Ryobi tools, I've got a little 5" Ryobi ROS that I bought early in my woodworking endeavors. It is surprisingly smooth to run and has been ridden hard and put away wet many times. (It was used on a lot of cutting boards back then.) I had to jury-rig a DC port on it that would hook up to my shop vac, but with that, it's relatively clean to run. When it does finally die I'll probably replace it with a Bosch. I've also been through three of the post-Metabo 6" Ridgid ROS...only one is currently running. (The first one went back under warranty...I've not bothered to take the second one back since I don't have the receipt and haven't felt like dealing with it.) Good sander when it runs, but they obviously have longevity issues.

...Willy Wonka's 'Everlasting Gobstopper' wasn't a financial success either for the same reason :rofl:

Willy apparently missed the fact that dentistry was where the real money was at. :D
 
yeah glenn that was the one o got as well and also got an extra in case the other dies... to often a good tool gets dropped for a tool that isnt as good as the one before it:(???
 
There's a 3m on on deal for 399 now on Amazon. And that 399 represents a 40% discount!?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=B006MIXE7K&linkCode=as2&tag=thewoodwhispe-20

I like my little bosch an awful lot. It's doesn't numb my hand and seems to work really well.

What exactly do these super duper expensive ones have that the bosch doesnt?

A higher price tag!!!!!! A commercial sander at a commercial price So you buy however many of a PC, Bosch , Makita, Ridgid etc over the years to equal the cost of one super duper expensive of one . As long as the end result is the same. If your just using it for home work & or hobby work so what the A. A!!!!
 
My ROS is a B&D that I found on sale at Zeller's for $29.95. It runs smoothly and does an excellent job. I can sand with it all day and not experience any problems with my hands. I don't use it as heavily as most of you probably do, but it will last a long time in my hands. If I had to replace it every year, It would take me a while to get to the price of some really expensive ones. I remember a conversation I heard years ago between a customer and a photo shop clerk. The clerk was saying that the professionals who worked for newpapers were beginning to buy Yashicas and getting two years out of them for $80, while they had been buying Rolleiflex and getting three or four years for $300. I think the same type of thinking may be applicable to some very expensive tools.
 
Stu, how big is your compressor? a pneumatic sander is imo the best and smoothest operating one, but.... it uses a fair amount of air.
barring that then I would say (and I realize im somewhat contradicting myself with my comment on your router thread) the bosch vsros 5 inch I have had mine for a few years now and have only had to replace the pad. Works excellent. I also picked up a Makita 1/3 sheet sander (I know not ros) that I really love to use. I use it a lot to give the final touch after the ros. And lately have found it my go to sander after completing sanding operations through my wide drum. Especially on flatwork where its at its best.
 
Rich, if I do go air sander at some point, I'll be buying a new compressor too, mine is dead, I have only my little jobsite hotdog compressor now. I need a new big compressor at some point, I just have to have the money and the time to install the darn thing!
 
I hear you there. I have a couple of kitchens coming up so im thinking the shop is going to need some upgrades. A bigger compressor is definitely one of them.
 
I have ruled out a pneumatic sander because of power consumption (and noise and cost). A basic sander often requires 5 hp of air compressor to run it (according to the people trying to sell me a pneumatic sander). That is about 22-25 amps at 230 volts.

My biggest electric sander (Festool 6 inch) requires 2.6 amps at 115 volts.

That means the pneumatic sander requires 20 times as much power to operate.

If I am in an explosive environment such as an auto paint shop with solvent based (flammable) finishes, the cost of the air may be worthwhile, but not in my woodworking shop.
 
I run 4 Mirka CEROS sanders - 3 150mm and 1 77mm. They are worth every penny if you use them to make a living and are likely to end up sanding for 2hours a day or more. I do. I have three of them because I have one with no foam backing pad , one with a 10 mm backing foam and one with a 5mm foam backer. This lets me easily and quickly swap so that I can "feather" rounded over edges to an appropriate extent, something that I do a lot.

Basically the CEROS gives the power and smoothness of pneumatic sanders without the need to run a compressor. Like many top end tools they are good value if you get their full benefit but not if you don't.
 
I run 4 Mirka CEROS sanders - 3 150mm and 1 77mm. They are worth every penny if you use them to make a living and are likely to end up sanding for 2hours a day or more. I do. I have three of them because I have one with no foam backing pad , one with a 10 mm backing foam and one with a 5mm foam backer. This lets me easily and quickly swap so that I can "feather" rounded over edges to an appropriate extent, something that I do a lot.

Basically the CEROS gives the power and smoothness of pneumatic sanders without the need to run a compressor. Like many top end tools they are good value if you get their full benefit but not if you don't.
Thanks for the info Ian, very much what I expected.

Cheers!
 
Been working on my hit list of things to get in order in the shop, sanders was one of the items.

My B&D orbital has turned into a full circular sander (not much orbiting going on) and the hook and loop is worn out, so tonight I ordered the Bosch ROS20VSC ($69). Looks like it comes with a hose attachment. I also ordered the soft hook/loop pad for it ($14). Also considering getting the Bosch 3725DVS ($140), but will see how the ROS20VSC works out first.
 
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