Random Orbit Sanders- Help me narrow this down...

[Gator95]

Asked about this on woodnet- but got too many festool responses

Looking at the group of first-string 2 to 3amp 5" Random Orbit Sanders under $100:

Bosch 1295DVS
Dewalt D26451
Makita BO5010
PC 453VSK
Ridgid R2600

What is the overall consensus on the top two or three?

Thanks,

Mike

[JR]

FWIW - I have the fixed speed PC. It is a beast.

JR

[big tim]

I know it is not under $100, but the Bosch 3727, 6" ROS is phenominal. I've never worked with a finer ROS, very quiet, no fibration to speak of.
Amazon sells it for $140.
FWIW

Tim

[footprintsinconc]

i have the ridgid variable speed 2600. i love it.

but i have heard great things about the bosch one. i cant remember if the one speed or the variable one is for $65 or $69 at lowes.

sorry, but this narrows it down to two

[dbhost]

Mike,

Since you came onto a Ryobi centric forum, ever considered the Ryobi Random Orbital sanders?

The RS290 comes in with a 2.8a motor, a very NICE overmold handle which feels good compared to many of its competitors, and a VERY reasonable price. ($39.97 @ Home Depot.). It appears to be an updated version of the RS281VS, but I could be wrong. The specs are about the same, but the 290 has a lower price tag, and a much nicer grip.

For the price, you can afford to buy the orbital sander, and half a tank of gas before you got into the price range of some of those others...

[MilDoc]

I have the Ridgid. Love it a lot!

Good luck choosing as each owner probably feels the same.

[eddy merckx]

I just bought the PorterCable this week. I used it for around 3 continuous hours the first day. I noticed very little vibration. I also could not get it to bog down. The best part was the dust collection. A review of this sander showed 100% dust collection if hooked to a shop vac. I must say that after all that sanding, there was not even a hint of dust in the air after I took off my mask. Pretty cool.

Eddy

[rjwaldren]

I have the single speed PC and I'll agree the dust collection is awesome. It and the variable version are frequently onsale for low prices at Amazon.

[pacwind3]

Get the Bosch.

[poolhound]

I have the Dewalt, works fine for me.

[cabinetman]

Mike,

Since you came onto a Ryobi centric forum, ever considered the Ryobi Random Orbital sanders?

The RS290 comes in with a 2.8a motor, a very NICE overmold handle which feels good compared to many of its competitors, and a VERY reasonable price. ($39.97 @ Home Depot.). It appears to be an updated version of the RS281VS, but I could be wrong. The specs are about the same, but the 290 has a lower price tag, and a much nicer grip.

For the price, you can afford to buy the orbital sander, and half a tank of gas before you got into the price range of some of those others...

I have a few ROS's, PC and Ryobi. The Ryobi is comparable to the PC. When they finally choke and die (it's not easy to kill 'em), I don't bother to get 'em fixed. They're inexpensive enough to just replace.
.

[Stytooner]

I have been using a big Ridgid 6". I was using it one handed. It really takes two hands to use it and I was starting to get tendinitis I think. After reading that sentence, I think I need to clarify. I am speaking about a ROS.

I decided to get a smaller one for the steel parts I have to sand to get ready to powder coat. Save the big boy for some woodwork.

Of all the ones I looked at, the little Hitachi single speed seemed to fit my hand best. I do have fairly large hands though, which is why I thought I should clarify the above.
The tenderness in my right hand has gone away now and the little Hitachi does a great job for a single speed.

I did get the little Bosch as a freebie with my jigsaw. It didn't last long. The VS card went south in it. I didn't like it enough to have it repaired.

[iceman61]

I bought the Bosch 1295DVS last year after reading a review roundup on most all of the ROS's in one of the woodworking power tool review magazines. It was the top of the ROS's & I love it. The attached pleated filter captures particles down to a ½ micron. They even did a test of all of the ROS's on a sheet of plexiglass to see the sanding pattern of all & the Bosch won that one also. Even though it was orbital sander, the sanding pattern mimicked a straight line sander but is still a very agressive sander.

All that said & even though it captures particles down to a ½ micron, if you want to hook this badboy up to a shopvac, you will have to purchase either 2 adapters (one from Bosch & a generic) to get it to 1½"-2" shopvac or a Bosch adapter & a Bosch hose.

I now have the Bosch adapter but I will probably just dump the pleated filter when needed. The adapter is just for convenience anyway.

[Mr__Bill]

I have the VS Ridgid 5". I have not used the others enough to have an opinion as to which is better. I am however satisfied with the Ridgid's performance. I would like to champion the VS option. At low speed coarse grit paper does not load up as much and is much more controllable for me.

Bill, that's my opinion and I'll stick with it until I change my mind

[Popeye]

The durability of the Ridgid I can speak for. One day the power went off when I was sanding. Sit the thing down on the bench. Left and came home about 10-11 hours later and the sander was trying to sand it's way through my workbench. I figure it had been running steady for probably at least 9 hours with 180 grit. Still sands like a champ. Pat