A Quick Look at the Festool Rotex Sanders

Sanding that's fast, efficient and fun? Maybe not fun, but Festool's sanding RO sanders definitely make things easier.

Just about everything has its tradeoffs, and power sanding is no exception. And the either/or choice here historically has been between sanding speed and sanding "accuracy". But with at least a couple of their premium quality sanders, Festool has gone a long way towards offering the best of both worlds.

Traditionally, a belt sander has been the tool of choice for fast material removal. And it's a good choice: given a powerful enough unit and a coarse enough belt, felling trees is arguably within the belt sander's range. But the drawback is that the tool can be far too aggressive and difficult to control for exacting work. A belt sander is great for quickly flattening out major surface irregularities or getting rid of an unwanted surface coating, but when it comes to sanding out a smooth, consistent finish, most woodworkers reach for a tool with a lighter touch – like an orbital or random orbit sander.

On the other side of the coin, random orbit and orbital sanders may be the perfect tool for the final stages of surface preparation, but aren’t widely known fro their ability to tear through wood at blinding speed. That's too bad, because a great many sanding project require a degree of care that leaves the belt sander out, but are at the same time substantial enough to call for tool that means business - and that's where Festool’s Rotex RO 150 steps in.

In fact, it's possible to look at Festool's two-hand version of the random orbit sander as a sort of hybrid incorporating the best features of the all business belt sander and the more surface friendly orbital and random orbit sanders.

The aggressive performance owes to the Rotex's 6 amp motor (more than twice the juice of a typical random orbit sander). But the Rotex is more than just an extra-muscular version of the same old design. Instead, it's really no exaggeration to call it a one-tool sanding system. With a rotational / eccentric motion setting for course sanding and polishing that changes with a flip of a switch to a random orbital motion for fine sanding, the Rotex RO 150 covers every phase of most sanding projects, from quick and dirty material removal to putting the final sheen on the finish.

Still other features set the Rotex RO 150 apart, along with its slightly scaled down little brother, the 125: These tools cover a full range of sanding and polishing operations, and Festool offers a number of base pads, each designed to cover a specialized task. Anticipating that you'll need to change pads frequently as you move from stage to stage throughout the life of a project, Festool has designed a unique "StickFix" system that lets you change from one specialized pad to the next in a couple of seconds - as opposed to the usual hunt for a screwdriver and frustrating 10 minute sanding pad R & R.

As with all of the tools in the Festool system, you'll enjoy the company's typical thoroughgoing and thoughtful design practices. A fully enclosed gear box, for example, prevents dust from entering the gear and bearings and causing premature failure of the tool (an archetypical weak point of random orbit sanders). There are more than a few basic amenities thrown in as well. Notably: a positionable, detachable edge protector that lets you sand right up to adjacent materials fearlessly, a detachable cord that can easily be replaced, and detachable dust extraction channel that you can snap off for added maneuverability in operation where dust collection isn't an issue.

Finally, The Rotex sanders employ a particularly innovative application of Festool's renowned dust extraction system. To the typical hole pattern in the sanding pad used to draw up sanding dust, Festool adds an additional center hole, which is vented to the outside of the tool. This simple upgrade keeps dust collection air current moving from the center of the pad outward to the dust collection holes, preventing suction from building up under the pad, and keeping the center area of the abrasive disc – which is usually the first to clog up – just as clean as the outside edge.

When coupled with any of Festool’s high performance dust extractors, the superior dust collection that typifies Festool handheld tools is even better realized. Apart from being some of the quietest and most powerful vacuums available, Festool dust extractors let you adjust the level of suction to achieve a perfect balance between dust collection power and free, easy movement of the abrasive disc.

The Rotex RO 150, RO 125 and RO 90, and all of the other, more specialized Festool sanders stand out as cornerstones in the Festool premium handheld power tool system. And that makes sense: Festool, for all practical purposes, invented both the orbital and the random orbit sander. Along with the other members of the system, they exemplify Festool's philosophy that a handheld power tool can be every bit as much of a precision woodworking tool as the best stationary equipment.