Random orbital sander vibration shortlist

[Croolis]

Ello. I've found threads on here for random orbital sanders so I'm sorry to do another one.

But I have bad shoulder (prob rotator cuff) , tennis elbow, probably carpal tunnel. Results of years of riding motorcycles for a living, heavy gaming and heavy lifting. So need to look after myself.

So I'm specifically looking for low vibration models, hence thread. But the ~£90 budget is the absolute limit. Cheaper would be nice. Variable speed not neccessary I think. Shop vac with vortex cone bucket in use.

I'm down I think to a short list of (all corded) Dewalt DWE6423, Makita BO5030/2 and new entrant after reading a thread on here, Metabo SXE 3150.

I'd not heard of Metabo until I saw the thread on here.

• Metabo one states vibration 5.5m/s^2 for "surface grinding", 8.2ms^2 for "polishing". 310w
• Dewalt one states Vibration Emission Value < 2.5 m/s^2, no further description. 280w
• Makita one states vibration 4.5 m/s^2 "Sanding Metal Plate". 300w
• All three have "vibration uncertainty" of 1.5m/s^2 which presumably are yer error bars.
• The Makita and Dewalt are 1.3kg with the Metabo slightly heavier at 1.6kg.

So on paper, if I'm even interpreting this stuff correctly.... the Dewalt wins?

Does anyone have any real world thoughts on this issue with these models (or any others, in fact)? I mean, if someone said just get the Black and Decker and you'll be fine, that wouldn't hurt .

There's a Youtuber (young southern US gent) with a roundup video who also votes Dewalt on this issue. But that guy pushes a lot of product on his channel and his roundup was of 14 I think sanders, so, well, you know.

Cheers for replies.

​

 

[Croolis]

And here's another contender just spotted. A red Makita, presumably their budget range, at £52 but has 240w rather than 300w on the other one, but only has 3m/s^2 compared to the the 4.5m/s^2 on the other one, presumably because lower watts. I am unsure how much difference 60w makes on something like this.

https://www.makitauk.com/product/m9204.html#tab_content_3

 

[Mickjay]

And here's another contender just spotted. A red Makita, presumably their budget range, at £52 but has 240w rather than 300w on the other one, but only has 3m/s^2 compared to the the 4.5m/s^2 on the other one, presumably because lower watts. I am unsure how much difference 60w makes on something like this.

https://www.makitauk.com/product/m9204.html#tab_content_3

I have the red Makita and it subjectively vibrates more than my son's variable speed Erbauer one. Whether that's a function of speed control or not I've no idea.

However if you can live with it the Makita is a great sander, currently reduced at Screwfix too.

I suspect that all of the cheaper ones are much of a muchness otherwise why would people spend £500 on a mirka or festool? I'm never going to find out that's for sure!

 

[Chief Sawdust Maker]

I have had the Dewalt for 4ish years since i started my business and still use it regularly, linked to a shop vac, I use a pad saver and either festool or 3m discs
I purchased the proper Dewalt vac connector for it which was a few quid well spent
Its comfy to use for longish period and at the budget I really dont think there is anything better.
I also own a Festool ECS150 which is a fantastic bit of kit but 4 times as expensive
I have an elbow issue as well as a degree of white finger, keep your hands warm and invest in some good anti vibration gloves they will be £50 well spent
Hope this helps

 

[Croolis]

Went with the Dewalt. I'll post how I get on with it.

 

[Sideways]

Look at the specs of the most expensive festool and mirka deros random orbit sanders for what will be somewhere near the state of the art.
These guys will be selling to industrial manufacturers who take hse seriously. Low vibration will translate into more productive hours, employee satisfaction and fewer health claims. So the measurements should be accurate and the manufacturers will be motivated to get the vibration down to win more business.

Compare other cheaper models to those benchmarks.
Be wary of getting something for nothing.
I bought a big metabo sxe450, the twin orbit thing. I later traded up to a deros.
The metabo was well built but much heavier vibration. You can see than in the specification too. I think the sxe450 has a figure 2x greater than the top models. 6 odd vs just below 3.

Potentially a smaller 5" pad might vibrate less than a 6" pad and a 2.5mm orbit fine finish sander will have less vibration than a 5 or 6mm orbit machine that cuts far faster. You do need to compare like with like.
Look for subtleties. On a deros you get user installable balance screws that let you compensate for the change in mass when you use an interface pad or light abrasive films vs heavy papers.

I don't remember the model but I did notice a mid price makita that had very good vibration figures. It was half the price of a festool / mirka but double your budget.

I'm biassed but I find dewalt tools crude. I'd be surprised to find that that low vibration was a feature of their models.
Edit - seeing you've just bought the dewalt - fingers crossed for you, but if mail order you always have a right of return.

 

[Croolis]

I'm biassed but I find dewalt tools crude. I'd be surprised to find that that low vibration was a feature of their models.
Edit - seeing you've just bought the dewalt - fingers crossed for you, but if mail order you always have a right of return.

That's why I wondered about the Youtuber. Of all the models he tested he gave the Dewalt joint second, but of all the models this was the one that he owned and had used for years, plus there's that advertised vibration value possibly skewing his judgement.

However, if the red or blue Makitas are not the best on vibration, then it's either forget all of them and go proper cheap and live with it (red Makita, Erbauer or B&D), or it's the Dewalt based on what I've learned over the last day looking at this stuff. We'll see how I go with it. Obviously, being a beginner I'll have nothing to compare it to so ho hum.

I can't believe I called this bloke young earlier. He's got grey in his beard. I'm getting old .

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I have a 5" DeWalt, it might not be the best but it does everything I want. It's fine. I use it mainly where the extraction isn't too important and often use 6" discs that I've picked up on really good offers (Yandles - get on the mailing list).

 

[Sideways]

Higher vibration means more tea breaks
Don't tough it out. That's bad for you.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Incidentally, I use decent quality discs (cheap ones are a waste of time) for decorating and anything likely to be a bit sticky as they tend to get ruined quite quickly, but for clean wood get 3M Cubitron - expensive, but better even than Abranet. I piece of crepe rubber or a lump of set silicone is useful for cleaning off discs.

 

[scooby]

I've got a 6432 and a festool ets ec 150. The de Walt has a fair bit of vibration, the festool has practically none..but it was 5 times more expensive. I do a lot of sanding every day, that's the only reason I got the Festool. Before that, the De Walt did fine and just did as Sideways said, have plenty of breaks if you've got a lot to sand.

 

[alex robinson]

And here's another contender just spotted. A red Makita, presumably their budget range, at £52 but has 240w rather than 300w on the other one, but only has 3m/s^2 compared to the the 4.5m/s^2 on the other one, presumably because lower watts. I am unsure how much difference 60w makes on something like this.

https://www.makitauk.com/product/m9204.html#tab_content_3

I have that little Makita (somewhere) and don't really like it. It can only be used 1 handed and feels quite tall and unwieldy. I much preferred the cheap MacAlister one with a front handle I had previously (until it died). No idea if 1 or 2 handed has any effect on vibration, but I always find the big metabo sxe450 more comfortable to use unless it really doesn't fit!

Definitely spend money on good disks such as abranet whatever machine you end up getting.