Which palm sander? Festool / Metabo / Bosch / Makita / ?

[promhandicam]

I need to buy a decent 1/4 sheet palm sander and would be interested to hear what peoples experience is with them. I'd be particularly interested to know if those who have the festool think it worth 3 - 4 times as much as the others. I'm tending towards the metabo as I have their SXE 425 ROS or the makita - the bosch looks to have too many plastic bits to fall off .

Cheers,

Steve

 

[wizer]

I have the older DeWalt model and I honestly can't fault it. It's my favourite electric sander, light and easy to handle.

 

[markwuzere]

i have the bosch and the hitachi cant fault the bosch, hate the hitachi but keep it as a spare (just in case lol)

 

[cambournepete]

I have the Festool, with electronic speed control.
It's light, quiet, powerful, has little vibration and very comfortable to use.
It sands very well and works a treat with a Festool vacuum attached.

I didn't try cheaper sanders though because I like Festool.
Only you can decide whether it's worth the money.
It's replaced a Skil palm sander which I find noisy and unpleasant to use (yours for £10+p&p )

 

[woodguy7]

Festool every time

Woodguy

 

[woodbloke]

I have the older DeWalt model and I honestly can't fault it. It's my favourite electric sander, light and easy to handle.

Same here...nice little sander. You can get hold of a little adaptor that allows it to be plugged into your 'shop vac which makes it even better - Rob

 

[Krysstel]

Another vote for the Dewalt here.
Solid, light weight, vibration free, not that noisy, comes with a long cable and reasonably priced.
I looked at the Metabo, Makita and Bosch but went for the Dewalt because I could plug my shop-vac straight in with no other mods.
The Festools is probably better than all the others, but so it should be :shock:

Mark

 

[petermillard]

+1 for festool. Small, lightweight, quiet, low-vibration, 4m cable as standard and you can run them all day, every day - haven't killed one yet

Couple of things to be aware of; the Festool pad is 80x130mm, whereas the DeWalt is a 'squarer' quarter-sheet (115 x 140??). Festool has a 2mm stroke, vs DeWalt 1.4mm, so will be a little more aggressive in comparison (caveat - according to the specs; haven't done a comparison as I don't own the DeWalt). And remember that Festool has a proprietary hole pattern, so you need to buy their abrasives or use something like Abranet.

HTH Pete.

edited for clarity

 

[Mike.C]

I have the older DeWalt model and I honestly can't fault it. It's my favourite electric sander, light and easy to handle.

Same here...nice little sander. You can get hold of a little adaptor that allows it to be plugged into your 'shop vac which makes it even better - Rob

Another one for the Dewalt. Great little machine that comes with its own punch, so that you can buy the big rolls of sandpaper and punch the holes in exactly the right place. Beats paying mega bucks for pre punched 5 to a packet sheets.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Malboro]

The DeWalt one is great now, although it never used to be that good.

Bosch one, clips are slightly dodgy on the front. I think they have repaired this problem now however.

Makita is absolutly fantastic and I would reccomend it a lot. Not had any experience with the Metabo or Festool. Although Metabo is 3 year warranty so that may swing you!

 

[Tim Nott]

I've had the Bosch for a couple of years and like it - particularly the fixing method which means you can use sandpaper cut from a roll. It comes with a plastic doodah to perforate the sheet once mounted. No vac connection but I think I'd find that a PITA anyway as the sander is a 'go anywhere'. Does have a fairly ifficient built in dust collector.

 

[OPJ]

I...the bosch looks to have too many plastic bits to fall off .

Well, you're certainly not wrong there (in my experience)!

I bought the Bosch one just over a year ago and, on its second day of use, the front clamp just broke off while I was sanding :x (that explained why the paper kept working lose at the front!). It is lightweight but, compared to their 5in ROS (which I love! 8)), it is noisy and does vibrate quite a bit. You also have to buy an additional adapter if you want to hook up a vacuum.

On the rare occasion that I've wanted to use it since buying the small ROS, I've managed to use velcro-backed sheets without any trouble at all. I should probably try and sell it, really. Or, at least get it repaired while it's still under warranty...

 

[jhwbigley]

that reminds me..

I still have a to pay for and collect a dewalt one from Doug

JH

 

[promhandicam]

Well, you're certainly not wrong there (in my experience)!

I noticed your review on the Axminster site Olly :lol:

Thanks everyone for the replies. As this isn't something that is going to be used 24/7 - my SXE 425 will be what I continue to usually use - and as it doesn't need the accuracy of say a plunge saw or domino I really don't think that the festool price can be justified particularly as metabo and perhaps other offer a 3 year warranty.This used to be a selling point for the festool gear. So far I don't have any dewalt tools as I had gathered from numerous reports that their quality in general had gone down in recent years but this may be an option from the positive comments here. Decisions decisions :? :lol:

Steve

 

[oddsocks]

I bought a ryobi a few years ago - similar to this one (£30)
http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=141845
and have no problems with it - I'm a DIY user but it has an excellent mains lead length but like other posts it has a specific paper size. i just put 2 x abranet pads on (as these end up wider than the sander that can be useful)/

I remember at the time looking at the dewalt but this was half the price and has sanded perfectly. the dust collection is very good as well.

Dave

 

[introuble!]

Another one for the Dewalt, i have that and had the Bosch before both 110v versions though - used them for sanding down walls after Chaulking out with filler (im fussy and the house was a mess!) so lots of fine dust to ruin the motors. Bosch lasted 3 months before the motor was gone, the Dewalt is still as new, got it for less and fits those big old rolls of sandpaper perfect

 

[Mike.C]

Another one for the Dewalt, i have that and had the Bosch before both 110v versions though - used them for sanding down walls after Chaulking out with filler (im fussy and the house was a mess!) so lots of fine dust to ruin the motors. Bosch lasted 3 months before the motor was gone, the Dewalt is still as new, got it for less and fits those big old rolls of sandpaper perfect

Yep as I said above the Dewalt is very good, and the 100 metre rolls of various grades of sandpaper make running it as cheap as chips

Cheers

Mike

 

[clewlowm]

dewalt for me.

 

[SBJ]

I've got the festool Steve, you should have mentioned it the other day!

 

[promhandicam]

Thanks again everyone. I've ordered the dewalt so when I've had a chance to use it I'll let you know my thoughts.

Cheers,

Steve