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It's a bit more work to handle (compared to a "palm" sander),takes two hands to operate it."Turbo" mode is a real handful, so be sure to have your work clamped down securely. I've been a woodworker for 50 years and have had many random-orbits, belt sanders, profile sanders, etc., but this baby actually lives up to the hype. I took a deep breath and forked over the money for this sander on the strength of the reviews here and in some woodworking magazines. I just finished a kitchen remodel where I built about a dozen drawer boxes as well as face frames & cabinet doors. After using this tool, my other sanders are more like toys. This sander cut my sanding time literally in half.
This has rendered them obsolete in my collection of favorite sanders. The speed control holds the rpm's very close evevn under heavy pressure. It truly removes as much material as a few of my smaller belt sanders, but flattens roughly planed stock even better. Dust control is very good if you have the proper adaptors for your dust collector. Including the festool 6" and the porter cable 6". It will take off massive amounts of stock, or finish as smoothly as anything I've ever tried. In the "turbo mode" it vibrates slightly, but doesn't make your hands numb in 20 minutes like a few of my other r/o's. Anyone who says otherwise is either not a pro, has never tried many other quality sanders, or is simply not an objective reveiwer.
Bosch really hit a home run here. It is by far the most easily controlled, well balanced random orbit I have ever tried. I think this is the first or second reveiw I've ever taken the time out to write, but Bosch deserves a heart-felt pat on the back for doing such a great job building and designing this unit, so here goes.I have 3 porter cable 5" random orbits, 2 dewalt 5" and a 6" dewalt r/o. It's built very well, and feels solid, but not heavy or bulky. The turbo mode leaves a few swirls when using low grit, course paper.
YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPPOINTED WITH THIS SANDER. It works quickly and comfortably, with flawless results, even in softwoods like white pine. It does have great power, but that's not the bosch's best attribute. But that should be expected when removing as much material as this thing does. This is by far my favorite sander to date.
This is the most expensive random orbit sander I have purchased, but I swear I could replace probably 4 of my other sanders with this unit, so it is indeed a stellar value.
This sander worked so well that I do not feel I "sacrificed" anything. my 5" RAS will now sit on the shelf. Once I was done with that job I wanted to test it on so furniture and it worked perfect. I needed a sander for resurfacing my deck and while a belt sander would have been ideal it was not a tool that would get much use outside of that task. The "Turbo" mode removed material so fast it was amazing. You cannot go worng with this sander for any and all your sanding needs. no vibration what so ever.
I think this is really highly dependent on the kind of material you're working with. Intense vibration. Part of that seems to be design and part that it is just not the right tool for the application.Strengths:1. That could be user error though.Weaknesses:1.
The "fast removal" mode lives up to its name. Surfaces that are not perfectly flat cause imbalanced friction on the disk and that can cause some of the jumping around. This is in contrast with a smaller, lighter sander that will glide.3. In combination with the two handed use and the constant threat of the sander jumping, it seems to be a net negative as a tool. it's very rapid.3. Regular sanding mode doesn't feel like, in spite of the power of the sander, to remove material any quicker than a smaller, less powerful unit. I bought this sander on the strengths of the reviews as a replacement, and overall it has not performed as well as the Dewalt. 4.
You need to have some good vibration absorbing gloves on when using this sander, and long term this kind of vibration is no good for your hands. It's terrible.2. The same strong motor that doesn't flinch at anything can cause the sander to dance over the surface if the sandpaper grabs instead of gliding. Small workpieces need to be clamped in place or else the sander can spin them on the bench. My previous sander was a Dewalt and I decided to replace it as I was getting a large number of swirl marks from it with the very hard woods that I like to work with (Wenge, Bloodwood, Purpleheart and so on).
The motor does not break a sweat on anything.2. I have to disagree with the glowing reviews of the sander. Seems to work adequately as a polisher, though attempts to use it like this have always resulted in swirls in the finish. Everyone promises this but few deliver.
"Swirl Free Finish" once again does not live up to its promise. You need two hands on this, and a firm but light touch at all times. This is a very powerful sander. I worked on the assembly line doing spot welding and I know long term what vibration does to your hands.
So overall for myself, I think a lighter less powerful unit would have been the better choice. The "fast removal" mode can throw the sander out of balance so that it wobbles and jumps all over the place.
I also have a Fein 8 inch Random Orbit sander and the Bosch is a much more comfortable tool to use. Great ergonomics, low vibration, super non orbit mode, etc. I have used many tools in my 30 years of carpentry and the Bosch 1250 sander is one of the best hand tools I have ever used. etc. I use the Bosch over the Fein 9 times out of ten. If your in the market for a dustless random orbit sander, I would highly recommend this one.
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