Excellent tutorial - I'm a lady starting out on furniture re-styling on brink of purchasing the Surfprep or the Festool but - I saw many rave reviews about the Mirka and after wathing your podcast, I'm sold on the Mirka! Many thanks for sharing your expert knowledge. I have subscribed~ Yay!
Great review Leo. I would really like to like the Mirka offerings, and I can see their merits. However I would always go for the Festool option because 1. I'm already invested in the Festool system for all of my workshop tools, so changing from a saw to a sander is a quick plug and play operation on my boom arm. 2. The Festool warranty is the best there is and future serviceability is no problem. Plus you are covered for theft! 3. Reliablity....after nearly 20 years of festool use, only one failure....the power switch on my extractor. The repair was requested at 1.00 am on a Friday night and I had the machine back and working on Tuesday afternoon! 4. Many anecdotal complaints about Mirka unreliability and poor aftersales service. 5. Systainer in puke yellow! 6. I like Festool I would have to concede that there are areas where the Mirka possibly outshines the Festool, but as you say, it's all about what works for you and the kind of work you do.
Excellent review. Ergonomics are so important for daily use. Many people just simply ignore it and not enough companies do a top job at it during design. It makes a massive difference when you’re scuffing both sides of doors and drawer fronts on an 80-90 piece custom kitchen 8-10 hours per day, day after day. I’m currently looking to purchase a new sander for inner panels. I’m looking at the Mirka, an Indasa, and dynabrade. And as you mentioned… there is nowhere to actually see them, feel them in your hand, or demo them to actually feel the subtle differences… and yet some these sanders top $1000 and you want to be sure of what you’re buying so that the tool makes your work easier while producing the quality you want with efficiency. More and more I’m like you… I’m gravitating away from festool sanders. The feel of the action, the surface finish results, the body wear from the weight and ergonomics… it can all be better. They fill their roll and have their market of course and have gotten me by. But prep sanding then scuffing every square inch of a kitchen 3 times before final top coat is a lot of time and effort to get annoyed at the things that lack in the tools.
Thank you for your very kind feedback which is greatly appreciated. Totally agree with what you say, I think a lot of Festool sanders are quite old in terms of design and age. If you’re doing a lot of panel sanding I’d definitely recommend the Mirka 👍👍
I own 2 ceros and 2 deos. They are all broke. They are great sanders, the best. We use them weekly sanding trim/doors in brand new custom homes. I don't mind necessarily that they brake, we use them alot. It's sending them away and getting them repaired is the issue. It's a hassle and usually $200 a shot up here in Canada with roughly 3-4 weeks turn around time. After repairing them over the last 6 years multiple times I finally had enough, switched to battery powered dewalt orbitals. It was the best decision. Unfortunately nobody other then surfprep makes a great rectangular sander. So one deos is going back in for repairs. I'm a slave to it.
Thanks for this video Leo, I'm looking at getting a premium sander, but I really need a ROS first. The vibration aspect is really important to me. I think I'm headed down the Festool route, because they offer a wider range of tools and I know I can rely on them. Love these comparison videos. They are always helpful
It could be that the festool grabs to the surface too much with your shopvac, general advice with a festool shopvac is to turn down vac to reduce the grabbing effect. Less suction may reduce that vibration in the handle with the festool if there is less grabbing to the surface. Just by looking at the Mirka design it is clear that it is the more ergonomic of the two for vertical sanding. Lower height and the hose attaches at less of an angle. I think its the weight of the hose with the bigger attach angle on the festool and the build height that makes it less comfortable. Here's hoping that festool updates the design to a RTS "EC" model. (Like the ETS EC you already have.) The older ransom orbital ETS models have that same high build as the RTS.
Thanks Frank. I did try the Festool on two different vacs and also without a vac and that vibration is still there. Only minor, but just an observation. Will be very interested to see if Festool upgrade the RTS design to reflect the likes of the ETS-EC. That would be well worth a close inspection. They would still have to address the issue of weight though as I think it could do with being a bit lighter
15.00: good point about hardly ever having chance to try a power tool. I go to local suppliers first because I want to support them so I can get a feel for the tool. But they can't afford to let me try it out. I had a neighbour who started out in old school tool shop with lab coat, cotton gloves, etc when you could try a tool. Writing was on the wall when big B&Q opened and tradespeople started getting throwaway-after-the-job tools. He became apprentice plumber, master plumber, then facilities manager of large university
Thanks Stephen for the comment. I do my best to support local independent suppliers as well. My timber yard became a Festool dealership and I bought all my Festool gear from them. I could possibly have got it a bit cheaper online, however they were fantastic dealing with me, plus they’ve been sorting me out with a discount when I shop there now for timber and consumables so worked out perfect in the long term👍👍
@@Hand-i-Craft didn't seem to be peaking at any point, and sounded pretty dry. I wouldn't ask much more on that front. I wasn't listening with my audio mixing hat on, but I don't recall anything that stood out.
I did end up pulling the Trigger on the Mirka Deros about 45 days ago. I like it a lot and I'll have to wait to see how it holds up. For these two square sanders I replaced a RTS with another RTS in January. After using the Deros I became curious about the Deos in your video because the overall hight of the Mirka is appealing. But I did become a bit shocked by the sticker price. RTS was replaced for 308 USD shipped, and the Deos is just under 600 USD. As much as I like the Deros I just have a hard time seeing how the Mirka Deos is valued at almost twice the cost of the RTS here. I'm sure it's a nice sander though.
It is a great sander, but at those prices I totally understand why it couldn’t be justified. It must be something to do with import duties etc for specific countries as the varying in price around the globe is crazy 🤷♂️
Hi Leo. The Festool sander is way too tall for vertical sanding you'll be fighting gravity to prevent it from tipping. I also like the feel of the Mirka type palm grip, it's very comfortable. Good review the lighter weight is definitely a winner if using one for long periods. Tony
Thanks Tony. Festool a no go for me for vertical and I don’t just think that is because of my disability. I’d imagine most folk would struggle unless they’ve concocted some kind of two handed technique🤷♂️. Good to hear you have the same opinion of the Deos, I think it’s great👍
There is the cable aspect Aapo I’m regards to Festool which makes it a lot easier for folk. I have quite a bit of Festool gear, but the ‘sacrifice’ of having to change the lead for the Deos is worth is for me 👍👍
Great review Leo, audio was good & video better without the ‘follow me’ 👍. I’ve only ever had the Festool, (quite some years now), never had a problem, just changing the pad saver as & when needed. Initially bought to use for all the decorating work I was getting, so nearly always vertical sanding & coupled with the Festool vacuum kept a clean working environment. Have you decided if you’re going to MC at end of the month, not sure myself yet. Cheers, Bill.
Thanks Bill😀. My hope is for us to make it to MC on the Saturday. Two factors that might prevent that is my health (on the mend but still not ‘right’ yet) and I was also due to have surgery a couple of weeks ago but it had to be postponed because of the post covid issues I’ve been having. I may well get a call so that could put an end to a MC visit
After using a mirka and seeing the absolute shocking finish it leaves compared to festool I'm not going anywhere near them. That's on top of hearing multiple people saying they have problems with the motor and the warranty is terrible.
I’ve had both ROS from Mirka and Festool, plus the orbit sanders in this video and I’ve never encountered a bad finish on any of them🤷♂️. I sold the Deros as I did have a reliability issue with it, but my understanding is the issue is with the Deros alone and not on models like this one I reviewed.
@@Hand-i-Craft I really wanted to like it but in my experience the swirls were terrible, using abranet as well. Good to know only the deros is unreliable, I wonder if the metabo copy is any better.
Really interesting to hear that Dave. Can I ask are you in the trade based on your username? Would you broadly agree with what I said in the video? Cheers, Leo 😀👍
@@Hand-i-Craft i would say you are right on and a very honest review. I believe that the vibrations, weight and the ability to feather / and or adjust the sander speed rapidly makes it superior just a bit more. Great review keep it up
This was a wonderful review- thank you for making this video! What is the price difference between these 2 models in the UK? Here in the US, this Mirka model is more expensive, almost twice the price in my local wood store.
Hi Leo. Two points. 1. To my surprise I found the Mirka was about £100 more than the Festool 2. Why do you prefer the RTS/Mirka simple orbitals to the Festool RTS 150mm ROS? I would expect you would get a better finish and faster material removal with the ROS. I have both the RTS 150 and a few older orbitals (Metabo and DeWalt square palm sander) but rarely use the orbitals now as I find the ROS faster and easier to use. Interesting video and a very thoughtful comparison. I hope Mirka give you a good discount and I hope it will be more reliable than the Deros. Mike
Cheers Mike. Like I said in the video depending where you are in the world will depend on which is more expensive 🤷♂️. I can only presume import duties etc play a part in that. Why do I reach for the Deos over the likes of the ROS? My ETS-EC is a fantastic machine, but you need to be careful not to overdo it and end up taking off more than you intended. So I tend to use that now for the rough stuff as it is more than capable of doing that and in the medium to finer finishing I’m happier using the Deos. Might take a little longer, but I’m getting more consistent results with it👍
@@Hand-i-Craft Thanks Leo, interesting. Is your ETS-EC a 3mm or 5mm version. I have both (5mm one here and 3mm there) and I think the 3mm might have been a mistake as it's a bit too "gentle". Both very nice to use and pretty light for 150mm sanders. I agree about the Rotex. I have a 90 and even that small one needs two hands to control it in Rotex mode.
This is the best video i've seen on these sanders, so many thanks. I really like the look of the Mirka as i will be sanding vertical cabinets but i was planning on a Festool extraction system as everyone raves about them. Would i be able to fit the Festool extraction hose onto the Mirka sander and would i have to plug both sander and extraction into separate sockets or would the Mirka cable fit into the Festool extractor? Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks Sophie for your kind comments, much appreciated 😀. Festool hose should fit fine into the Mirka, but I would check with the sales staff first, or if you’re in the U.K. email / phone the likes of Axminster Tools and ask them. For the powered take off thing that you plug the sander into the vac, it is just a standard plug so will take any brand of sander 👍👍😀😀
Hi Leo, have you tried to use the Festool with less suction from the vacuum? Don't know what kind you use (judging on the hose, it was not a Festool one) but I find that the Festool midi on max has to much suction when sanding. This might also cause the extra vibration because the pad "sticks" to the wood to much instead of moving over the wood. That's why you can adjust the amount of suction on Festool vacuums.
Cheers Ger for the tip here. No it wasn’t a Festool vac, but I’ve also tried the sander without the vac on (just the dust bag) and still get that extra vibration🤷♂️. It’s only very minor, but in comparison to the Mirka for that purpose you can notice the difference
Cheers Ger for the tip here. No it wasn’t a Festool vac, but I’ve also tried the sander without the vac on (just the dust bag) and still get that extra vibration🤷♂️. It’s only very minor, but in comparison to the Mirka for that purpose you can notice the difference
They could do what you said here, but I wouldn’t say that was their primary purpose. It’s like a good random orbit sander occasionally could strip back wood like a palm belt sander does, but you wouldn’t want to do that all the time with it if that makes sense?
Great video, thanks! I'm looking for a sander for a large paint prep project, several thousand square feet of wainscoting and paneling that needs to be prepped for paint. In your opinion, would the Mirka be a good choice for this task? Ease of use and dust management are the priority here, will be using a festool DC
Wow, that is some serious amount of sanding 😳😳😂😂😂. To be honest pal at that amount, it will boil down to personal preference and I would definitely find a retailer that stocks them and put both of them in your hand and see which feels better for you. They’re both great sanders and will handle the job well, it’ll be a case of which one you personally prefer 👍👍
Does the flap on the mirka have to always be pushed down while you’re working , for example if u grabbed the sander at the rear and the flap was up it would still work on full power ?
The flap needs to be pressed down in order for it to work pal. I think it has a function where you can switch off the pressure power function so it’s either on full power or off, but the flap still needs to be depressed
Great video mate, wondering if you can clear up a couple questions? Does the festool connect up to a mirka extractor hoover hose and does it also start up the extractor when you turn it on do you know?
Cheers Anthony. I have a Mirka vac from approximately 3 years ago and the Festool connects up to that fine with no additional adaptors needed. And yes providing you have the sander plugged into the vac then it will auto start when it is set to that. My Mirka extractor is now connected to my Festool mitre saw and that auto starts up fine 👍👍
Will the Mirka leave squiggles since it isn’t RANDOM orbital? Thinking in terms of furniture tops. I like the Mirka size for taking off paint in tight spaces
Why the mask if there is suction? I have never needed a mask with Festool. The RTS is not acceptable for stain grade surfaces. Why would you sad particle board?
No problem. Just a ‘belt and braces’ approach really. I had a scare recently where I contracted covid which hospitalised me with breathing / lung problems so I’m always extra careful 😀👍
No problem. Just a ‘belt and braces’ approach really. I had a scare recently where I contracted covid which hospitalised me with breathing / lung problems so I’m always extra careful 😀👍
Thanks for the reply, do a lot of sanding in my trade purchased a festool set up to get rid of the respirator will I still need to wear it do you recon
@@allangling2651 You should be fine, but what I would recommend which I’d imagine they’d have is an air quality monitor. It’s the particles you can’t see they potentially do most damage, particularly the 2.5 microns. The smaller ones if you breathe in you pass through urine etc, but the 2.5 ones can do the most damage as they stick in your lungs
Just done a batch of cutting boards on a vacuum clamp phill so it allows me to vertical sand the four sides without having to move a clamp 👍👍. Deos worked a treat for that. Also just sanded down the spindles on the staircase before primer and paint. Again used the Deos for that 😀👍
I refinish vintage dressers, and while I can put the tall one on the side for sanding the long ones are just a waste to do so. Same with large vintage buffets
