150mm (6”) pad unit or the 125mm (5”)
unit (both shown here for size compari-
son), feature a switch selectable sanding
action. The green switch on the top
makes the mode change. In one mode
they act just like the ETS random orbit
units. Switch modes on the RO 150 or
the RO 125 and things get very different.
The second mode on both machines is a
hybrid between the gear driven pure ro-
tary motion of the RAS 115 and the pure
random orbit motion of the ETS units.
The gear driven pad turns in a rotary
motion while the pivot point orbits to
minimize burning and scratching. In
this mode (what Festool calls “rotary/
random” mode) these units are capa-
ble of removing stock at a very rapid
rate. Put on a coarse grit and I would
call it very, very rapid stock removal,
enough so that with the 150mm pad it
can be a handful to control until you
get the hang of it.
What is slick is how you can do rapid
stock removal with one grit and then
without even switching grits change to
the random orbit mode and smooth out
the relatively rough surface left by the ro-
tary mode all the while gathering up all
that sanding dust through the
unit and off into the bag of the
vacuum rather than sending it
into the air and into your lungs.
Remove the sanding hook and
loop pad and put on a
polishing/buffing pad and the
RO units turn into one of the
finest variable speed polishers
I have ever used.
To buff out a build finish to a
mirror-like surface takes only
the Festool felt pads and a
couple of grits of an automo-
tive polishing compound. With
rotary motion speed control
from 240 to 560 RPMs and ec-
centric motion control from 2000 to 5600
orbits per minute you don’t have to worry
about burning a sensitive finish or knock-
ing off the edges unless you simply
“screw up.”
Practice a bit and you can replicate a gui-
tar or piano gloss like the top of this cof-
fee table done in highly figured Oregon
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