Festool RO 150 Random Orbit Sander Multi-Purpose Sanding and Polishing


Independent Review by Peter Brett


I use my random orbit sanders almost daily and I regard them as indispensable for my work. For me, they are a brilliant solution because they combine speed of stock removal, ease of handling and excellent smoothing results on a wide range of materials. Of course, the random


orbit action is ideally suited to polishing too, so I was not at all surprised to see that the Festool RO 150 comes with a variety of options that include polishing as well as sanding over a wide variety of trades. Possibly because of its


wide range of applications, the Festool RO 150 has slightly different layout to many. The body grip holds the 720w motor and the gear driven sanding pad is at 90 degrees to it. As is usual with Festool


power tools, the main body is a high quality solid black plastic construction with the controls picked out in lime green. The controls are worth


looking at because they are different from many other random orbit sanders on the market. On top of the main gear housing, the main knob handle contains two slider switch controls. The first of these is a simple on/off switch that is wonderfully simple to use. The second switch, at 90 degrees to the on/off switch selects the two different sanding modes. The first mode has a random orbit action with rotary motion and this is very good at removing stock very quickly. The other mode is a rotary eccentric mode that is much gentler and is ideal for fine finishing of wood surfaces. This switch makes for a very simple swop over and this puts the Festool apart from other random orbit sanders, where the base needs to be rotated to change modes, which clearly takes more time and effort to do. On the right side of the machine,


just above the base is the spindle lock button. This is needed to exchange the bases, from polisher to sander for example, and also to replace the replaceable rubber collar that acts as a sanding brake in fine sanding mode. Finally, at the rear of the Festool RO 150 model, is the speed selector dial that allows the speed from 3,300 rpm to 6,800 rpm. The notable thing about all these


controls is that they are designed to be quick, easy and efficient to use which


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good overall control over the sanding disc. The other hand can be placed over the rubberized knob that is directly over the sanding disc and this is useful to keep the sanding pad flat and aimed where you want it. For polishing, it is probably better to use the supplied auxiliary handle as


is the dust extraction set up. This can be removed by releasing the catch and pulling the spout backwards when it is not needed, when polishing for example. The back of the extraction spout


has three ribs moulded into it that fit very tightly onto the standard rubber


makes the handling of the sander a real pleasure. Talking of handling, I did find the


body grip quite large for my admittedly small hands. Nevertheless, this grip is quite efficient as it gives the user a


ways of removing dust from the interface into a dust extractor without troubling the operator. This sander/polisher is no exception. Underneath the main body grip, forming what looks like a loop handle,


get the Festool System accessories! Quite coincidentally, I have been


making a stylish ( well I designed it anyway) brown oak desk that was nearing completion, and I had many opportunities to use the Festool RO 150 on it to get the fine finish I needed. Compared to my


normal random orbit sander, the Festool had quite a whine when I started it and I was quite surprised by this as I do have to take my neighbours into account. I think the whine is because of the gear-driven sanding platen and it is not really motor noise, as the motor is very smooth and powerful. At the lower speeds the noise is not intrusive and ear protection is routinely recommended with power tools these days. Festool generously sent


me a range of sanding discs in a variety of abrasive materials. For the wood I used the Rubin 2 (brown oxide discs) and I started with the 80 grit ones as an experiment. In truth, these proved to quite


abrasive on the planed wood, so I quickly changed to the 120 grit which gave a good basic finish on which to exercise the 180 and finally the 320 grit discs. The 17 holed discs are easy to


locate on the hook and loop base, and with the extraction connected, the only dust that seemed to escape is when the disc slides over the edge of the workpiece. Later, I tried the 80 grit abrasive on


a rough sawn piece of the brown oak and literally within minutes I had a smooth piece of oak that was ready for the next grade of grit. This sander really is a timesaver and overall I probably saved at least an hour of finishing time on the desk. This is a financially significant amount of time to factor into the cost of power tools. I was also able to rig up a polishing


you are more likely to be using the machine at a variety of angles and vertically as well as horizontally. This handle is well guarded and shaped and can be screwed onto either the left or the right of the gear casing. Festool designers, in my


experience, are brilliant at providing


extraction spout of the Festool vacuum extractor I was sent with the sander. (more of this next edition) Many other vacs have a similar rubberized spout so other vacs will fit, but my experience of the Festool system is that it as perfect as human invention allows at the minute, so if you can afford it,


bonnet to polish the smooth oak top of the desk once it had been finished and waxed, and the time and effort savings were significant. Once again, it is clear that the


designers at Festool have come up with a winner – a smart, efficient sander and polisher that is a pleasure to use. Amazing!


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