Today I will attempt to help you settle on a choice between the Festool ETS EC150 and the Mirka Deros. The Mirka costs more than $125 more and the Festool is as of now a first in class sander. So is the Mirka great? How about we check whether we can respond to that inquiry.
Disclaimer – I’ve been utilizing a Festool sander for more than 10 years now, which will bring about some unavoidable inclination. I put forth a valiant effort to eliminate that predisposition by utilizing the Mirka solely for a quarter of a year prior doing this survey. I additionally bought both of these sanders with my own cash and have no close to home dog in the fight. At last, everything contained inside this video is my assessment.
Details
The particular sanders I utilized for this correlation are both 6″ measurement and both element a 5mm circle design.
Ergonomics/Conveniences
The Mirka is a structure factor some of you may perceive. This sort of oar sander is something frequently found in pneumatic devices. Anybody coming to carpentry from the autobody world will probably favor this sander over the Festool. The Mirka has a lower focus of gravity and will in general feel like a more normal expansion of the hand. The Festool is ergonomic as well yet I’d say the Mirka enjoys a slight benefit here. Between the ergonomics and the somewhat lighter weight, the Mirka would be a conspicuous decision for anybody chipping away at vertical surfaces or roofs. That sort of work is rare for me as most sanding I do is level and even. So that component isn’t exactly as critical to me as it very well may be to another person.
Presently you may think this makes the Mirka the undisputed champ as to ergonomics however there’s a trick: the oar. I’m really not a fan. All together for the sander to run, the oar must be discouraged the entire time. Let off and the sander stops. The way that the oar behaves like a variable speed control of sorts is completely lost on me. It resembles a gas paddle that is either at 0 or 60 mph since it’s truly hard to keep the oar mostly pushed down. Furthermore, for the work I do, on the fly speed changes are superfluous. I very much want a devoted on/off button that stays on until I hit it once more. What’s more, I almost consistently run my sanders at max throttle at any rate. A ton of people have no issue keeping their hand on the oar yet for me, during long sanding meetings, I like to switch around my hold to help diminish weariness and squeezing and that is significantly harder to do when you need to keep your hand on an oar.
This oar likewise makes a tad of an obligation as you can, and will, probably place the sander topsy turvy sooner or later to change the paper. On the off chance that the force is still on, the sander will turn and give you a little shock at any rate and a sandpaper cut even from a pessimistic standpoint. You must make certain to kill the expert force prior to flipping the sander over. You may likewise put the sander down and inadvertently end up squeezing the oar just to watch the sander take a little walk.
Discussing evolving paper, the cushion on the Mirka turns unreservedly. While not a tremendous arrangement, this makes it somewhat more baffling to change the paper. The Festool doesn’t turn as effectively so it makes it much simpler to arrange the silly poop chute designs.
Execution
The two sanders work effectively and I was unable to observe a distinction in the subsequent surface quality between these two. I explicitly utilized a similar sandpaper I’ve been utilizing for quite a long time so that if there were any distinctions I’d have the option to spot them. You may see that my paper has the old standard opening example and doesn’t utilize the silly opening examples both of these sanders use. Indeed, even still, the two of them have totally sufficient residue assortment.
What about sanding speed? Something I hear a great deal about Mirka changes over is that the Mirka eliminates stock discernibly quicker. Tragically, I didn’t perceive any proof of that whatsoever. I even a few tests just to see some side by sides and the two sanders took an equivalent number of passes to eliminate the pencil lines I put on a superficial level. Also, subsequent to utilizing it for a very long time I can’t say I saw any pragmatic distinction in sanding rate and productivity. Furthermore, similarly as a subsequent information point, I conversed with my associate Jon about this and he concurs that the Mirka isn’t saving us any time.
Presently something intriguing I saw while sanding a cedar seat top. The Western Red Cedar is truly delicate wood however it has thick bunch regions intermittently. For reasons unknown, the Mirka would in general kick and whip somewhat more when it connected with those thick regions. The Festool just appeared to be more steady with less jerks and kicks. This was the solitary time I saw that kind of conduct, likewise with some other sanding position the Mirka was similarly just about as steady as the Festool.
The two sanders are low vibration and both are an immense advance up from home store brands, however between the two the measure of vibration feels basically something similar.
Embellishments
The two organizations offer an assortment of cushion alternatives, a residue extractor, and sandpaper. Mirka enjoys the benefit in sandpaper just by the shear volume of choices. All things considered, best of luck figuring out them. The Mirka sandpaper page helps me to remember the Cheesecake Factory menu. I can’t sort out what I need so I simply get the cheesecake. This is additionally exacerbated by silly non-expressive names like Abralon, Jepuflex, and Mirlon… .which all solid like wizards from Lord of the Rings. Festool has a more modest/easier choice of abrasives yet they additionally highlight ridiculous names like, Granat and Rubin.
One region Festool holds an immense benefit is the quantity of different instruments they produce. There are clear benefits to having a lot of devices from a similar brand and on the off chance that you go Mirka you’re practically restricted to sanders and polishers. In the event that you go Festool you approach things like saws, switches, planers, drills and obviously that Domino thing. So that is something to remember contingent upon how you need to manage future buys. Presently on the off chance that you as of now have a Festool vac and perhaps a blast arm like I have here, you can pretty effectively remember the Mirka sander for that arrangement just by running the Mirka string close by the Festool. Not that enormous of an arrangement.
Who Should Buy the Mirka Deros?
Individuals who have a set of experiences with pneumatic sanders. In case you’re utilized to that oar style sander, you’ll be comfortable with the Deros.
Individuals who will in general do a great deal of vertical or overhead work. In spite of the fact that I’m not a fanatic of the oar, the lighter weight will be an advantage over the long haul.
Device nerds: Mirka has an application. Not certain how helpful the information is but rather evidently you can follow speed information just as vibration openness. I have a watch that reminds me to inhale… ..so why not.
Individuals who have an outrage oopsy-daisy against Festool. Let’s be honest. A few group couldn’t imagine anything better than to burn through $125 all the more to take advantage of those Festool-sweethearts.
Who Should Buy the Festool ETS EC?
Individuals who like the possibility of a framework approach and plan to add more apparatuses to their stockpile. Festool certainly gives you a more strong involvement in different instrument contributions.
Individuals who do generally shop-based level sanding. In case you’re not going upward, the lighter load of the Mirka is fairly unimportant. And keeping in mind that the Mirka has the lower focal point of gravity, recollect that I encountered that bouncing while sanding a board that had a ton of bunches in it, and the Festool appeared to explore those regions with more beauty. Maybe the weight assumes a part in that.
Individuals who need to save $125.
End
I think the genuine staying point here is the $125 distinction (in the US). My objective was to decide whether the Mirka is superior to the Festool and in the event that it is better, is it $125 better? Unquestionably I need to say “No.” These sanders are considerably more indistinguishable than they are unique and the distinctions boil down to truly nit-critical advantages and disadvantages. So in the event that one of the geniuses or cons I referenced beforehand is a genuine worry for you, that may help you settle on a choice. Be that as it may, for most carpenters, I experience to say they’d experience issues supporting the extra cost of the Mirka. Festool is as of now thought to be truly outstanding (and generally costly) sanders available. So if the Mirka comes in $125 MORE than the Festool, I need to see a decent convincing justification it and I don’t.
Presently on the off chance that you’ve utilized the two sanders and left with an alternate impression, let us think about it in the remarks. I’m only one individual with one assessment and there are a great deal of factors impacting everything here. My own experience doesn’t nullify yours in any capacity, yet on the off chance that you can’t help contradicting me you’re off-base (wink).