Bosch 1250DEVS – Random Orbital Sander Review

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It looks like this sander is discontinued and, therefore, not available anymore. There is a newer model Bosch GET75-6N that you can check out. For more choices on random sanders, please visit Best Random Orbital Sander recommendations.

I’d like you to have a look at my latest review. It’s a Bosch 1250DEVS Random Orbit Sander. Why this one?

Well… I’ve recently had to sand some pallets for my Coffee Table, and my sander died on me, so I was looking online for a tool to do the job from start to finish. From removing a lot of material (we all know what pallet planks are like)to finishing sanding ready to stain.

We all know the pains and difficulties when trying to sand rough-cut timber or used pallet planks. Making it smooth means hours of labor, and in the end, the result usually is far from desired. There are several ways of tackling this task. A power planer, a belt sander, or a dual-mode random orbital sander with a strong motor and a lot of power.

A power planer– you have to watch out for the nails and knots as it might be quite expensive when you keep damaging the blades. As for belt sander – well… it can be very difficult to control, and it’s easy to overdo it and damage the wood. Also, both of them won’t do anything more than remove the material, and I was looking for something versatile.

Well… I found several nice-looking Festool tools, but gosh, they’re pricey. So my attention turned to good, old Bosch. Germans have always delivered when it comes to tools or cars, or house appliances, so I was wondering what this sander represents.

Bosch 1250DEVS Random Orbit Sander
  • Dual Mode: Provides 2 Sanding Modes: Random Orbit Mode for Normal Stock Removal or Fine Finishing and “Turbo” Driven Eccentric Orbit Mode for Aggressive Stock Removal at 5 Times the Rate of the Normal Random Orbit Sanding Mode
  • VARIABLE SPEED: The 1250DEVS comes with a powerful 6.5 amp variable speed motor (no load speed: 270 to 600 RPM, no load orbit speed: 3,100 to 6,500 OPM) provide power, flexibility for jobs
  • EASE OF USE: Get fast, smooth finishes on a variety of surfaces
  • PASSIVE DUST COLLECTION SYSTEM: Passive dust collection system that requires a vacuum cleaner and hoses; Accepts Bosch VAC001, VAC009 and VAC010 hoses (sold separately) or a Bosch VAC002 hose adapter (included)

 Power

This sander has a 6.5 Amp motor which gives you a lot of power and 3100 – 6650 OPM(orbits per minute)variable speed to match any project(task). Compared to other RO(random orbital) sanders on the market, it’s not the fastest one, but designers compensated this lack of speed with a  Dual Mode (Turbo Mode and Finishing Mode).

What’s Turbo Mode? This is the thing that will make you want to forget about belt sanders forever. It’s an eccentric mode for aggressive stock removal. It will remove up to 5 times more material than normal random orbit sanding mode.

So if you need to sand a lot of weathered timber, rough-cut timber, or pallet planks, this mode will get rid of any surface irregularities.

You can use it for hours with no problem, even with leaning on it, and in this mode, this sander is as aggressive as a belt sander but without the risk of gouging a workpiece. It’s got a soft start function to reduce start-up torque.

The only thing is that in this mode, the sander can be quite difficult to handle. I mean it will take some time to get used to, and you’ll have to have a pretty strong grip to be able to control it.

That’s when the auxiliary handle comes in handy. In this mode, you’d want to use two hands to use this tool so this may not be the best option for inexperienced woodworkers.

A Dual Mode means also that with the flip of the switch, you have a nice finishing random orbital sander that leaves very little swirl.

Body

This tool has a PowerGrip, contoured head, 7.7 ” in diameter circumference barrel, and standard-equipment auxiliary handle for use mostly when in Turbo Mode.

The casing is made of hard plastic, and the gear housing is rugged aluminum. Also, bearings, gears, and the switch are sealed against dust for long durability.

Pad

It’s a 6 inches microcellular hook&loop sanding pad – a bigger size for bigger jobs.

You can choose from 3 kinds of pads:

  • an extra soft pad for use in fine finishing and for use on more-contoured workpieces,
  • soft pad for finer, smoother, flatter surface finishes due to their ability to adapt to the surface of the workpiece and due to the elastic support of the pads’ plastic inlays.
  • and a hard pad for the fastest stock removal of flat surfaces

So it’s a quite good choice that gives you flexibility and allows you to choose the right pad for the right task. Note that with this sander, only the soft pad is included. The other two can be purchased separately.

But the good news is that they’re quite cheap, around $16 apiece ($20 when not on sale-for the latest prices, check here).

The integral pad dampening system provides braking of the pad spin to prevent swirl marks when removing the sander from a workpiece.

This sander has a vacuum port and works virtually dust-free with a shop vac attached. There will be a lot of dust when working in Turbo Mode, so some kind of dust collection system is a necessity.

Dust port accepts Bosch hoses, and standard equipment VAC002 hose adapter allows connection to 1-1/4 ” and 1-1/2 ” hoses.

There is no locking system for the vacuum port in place, though, that would allow for a more secure hose attachment.

Vibrations

The Bosch 1250DEVS has a dual-bearing pad mount which has a long-life design to eliminate wobble and vibration fatigue which is very desired, but you have to accept that it will vibrate slightly more when in Turbo Mode, but that is expected.

Switching to finish mode and you have an easily controlled, low vibration, and low noise tool.

I always recommend the use of vibration-reducing gloves when sanding, especially for longer periods of time.


Technical Details:

  • No Load RPM(in turbo mode) 270-600
  • No load speed 3100 – 6650 OPM
  • Orbit Radius 3/32″ (2.5 mm)
  • Orbit Diameter 3/16″ (5.0 mm)

  • Dual Mode with Turbo Mode for fast stock removal
  • 6.5 Amp motor with variable speed
  • Constant Response™ circuitry and speed dial maintain pad speed under load
  • Cheap replacement pads with different firmness for different tasks
  • Great selection of abrasives
  • Very long cord
  • Excellent customer service
  • 1-year unconditional warranty
  • No case included
  • No locking mechanism for a vacuum port
  • Needs some firm grip to handle and getting used to in Turbo Mode

Verdict

Overall the Bosch 1250DEVS is one of the best random orbital sanders on the market. It’s comparable with Festool Rotex150 at half the price. The only thing that the Festool sander seems to be superior to is dust collection. But that I can live with, especially when paying less for a very solid and quality tool.

Well made, durable with a selection of accessories available to tackle any job like a Bosch L-BOXX-3 case or replacement pads:

If you buy it, you won’t be disappointed as this well-balanced tool will cut down your work time by hours but bear in mind that this is not a sander for beginners. If you’re an experienced DIY-er or a professional woodworker, you’d be extremely satisfied with this tool.

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Last update on 2024-03-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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4 Comments

  1. Very thorough and comprehensive review of the Bosch 1250DEVS Random Orbital Sander Kasia. I don’t have much experience with sanders myself; I came across this article searching on behalf of my dad and I think he would appreciate this information greatly. I’ll note the URL and send it over to him when I get the chance. Thanks!

    1. Hi, Paul!
      I’m glad you liked my review.Thanks for stopping by. I hope your dad will find this article helpful. I’ll be posting some more reviews on regular bases so you’re very welcome to come back and check them out. Have great day!
      Kasia

  2. Your site is full of great information so thank you very much for that. your review is great, however if I am being honest I am not really looking for a sander. So you may not be able to help me with this question but here it goes anyway.
    Can this be used to buff? Can you purchase buffer pads? Like the ones used to buff and polish cars when waxing.

    Juan

    1. Hi, Juan!
      Thanks for dropping by. I don’t know much about car detailing but have done some digging and my answer is yes you can use this sander for polishing and buffing cars. The recommended and pads I’ve found :
      Lake Country 6.5 inch foam pads, Edge 2000 6 inch pads, The Edge 2000 Wave Pads and Meguiars 6.5 inch Soft Buff Pads. You’d just have to do some more research to get the best deal. I’ve also found out that Porter-Cable 7424XP 6-Inch Variable- Speed Polisher is a great tool as well and is cheaper. Have a look. I’m sorry I couldn’t help more but as I said I don’t know much about that specific​ topic.

      Kasia

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