Official Luthiers Forum!

I tried out some Festool ROS sanders today and got the Festool ETS 125.
I'm pretty sure Hesh has this one, too.

When I was trying out the sander, the first thing I did was wipe my hand
over the area I'd just worked. There wasn't any dust in the air and only a
thin layer left on the wood using the sander's dust bag instead of the
vacuum. WAY less than the Porter Cable I have now. This in itself
basically sold me on it.    

Then I started sanding around the edge of the board and couldn't get it to
round over. Not bad. Pulled a paper off and the disk had a support
running around the perimeter.

The paper REALLY sticks to the velcro. I was holding it up off the board
and couldn't get the paper to fly off. (I actually had a tough time
pulling it off).

The papers themselves are less expensive than the ones for my Porter
Cable, didn't load, and will clearly last a lot longer than anything I've
used. Packs of 50 were just under $20 and five packs were $2.50. One
disk will probably last five or ten times longer than the papers I'd get for
the Porter.

I ordered some of the finer papers for finish. The literature recommends
Brilliant 400 to Platin 1000 and 2000 grit papers for high gloss finishes
before going to the buffer, so I ordered a 15 pack of each Platin grit and
got 5 packs of Brilliant 120, 220, and 400 since they'll probably last me
so long. The Platins are expensive ($40 a pack), but should last a long
time and have padded backing. Frankly, I'm happy to go from 400 to
1000 to 2000.

Has anyone else worked with any of this stuff? I'm specifically interested
in your thoughts on the Platin papers. I don't actually have to take them
home once they get to the store.

Congrats on getting a great sander! I'd love to have one of those myself. Someday...

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Sounds like a great sander James! Did you get their dust collection with it? I have never tried one yet but from what I have heard They are Super. Nice score!

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

James:

Yep, I've got that sander and it's incredible. If you don't mind, where did you order the finer grit sandpapers from? I've got Klingspor through 600, but nothing higher than that.

Thanks.

Bill

_________________
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Thanks guys---I'm looking forward to using it! Bill, I ordered them in the
store. Ideal Saw Works in Fresno. You can also order them on the
festoolusa.com website.