Official Luthiers Forum!

I just came in from leveling the finish on a Jazzmaster body with my
Festool sander (the ETS125 I believe---look for the number 25 in the
model number), and I don't think I'll ever be afraid of leveling finish again.
I used their Brilliant 2 400 grit paper and it went as smooth as I've ever
experienced with absolutely no burn through and, get this, absolutely no
airborn dust. None. Using nothing but the dust bag that's included with
the sandpaper. After this, I'm absolutely confident in using the Platin
1000 and Platin 2000 papers to bring the finish to gloss. I questioned
the price a few times but told myself I wouldn't regret it once using it. I
was right.

The other is a cheapy.   Razor blades. I also scraped the binding level on
my current acoustic and scraped the leftover finish nubs off the
Jazzmaster with a razor blade. Scraping with a razor blade was one of
those things I'd read and glance over. Never again.

I just bought a Festool ETS125EQ sander today, based largely on the recommendations of people in this forum. I've only tried it out on a piece of scrap beech, but it looks like a great tool. There was hardly any sawdust at all, even on high with 80 grit paper. I'm happy.

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John Cavanaugh
Saint Paul, MN
"What could possibly go wrong?"

John, wait until you finish sanding with the 120 rubin that came with your
sander. Compare it to the other brands of 220 and inhale.

I also just got a ETS125 EQ. I got it based on the recommendation of Hesh and others here... Thanks.

This thing is a huge improvement over everything I've used for sanding in the past!! It may be the best $165 I've ever spent.

long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]
I was also surprised to learn that Festool papers are of excellent quality, reasonably priced, and not hard to find either.[/QUOTE]

Hesh, you mentioned once that you used regular off-the-shelf disks. Or did I imagine that?

Where do you get your disks?

long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Festool rules!

Best tools I have ever owned. Pricey but once you own and use one you can't go back to anything else. It sure is nice to have something that really works well.

I have the drill, sander, corner sander and jigsaw. all work great with ct22 vac. No dust at all...next is the router and maybe the dual action sander. all I need is a third mtg on the home.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Bob: Klingspor makes sanding disks that are nearly exact to the Festool paper, at roughly half the price. I'm going to do what James did and get some of the expensive stuff for my finish leveling, and polishing but for regular guitar work, etc. the Klingspor stuff lasts forever.

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

I'm lucky to have a fantastic store here in town that looks out for me. I've
learned some important things about sharpening scrapers, getting my
planes in working condition, among others. They ordered the Platin 2
papers for me over a month ago and held them for me while I got the
funds together. What I was surprised to find was that the 10 packs of
Rubin were less expensive than the 5 packs of the 3M or Norton paper at
Home Depot and the local hardware store. The 100 packs are $50,
making each disk (which so far outlast the others and leave a finer
finish) 50 cents. I'm completely behind this company right now.

Interesting.  I tried it and didn't like it at all.  It just did not fit my hand, and was poorly angled for right-handed use, IMHO. I also thought the front guard was a total waste, and in the way of grabbing and using the tool.  Maybe I have bad habits.  Truth is, it is sort of a personal preference thing.   My 12v Makita with NiMh batteries is great, and it came with a hammer driver which is small and great for driving lag bolts and large screws into hard woods.  It does not have a fancy stacking case though, and that would be nice.  The Ridgid 12v drills are also pretty good, and have a lifetime battery warranty.  Hard to beat at the price point.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

$165 for the festool. Wouldn't that be nice. I guess at $400 AU + were getting gouged down here. There isn't that bid a difference between the $US and $AU. 

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

They're German tools (or used to be, anyway), and cost twice as much here as they do in the US. Go figure. Still looking for an online vendor that'll ship a Festool over this direction, but no luck so far. Pesky regional protectionistic nonsense...

Yep Mattia the ETS125 is $320 (?159) here in the UK.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=WaddyT]Interesting.  I tried it and didn't like it at all.  It just did not fit my hand, and was poorly angled for right-handed use, IMHO. I also thought the front guard was a total waste, and in the way of grabbing and using the tool.  [/QUOTE]

Waddy i thought the same with the front guard model so I went with the standard style 15.6V. I love this drill. Battery lasts very long, and it works great. I still think the lighter model would be nice if I had the xtra cash though...especially if I needed to do a lot of screwing.

The corner sander dx-93 is also great...I can sand the inside sides of the guitar perfectly smooth with no dust.

I have the ETS-150 sander and it too works great with no dust. Just wondering does anyone have the RO125 FEQ sander - the dual mode one?...was wondering if the dual mode is all they say it is. I also have both size tables...they are real sturdy and great for guitar work because the bracing/clamping system alows you to clamp the body/necks/whatever down tight to the top...it doesn't move.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Hey guys

If you're interested, I don't mind buying them for you and shipping them
to you.

Can you get the 240V versions easily in the US?

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If God had wanted us to drink beer, he would have given us stomaches.