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I'm changing from a 5" Bosch RO to a Festool 5". Of course I bought 10 boxes of 50 discs for the Bosch and the Festool has a larger 8 hole pattern than the Bosch.

Does anyone have any experience or recommendations for punching new holes in discs?

Or an adapter plate to go between the Festool and the different pattern discs?

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I went from Bosch to Festool also. I use Mirka Abranet disks with their pad protector and punch additional holes in the protector to match the sander. Seems to work OK. Don't know about solid disks but bet it would work with them too. Try it.

Brian,

I did the same thing: bought a load of discs for the Bosch, then saw a Festool that I couldn't resist. Doesn't answer your question, but I looked around and couldn't find a good method for punching holes and switched over to Abranet.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks Carl and Pat -

I put a couple "pad protectors" in a cart (Mirka and Festool) and what I'm going to try is cutting slots in the protector to connect the holes and see if that works. Also a "heavy duty" 3/8" hole punch from Amazon to try but punching holes thru abrasives will probably make for a short punch life.

One of the concerns with punching holes is if the process will leave a jagged edge on the hole that might leave swirl marks.

I'll report back with any successes or fails.

Still open to other comments or suggestions if any.

Thanks all!

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I kind of went down that road but decided it wasn’t worth the aggravation so I ended up just replacing the sanding discs.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Some people make a jig out of a piece of plywood and nails (short thick screws might be better) and use that to punch new holes in the existing sanding discs. The holes are a bit rough and I assume the vacuum pulls the rough edges up into the holes of the pad. Some pad sanders come with a plastic jig for doing this to regular sandpaper.
Another possibility might be to use a plug cutter to drill new holes in a stack of discs using a drill press and drilling through the back side of the discs to minimize the time it is hitting the grit.
The best solution might be to find someone who has a Bosch sander and discount the discs to them - less hassle for you and a deal for them - win/win.

Fyi the Festool sandpaper is a lot better than the average disks.

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I'm an - 'Adapteur' or sumthing - by nature so can't help it.

I'll keep the Bosch for other uses or give it to a friend with a lifetime of discs anyway.

But I'd like to use some.

What was I thinking buying 10 boxes of 50 discs anyway. Deal too good to be true? Won't do that again Too old for one thing.

That dang Tool OCB, acting up again.

What? Pass up an opportunity to buy tool stuff! Of course I got more discs coming!

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll post back if punching holes is so easy I could do it.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I did the same thing--I've kept my old discs for use on a velcro hand sanding pad that I use and switched to Abranet for the Festool.

Dave

Good point Dave I almost forgot I have a 5" dia velcro holder for hand sanding I haven't used in a while. I'll have to put it back in service, there's always hand sanding to do.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED