Official Luthiers Forum!

Don,
Since you have by default, become our in-house Festool expert, I would like to ask you a couple questions:

Regarding the Orbital Sander(s):
1)was the model you tried and liked, the electric model or was it air powered?
2)Did you try the air powered version? If so what's your thoughts
3)Were you able to try their vacuum system and compare it to that wonderful Fein you own.
4)Do you know if the Festool sander will hook up to the FEIN or must you buy their vac.? I believe the Fein is quieter.

THANKS DON!

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

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

Hey Dave,

1. It was electric.
2. No. Didn't try it
3. The vacuum system was amazing. There was no dust whatsoever anywhere coming off of the thing. I mean none. I didn't compare the two systems, but the Fein is a tad quieter. The advantage of the Festool vac is that it also has a flat top and clips to hold the Festool cases in a nice stack.
4. It will work just fein with the Fein.
They both have power-activated outlets so that when you start the power tool the vac also starts up.

For more specific answers, ask Brad who seems to own them and can speak more intelligently about them (and most other things too I'm afraid) .

I think I'm getting close to buying their chordless drill. My old DeWalt 14v has just about had it. The batteries won't hold a charge for very long any more.
The Festool is without a doubt the nicest chordless drill I've ever seen. I swear it's NASA quality!
Don Williams38822.9446412037

_________________
"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."

Thanks Don!

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

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

Hi Dave ,
I have 5 festool tools(electric) and I have the fein vacuum and it works great.
Definately the best dust collection I have ever used
You will need to use the Festool hose and order the corect adaptor for the Fein vacuum.

Will the Festool hook up to a regular vac, like a small Shop Vac?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Don, you're killing me!

Chordless drill??!! I hope you won't build a chordless guitar with that!

The higher voltage cordless tools can be charged fewer times before battery failure. I got the 3.2 amp hour Panasonic 15.4v and it kicks 18v butt. My favorite cordless tool right now is the Makita 14v hammer screwdriver. It is well balanced and lighter than the DeWalt or the Panasonic.
Kurt Housh

I use the fein hose with an adapter right at the sander, And I agree with all the other comments on the sander. i have the 5" rotex.. dust, what dust ?????
Mike

It's a big investment and they have several models. Are you glad you purchased the Rotex or is it somehow not as "good" as they standard orbital only models? Has anyone used the air powered version?

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

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

Dave,
I have the 6" Rotex and the 5" random orbit and I like having them both for different operations.
The smaller one is probably more useful to a flattop maker,The bigger ,more aggresive sander better for archtop building.

I bought the 5" rotex with archtops in mind, my thinking was the smaller pad would fit into smaller areas easier. Now that may not be the right thinking, but it was all I had at the time . I also bought the softer pad to follow contours easier. The Rotex mode is not as agressive as I thought it was going to be, but it does leave marks. The ROS is smooth.
Everything I hear about air ROS is great except the large amount of air needed. 17cfm at 90 psi for full speed. My compressor would never keep up with that, plus I don't want to hear the compressor run all the time either.

[QUOTE=mikev]The Rotex mode is not as agressive as I thought it was going to be...[/QUOTE]

Well, I found the oppite to be true. It took me by surprise. At full speed arressive mode, it can be difficult tell if your sanding level. On my first pratice try with RO125 with 80 grit,I put too much pressure on the handle and tilted the sander a bit on edge. I sanded through a .115 piece of EIR before I realized what had happened.

_________________
Scott Thompson
Port Townsend,WA

"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room"
-Billy Bragg

scott, that is totally not what I found, maybe I don't press down enough. I have used 50 grit on spruce and found it very controlable. I would have to work at it to sand through .115 eir.

Mike. No downward pressure really, I was just putting enough pressure to inadvertently tilt it back slightly.

_________________
Scott Thompson
Port Townsend,WA

"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room"
-Billy Bragg