Festool Sander

Finally got to try out my new sander, and wasn't disappointed in the least!!!!!!!! First of all, let me explain why I went this route. I don't know how many times I ran into site work that needed sanding with a sander. Man, if there's one thing I've learned through the years is, the best way to make a customer angry, is get dust all over the house! Customers always tell you they understand a project will be messy, till it comes time and when dust gets all over the house, I don't care how good your skills are......... it just doesn't matter as much as the dust settling all over the house. I've used zip up doors over openings which helped big time, but sooner or later you have to walk out of the room, and here comes the fine dust. I loved the concept of the saw, extractor and guide combo, where the vac (extractor) does such a perfect job of collecting the sawdust that a sander would be a must being, the second most dustiest function I do in a home. The other thing was the sander vibration, and the claims that Festool is the least vibrating sander out there, and being in woodworking the years I've been at it, I've noticed lately numbness at times using some of these tools, so it just made sense to me to start taking care of myself at this later stage in life. The tools come well packaged. Probably about the best I've seen to date. I ordered the sander, paper of all grits, and buffing pads and applicators for rubbing out finishes.

The sander came in its traditional stack able case, so it can be stacked and stored neatly with the other Festool things I have like the saw, accessory package, and cleaning kit.

The first thing I noticed was that the tool had some green on it...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I knew right off, this was going to be a sweet addition to my arsenal. It came with a turbo filter bag, you can attach in place of the vac. I noticed this sander was allot bigger and bulkier looking that the DeWalt I was accustomed to and thought that maybe I wasn't going to care too much for this, but I was wrong. When deciding which of these sanders to choose, I wanted one that was close to my DeWalt, as I thought that sander was pretty good for what I do. The numbers listed are somewhat confusing so I E mailed Bob Marino and got some clarification on which. The RO 150E/ PLUS, known as the ROTEX is the most aggressive sander and has several speeds one can dial down, and thought that I really didn't need a sander that aggressive due to having a drum, and belt sander already. Plus, I personally didn't think I'd get use to that handle thingy. I chose the ES 150/5, the 5 being the size of the orbit (5mm). which also has a variable speed. In comparison to the DeWalt, its taller, but I've got to say...... its well balanced. The port for the vac hose is ribbed, so the hose won't have the tendency of slipping off like that stupid dust bag that always falls off my DeWalt. Another reason I wanted the hose rather than the turbo dust attachment was that, my DeWalt always fills up and sometimes I simply forget to empty it after each use and before you know it, dust collection isn't working right. Stop what your doing, go over to the trash can and empty it out and of course, there goes some airborne dust again. The hose eliminates all that!

I'm one of these guy's who never read anything. Open the box, grab the sander, plug it in and go! I love those kinda tools and this is one of those. Ha ha ha I popped a disk on the sander and immediately noticed a different design in the holes. The center is where there is the biggest concentration of dust, and wear due to the outer holes being the collection points. Festool designed theirs with the center hole for that increased collection, and that impressed me. The hole in the center is called the Jetsream concept, a patented design whereby the air is actually blown onto the paper from that center hole to the perimeter holes, thus facilitating better dust extraction and 30% longer paper life. They also have their own paper (6 different types depending on apllication) but paper can be gotten other companies, such as Klingspor. To tell the truth, there isn't all that much difference price wise, and is why I just ordred everything in one shot for now.

Now for the test. I plugged the hose in, then plugged the sander into the vac. Plenty of chord and hose, so there's good reaching. The hose being flexible, it makes it real nice and not encumber some as one might think, or at least my thought anyhow. Then I thought that maybe moving the sander around, I'd always have to be moving the hose also, but not the case at all. The vac has a switch that you can position for manual operation or auto.

I switch it to auto, so that it comes on and off with the sander so I don't hear the vac running when I stop.

I fired this thing up and "holy Cows"!!!!!!!!! it had a high revolution or stroke, and man...... I felt the vibration a tad stronger than my DeWalt. What the heck? I tried it out anyhow...... And I have to tell you, this thing didn't take any time at all to get results! It was quick, much quicker than other sanders I've owned. I released the trigger, and the vac shut down..........now THIS I LIKE! I took a better look at the sander, and noticed a dial near the top. Hmmmmmmm wondered what this was (like I said... I don't read manuals, but at some point I will, of course). Anyhow, I noticed the dial was at 5 hmmmmmm this must be the variable dial thing? I turned it back on, and started to dial down and whoaaaa, now I see where the smooth running claim is. It was a tad smoother than my Dewalt, and anything smoother is fine with me. The only thing with dialing down is that the number of revolutions or strokes slowed also, taking a tad longer to sand, but it wasn't any big deal unless one is in a hurry, and it was about equal in time as my other orbital. I went ahead and sanded and the following morning, I didn't feel any numbness in my hand as I normally would have with my other sanders, after doing a lot of sanding. Its so nice sanding and not having to wipe away dust that was left behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice not to have a mask on breathing in all this stuff either.

I'm anxious to try it on site where it really will make some points with a client. I remember one job in particular where this would have come in beautifully! Had to resurface some walls that had wallpaper and no primer under. Man..... steam, scrape, do whatever to get that paper off, and all you get is grief because when its all said and done, your left with nothing but resurfacing with joint compound, and little nubs all over the place! I found the easiest way to handle these situations was to simply prime the walls with a good oil base paint right over the wall paper. When dry, sand the entire wall with an orbital to get rid of any roller marks, then apply compound over the wallpaper seams and lightly sand or sponge. Re prime the wall, and its like new again, ready for color. The Festool would have been the tool of the century on that job, as that entire room sanding was an absolute mess! Fine dust everywhere, and traveled throughout the house. After I had ordered the sander, I almost regretted choosing the smaller one because I had a door to refinish, and the more aggressive sander might have been better. After seeing what this sander does on the highest speed #5, I'm not sorry in the least. As it turned out, the door was top far gone, and I'll have to rebuild it and I'll be using the sander in its finishing stages on it for sure.

Yep...... sure glad I made this move, and I only wished I had known all this years ago and is why I'm passing this news to anyone looking for this type of performance from a tool. Now I'll go read the instructions, and see what other do-dads this thing has and does's. each piece had to slide in and fit into its designated slot.
If you decide you might want one of these in your arsenal, I recommend you visit bob's website at:

http://festool.safeshopper.com/