Festool Sander Rant

[Dave Tinley]

In july of 2006 I purchased a ES125 sander from a Festool dealer. Loved the sander, I used it mainly for finish sanding with 180, 220, 320 grit sandpaper.
This sander was my first Festool purchase, and led me to buying a T55 saw, a 1400 router and Midi vacuum.

Yesterday I was sanding some primer on some cabinet face frames with 220 grit, when the sander started to wobble real bad. After shutting it off I noticed the pad had split, causing part of it to seperate from the mounting screws. Of course this had to happen just two months out of warranty.

I contacted the Festool dealer from whom I purchased it and was told that the plastic probally deteriorated over time.
And a new pad will be $30.00.
Now I have two Dewalts that are almost 8 years old, they get all the hard sanding jobs, never had a problem with the pads. I have burnt up motors on PC333 before a pad failure.
This makes me wonder as to the quality of materials Festool is using.

Thanks for letting me rant.

[glenn bradley]

It is a given that at the price, pad replacements for the first decade seem in order . . . OK, just kidding. All you Festoolians put down the pitchforks and torches . . .

I imagine a lot of factors go into the wear cycle on various parts. I have a couple Bosch ROS that I have used several times a week for years and have yet to even wear out the hook pad on one. Others have reported burning out the brushes on these same model sanders in a matter of months.

Weather, storage methods, technique and all sorts of difficult-to-quantify stuff probably comes into play but I feel your rant is justified after only a 3 years or so of use. The replacement cost doesn't seem bad though for a Festool.

[Mike Henderson]

I seem to wear out the hook and loop on sanding pads about every two years and have to replace the pad. It gets so the sandpaper just won't stick any more.

Mike

[Chris Tsutsui]

When you buy a festool you are paying for the german female factory workers to hand assemble your tool in a plant worthy of mercedes/bmw quality.

Now even Mercedes and BMW's have their issues, but they are considered "high end".

(BTW, i'm not joking about the female workers because Festool states that women have smaller hands than males and can assemble small parts better...)

[Steve Clardy]

Festool 150/3


Pad fell apart after about 3 years.

It was well used though.

Only problem I had with it though, it was a PSA pad which I ordered for it.

Then they discontinued the PSA pads. :(

[Jerome Hanby]

My daughter is currently stationed in Germany, would the difference in prices be worth having her do some shopping for me? Looks like the voltage supply would be 240, not a problem if it's not switchable. If it's built strictly for 50 Hz wonder if 60 Hz would be damaging. Wonder if the VAT and whatever other markups would make it more expensive than it is in the USA?

[Chris Tsutsui]

They build festools in different sets at the factory to not crossover parts. Example, one set of 10 will be built to euro spec, and the other USA.

So I would be very careful before I bought a euro spec one because it's not like it can convert to 120v with the flip of a switch.

But parts and accessories should be fine, though I'd check the currency exchange to see if you actually save money.

[jason lambert]

Wow what dealer. The dealer I used has pretty much warnteed everything for me but I didn't have a ps go bad yet. Although I actually wore out my vacuum end and he gave me a new one. I would call festool direct might not be festool's fault I have never herd of that issue.

[Dave Lehnert]

I had thought about buying a Festool sander as my 15-20 year old Ryobi sander is about at the end.
I started reading about Festool in general. I know any and all brands has problems but IMHO ,from what I have been reading ,may not be much better than other top brands.
The Festool Kapex had a problem with the table rubbing. You would think at double the price of others there would be no problems at all from the factory.
Festool sander seems to be the most liked of the bunch but also have read of problems like the post above.
Festool offers a 5 year warranty. Thats very good but Ridgid has a lifetime at half the price and does seem to get favorable reviews.

Just some random thoughts.

[Karl Brogger]

Then they discontinued the PSA pads. :(


That rules that model out for me than. I'm not paying for the hook + loop stuff. eeek!:eek:

[Chris Tsutsui]

To be quite honest I am 100% satisfied with my Porter Cable ROS 333. I even hook it up to a festool shop vac and it does a great job.

I've had it for maybe 5 or more years and it makes some different noises now but it still works the same so I will run that thing to the ground before I buy a replacement model.

I remember paying $55 for the sander.

Now if I had to use a sander every day for hours like the "new guy" at a cabinet shop, then I would get the festool because it's supposed to be very comfortable to use.

[glenn bradley]

(BTW, i'm not joking about the female workers because Festool states that women have smaller hands than males and can assemble small parts better...)

Thank goodness we're more careful about offending any potential male factory workers over here. I guess the guys over there just have to take the open positions at Hooters.

[glenn bradley]

(BTW, i'm not joking about the female workers because Festool states that women have smaller hands than males and can assemble small parts better...)

Thank goodness we're more careful about offending any potential male factory workers over here. I guess the guys over there just have to take the open positions at Hooters.

Hmmmm, mods remove this if it is offensive instead of funny as intended.

[Steve Clardy]

That rules that model out for me than. I'm not paying for the hook + loop stuff. eeek!:eek:

Same here. I use psa.
I took a 6' PC pad and got it modified to fit the festool, with some help from a friend of mine. Larry Merlau was down and we got it figured out so I could use the many boxes of psa paper I have.


I guess the guys over there just have to take the open positions at Hooters.


Work get any slower, and I may have to take one of those jobs. :eek::D:D:D

[Bob Marino]

I am the dealer in question. I take full responsibility. Without getting into it too much, I emailed a response (at 6:30 AM) and said it sounded like a pad problem, rather than a sander problem. I was then asked the price of a new pad, which I emailed. (I did not forward the initial PM from Dave to Festool - I merely answered Dave's question).
I understand how frustrating things can get when an item doesn't meet expectaions 100%. Pads are not covered under Festool's 3 year warranty and can wear (as noted in above post) differently depending on a number of things. I guess we can differ if 3 years is a reasonable time for a pad to last. I did email Dave again though.
If there is an issue, it is with me, not Festool.

Bob

[Peter Quinn]

Wow. I'm on my FOURTH ES125 pad in four years! I ride that thing like a rodeo bull, its the best electric ROS I have ever used by a mile, I believe all of the broken pads were caused by either my abuse or hits to the concrete floor. Perhaps that smooth low vibration dust free sanding comes at a price? We use some PC sanders at work for installs, and I'd rather replace my pad every six months than use one of those PC's for ten minutes. I think the guy that invented the wobble dado may have been involved? (festooligan fires back!:D)


For a while I just kept a spare pad in the box for when I broke it. I have learned to be a little more gentle and a lot more careful so my pad consumption has decreased of late. And the paper? It may cost twice as much, but it last four times as long, and unlike PSA disks, it can be removed and later reused as you sand through the grits on a project. Ever try to stick PSA paper twice?

[Steve Clardy]

Ever try to stick PSA paper twice?



Yes. I do it often. Usually not a problem with Mirka paper.

[Karl Brogger]

Ever try to stick PSA paper twice?

Ever buy sandpaper by the case?:D I'll throw away a few half used sheets and still come out ahead. Or, do what I do now and use multiple sanders for different grits.

I bought a DeFalt orbital a couple years ago. I was in a pinch and needed a sander, all I could get was the yellow one with hook + loop. I took a very sharp chisel and cut off all of the velcro and it actually worked pretty well with the sticky back discs

edit- just took a peek at my distibutors catalog to see what the price difference actually was. I can't get discs with a cloth backing in a 3M Hookit, so a fair comparison is kinda tough. I'm paying $.40 a disc buying 250+ at a time, the purple discs are $.67/per. The same purple in Hookit is $.35 per disc, but still a "C" weight paper backing, and while fine for flat stuff, it seems to disolve when doing anything where the edges bump into things, (sanding profiles on door edges, insides of face frames, etc.)

[Jim Becker]

I consider the pads on sanders, regardless of brand, as "disposables" just as the abrasives are. They have a definite lifespan, that varies with how often they are used and how hard one might press on the unit while sanding. I replaced the pads on the PC sanders I used to use a number of times and have replaced the pad on my 150/3 once, too. Let's not confuse machine quality with the normal (and variable) replacement cycle for wear items on our tools, whether they are hand-held electrics or big stationary machines.

[Jason White]

Two years on the original pad isn't bad in my opinion (I have some Festool sanders and have had to change a pad or two). The ones that get used the most wear out the fastest. Some also have "hard" and "soft" pads. Maybe you need the "hard" one? I'd just spend the $30. Pads aren't meant to last forever.

Jason


In july of 2006 I purchased a ES125 sander from a Festool dealer. Loved the sander, I used it mainly for finish sanding with 180, 220, 320 grit sandpaper.
This sander was my first Festool purchase, and led me to buying a T55 saw, a 1400 router and Midi vacuum.

Yesterday I was sanding some primer on some cabinet face frames with 220 grit, when the sander started to wobble real bad. After shutting it off I noticed the pad had split, causing part of it to seperate from the mounting screws. Of course this had to happen just two months out of warranty.

I contacted the Festool dealer from whom I purchased it and was told that the plastic probally deteriorated over time.
And a new pad will be $30.00.
Now I have two Dewalts that are almost 8 years old, they get all the hard sanding jobs, never had a problem with the pads. I have burnt up motors on PC333 before a pad failure.
This makes me wonder as to the quality of materials Festool is using.

Thanks for letting me rant.

[Dave Tinley]

As an update-
Bob Marino, the festool dealer contacted Festools senior man to alert him as to my problem.
I have been contacted by Festool and will be recieving a new pad some time next week.

Thanks for all the replies and an additional thanks to Bob Marino for going the extra step to take care of his customer.

[Steve Clardy]

Sounds good. :D

[Bruce Page]

I'm glad that I bought my one & only (so far) Festool tool from Bob M. :D

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

And a new pad will be $30.00.
Now I have two Dewalts that are almost 8 years old,
Wait till you have to replace the DeWalt pads, then you can really rant. ;)
The replacement pad for my ~ $50.00 DeWalt ROS runs ~ $20.00.
$30.00 for a new pad for a $170.00 sander seems more than reasonable in my book.