Sipping the kool-aid: Where can I buy an assortment of Festool sandpaper?

[Dan Friedrichs]

I've decided to take a sip of the kool-aid and buy an ETS-125 (the 5" Festool ROS). I considered the 150/3, but I mostly do smaller projects, and I think the 5" sander will be easier to control on small pieces.

Two questions:

1) Do I absolutely have to connect this sander to a vacuum, or will the attached dust bag do a decent job?

2) Is there anywhere I can buy an assortment of paper that fits this sander? I don't really want to buy 100-packs of the 5 different grits I probably want to start out with.

[Glen Blanchard]

Dan - I've got the ETS-125 myself and it is a fine sander. I believe the use of a vac will keep the paper from loading as quickly, this improving the life. As far as the grits go, are you sure you need 5 different grits? My suggestion is to call Bob Marino.

[Tom Henderson2]

I've decided to take a sip of the kool-aid and buy an ETS-125 (the 5" Festool ROS). I considered the 150/3, but I mostly do smaller projects, and I think the 5" sander will be easier to control on small pieces.

Two questions:

1) Do I absolutely have to connect this sander to a vacuum, or will the attached dust bag do a decent job?

2) Is there anywhere I can buy an assortment of paper that fits this sander? I don't really want to buy 100-packs of the 5 different grits I probably want to start out with.

I bought the same sander a year or so ago, for the same reasons. You'll love it.

The sandpaper selection is a pain.... some grits are available in smaller quantities, many are not. Some of the larger vendors will break up big packs; give them a call (Bob Marino, et al). But for some grits you might as well just bite the bullet and buy a big pack. Consider it a lifetime investment!

I've never used the sander without a vac, and I'm sure it will work. BUT -- one of the true joys is using the ETS for an extended period and having virtually no dust to deal with.... no sniffles, no clean up. It is truly amazing. So give it a try with a vac.

-TH

[Greg Portland]

I've decided to take a sip of the kool-aid and buy an ETS-125 (the 5" Festool ROS). I considered the 150/3, but I mostly do smaller projects, and I think the 5" sander will be easier to control on small pieces.

Two questions:

1) Do I absolutely have to connect this sander to a vacuum, or will the attached dust bag do a decent job?

2) Is there anywhere I can buy an assortment of paper that fits this sander? I don't really want to buy 100-packs of the 5 different grits I probably want to start out with.Hi Dan,
You will absolutely want a vacuum attached to the sander (actually this goes for ANY sander) due to massively extended paper life. It does not have to be a Festool vac but you'll want to be able to vary the suction. If you don't, it will suck the sander down onto the wood making it jump/wobble. There are plumbing hacks to non variable speed vacs that will allow you to use this sander.
Most people use Rubin for the lower grits and transition into Crystal for the finer grits. You definitely want the Festool paper because of the unique hole pattern. Some dealers will split up common packs but they are not required to do so.

[William Addison]

Try Klingspor, they have paper for the Festool. I seldom use a vac with my sander because dust control isn't an issue in my situation and I don't see much, if any, difference in the life of the sandpaper.

[Peter Elliott]

You don't have to buy the kool-aide paper... There are other places to buy 9hole paper and not in bulk, here is a local place to me but is pretty large supplier via the net. http://www.2sand.com/ the owner is a woodturner, supports a lot of local wood-clubs etc. plus any questions, just email/call... They have paper in stock for your sander. I would use a vac with the sander no what. I use a rigid pro vac ($99 at depot) with the festool ets125. It might be a hair too strong but I can adjust it a bit with a hose opening. It's a good sander but not the holy grail of sanders. I use one almost every day.

[John Sanford]

You don't have to buy the kool-aide paper... There are other places to buy 9hole paper and not in bulk, here is a local place to me but is pretty large supplier via the net. http://www.2sand.com/ the owner is a woodturner, supports a lot of local wood-clubs etc. plus any questions, just email/call... They have paper in stock for your sander. I would use a vac with the sander no what. I use a rigid pro vac ($99 at depot) with the festool ets125. It might be a hair too strong but I can adjust it a bit with a hose opening. It's a good sander but not the holy grail of sanders. I use one almost every day.

So what, pray tell, is the holy grail of sanders? Or at least closest currently available, in your judgement?

[Dan Friedrichs]

No, Peter, don't tell! I just pulled the trigger on the ETS125 and don't want any conflicting information! :) :)

I decided to just buy 2 100 packs of paper (Amazon had them...) for now. I'll see what else I need after using this sander for awhile. I'm also going to try forgoing the vacuum connection (just using the integral dust bag) for awhile - even that will be a major improvement over my current sander which has no dust collection whatsoever.

Eventually, I'm sure I will attach a hose between the sander and my regular shop vac. I'm aware that I may need to adjust the suction, but are there any GOOD alternatives to the Festool hoses? I'm willing to spend the $60 on the small non-antistatic Festool hose if necessary (and kludge together a connection with my rigid shopvac), but are there any other hoses that are flexible/compatible with the Festool sanders and aren't so obscenely priced?

[Gerald Senburn]

Since you work on smaller stuff, ou might consider the new RO 90 with the 3.5" pad. It's a rotex/RO/detail sander that looks pretty nice.

[Jeff Monson]

Dan, I use the festool paper, I had a very hard time at first buying the large quanities of paper, I'd pick up a box here and there when I absolutely needed another grit. I have 5 different grits now, 80,120,180,220 and 320. The major benifits I
see sticking with the festool paper are, 1. A sheet lasts a long time, its great paper. 2. Its been 2 years since I have had to buy paper and it will most likely be another year before my box of 120 is gone. The 220 and 320 will last me a lifetime.

I think you will want a vacuum attached, once you use a festool sander with a vacuum you will be amazed, there is no dust in the air.

Enjoy the sander and get some grippy shoes, you will need them as its a slippery road ahead for ya.

[Joe Leigh]

I have the same ETS125 with the Midi vac and its a great combo. Since its a fine finishing sander I only purchase the finer grits, 180/220 etc, so that keeps the outlay down a bit.

[Gerald Senburn]

The Wood Nerd just put some some videos of the RO90 in action, http://www.thewoodnerd.com/reviews/festoolRO90DX.html

[Greg R Bradley]

In my opinion, the "holy grail" of RO sanders is the ETS150 in either /3 or /5 versions. The problem for the OP was that he wanted a 5" sander. He ended up with the same 5" RO that I did, the ETS125. That is a very good sander and I don't know of another 5" sander that I would prefer if you also want something small and light. If you were mainly sanding horizontal stuff where weight is not important and you want the best dust collection with the included dust catcher, the Bosch 3725 is a better choice. It's bigger brother, the 3727, competes with the ETS150/5. The Bosch is better for dust collection than the Festool when you aren't using a vacuum. Once you start using an appropriate vacuum, the Festool stuff really shines.

The Rotax stuff is very good for what it is designed for but I'm guessing that is not what most people visiting this site want in a sander. People that are "bench racing" and looking at spec sheets might say buy a Rotax 150 and you don't need a ETS150/5. If I was working in my garage doing a job with the ETS150/5 and somebody stole it, I would get in my car and go buy another one even though I could walk a few hundred yards in either direction and borrow a Rotax 150.

I'm very skeptical about the RO90 since it seems the Festool wackos seem to be claiming it will do everything for everybody and cure cancer as a side benefit. I can see how a smaller Rotax will not be so obnoxious to use as a large one and will make it much harder to do damage.

You can buy a replacement end for the 27mm hose for $17 and adapt that to your shop vac hose. It really does help to have the flexible end with the ribs to stay attached to the tool. I didn't have much trouble using that to change the end on my Fein hose. Buying a Festool hose is a better choice but costs more. You don't benefit from the static reduction hose version since you don't have grounded hose connections unless you are connecting to a Festool vac. If you don't have variable suction on your shop vac, it can be a big waste of time and energy. An air bleed would probably only be marginally practical if you end up using the sander for very similar tasks on a regular basis. If you use it for a wide variety of different uses, it would go downhill from there.

My personal opinion is that Festool stuff is expensive and SOME of it is worth the price. Most people get way too carried away thinking it is either absolute magic OR that nothing they make is worth the price.

If you can't find a dealer that wants to get you an assortment, there are a few 5" disks where I have a huge supply compared to my use. The small packs are very reasonably priced, but if there is something that is only sold in 100 sheet packs, I probably have it and could set you up.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Thanks, Greg. I actually received the ETS125 about a week ago and have been putting it to good use. I do really like it - I think it's well worth $170. I also was surprised what a large assortment of sandpaper was included with the sander - this should last me several months until I decide which few specific grits I really should buy a 100-pk of.

[Gerald Senburn]

I'm very skeptical about the RO90 since it seems the Festool wackos seem to be claiming it will do everything for everybody and cure cancer as a side benefit

I've emailed back and forth with the Wood Nerd and he also said that, as much as he loves the RO90, there's no way it can be your only sander unless all you're sanding is small or narrow stock, which it apparently does very well. He said he's ditching his old 6" finish sander for an RO150 or ETS150 soon because he's been so impressed with the RO90.