Festool sander - any recommendation?

[Rob Bedle]

I am considering buying a new sander that would be useful for 90+% of the sanding I need to do. I mostly work with oak, pecan, and popular and build primarily arts and craft/mission style furniture. I have been using a $40 PC 1/4 sheet sander. I have a lunch box planner that has done a pretty good job, but is not quite as smooth with the pecan. Most of the finishes are Minwax.

I have been thinking about either the ETS 150/5 or ETS 150/3. I did go through Festool's sander decision tree chart, but I am not sure what the fine and superfine really mean in the real world. I am leaning towards the 150/5 as it is a little more aggressive, but will it produce a fine enough finish?

This would be a very expensive purchase for me, especially if I bought a Festool vacuum (CTS 26?? maybe). So I certainly can not afford to buy a second sander.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

[Paul Wunder]

Rob,

The experts will pipe in, I'm sure. Also give Bob Marino of Bob Marino Festool a buzz or email from his site. He is a straight shooter and he recently helped me as a first purchaser of a Festool sander and vacuum.

Paul

[Mike Henderson]

Festool makes very good tools but the prices are high. Have you considered getting a non-Festool sander and hooking a small shop vac to it? That's what I did and I find it works very well.

My setup consists of a Craftsman vac, maybe $70, a PC 390K sander, about $120, and an iSocket unit that turns the vac on when I turn the sander on, about $30. All told, about $200.

I was considering the Festool also, but this setup has worked so well that I didn't buy the Festool sander/vac combination.

Mike

[I've used this in people's houses and the dust collection is very acceptable.]

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[Rob Bedle]

Mike,

Looks like an interesting setup - I'll have to look into it. All we have in town here for tools are the BORG's, I'll have to check again to see if they have the PC sander so I can take a good look at it. I don't remember seeing it when I looked earlier this week.

I did call Bob Marino yesterday and he suggested the 150/5 - but I am still thinking and in somewhat of sticker shock on the price.

Thanks,
Rob

[Jim Eller]

Rob

Sanding is by far my least favorite thing to do in life.

Seeing most of my project are oft he smaller variety, I purchased an ETS125 EQ. It has made the job significant easier. There is just no comparison to my Bosch, DeWalt or Porter Cable sanders. They haven't been plugged in since I purchased the Festool.

I could never edge sand a 3/4" board with the others but it is a breeze with the Festool.

And the dust collection bag REALLY works without a vac.

Once I got over the sticker shock of Festool tools, I find for the ones I have they are worth it. That would include my Domino and the CXS drill.

They are now my first consideration when I need a new tool.

Just my 2 cents.

Jim

[Mike Henderson]

Mike,

Looks like an interesting setup - I'll have to look into it. All we have in town here for tools are the BORG's, I'll have to check again to see if they have the PC sander so I can take a good look at it. I don't remember seeing it when I looked earlier this week.

I did call Bob Marino yesterday and he suggested the 150/5 - but I am still thinking and in somewhat of sticker shock on the price.

Thanks,
Rob
I'm certainly not trying to say that my setup is as good as a Festool - but it's something I can afford and it works well for me.

Mike

[Bruce Page]

I went from a PC333 VS to the ETS 150/3. I find the 150/3 every bit as aggressive as the 333 with the courser grit Festool papers, maybe even more so. I haven't any experience with the 150/5. I'm very happy with the job the 150/3 does for rough sanding but I love it's fine sanding ability.

[Mike Heidrick]

The 150/3 is a perfect sander IMO. It gets used on every job I think I do.

[Steve Friedman]

+1 on the 150/3 - best all around sander you will ever own. Another reason is that for many, the RO150 is the next sander and in random orbit mode it is exactly the same as the 150/5.

I had the 125 and loved the size, but found it was not aggressive enough. By contrast, the 150/3 seems much more aggressive, but is still every bit a finish sander.

Steve

[Larry Frank]

I have an Festool sander and also purchased the CT26. I bought the combination for the dust collection capability with the HEPA vacuum. I have not been disappointed at all. A lot of my work is red oak which is very irritating to my sinus. Using the sander and the CT26, I have not had any problems. I would agree with others though that it is expensive and there may be cheaper alternatives. I would try to get a HEPA vac to attach to any sander.

[ADAM GROSS]

I'm interested in this topic becouse I was just at woodcraft this afternoon pondering the same to pay the money or not for the festool. I was looking at the ets 125 and the pc 390k. I wasn't planning on purchasing the vac system with the festool and looked like I would have to purchase a $18 adapter to fit the vac hose that I have. So for an additional $85 I wasn't sure if it was really worth it. I did try the 125 and it felt good but just was struggling with the price. I was suprised when I logged on that this was a topic so I am interested in the comments to come on this topic and to see if anybody has other suggestions on sanders.

[Jim Becker]

My 150/3 is my "go to" sander 95% of the time. I also own the Rotex 150 and while it's a wonderful sander, it really takes two hands to use it...not convenient for many of my project needs. I use it more in home improvement than I do in the shop. I think you could be happy with either the 150/3 or the 150/5. While the latter is a little more agressive, it's still going to be controllable for finer sanding needs. And the former is no slouch when taking off material with coarser grit abrasives, either. In fact, I just sanded a 14'x14' floor with my Festool sanders...the Rotex for the initial heavy work and the 150/3 for the final sanding before putting on the color. (wide pine floor) And the system of the sander and the dust extractor really is extraordinary, IMHO. Very well thought out. Not inexpensive, for sure. But built like a tank and will likely outlast me.

[Ryan Mooney]

In a similar class (or better?), has anyone here compared the festool sander lineup with the mafell lineup?

http://www.mafell.com/produkte/prod_schleifen_i.htm

The handful of people who I've seen comment on them seem to feel that the mafell is somewhat more "industrial" but every bit as nice (and a bit more $$ - yikes! its pushing $500 to get started there, probably not for me at my current workload).

Not that the festool isn't very very nice, just curious...

[Rob Bedle]

Thanks to everyone for all of the input. I think I will purchase a ETS 150/3 from Bob Marino, but I will give myself a couple of days to reflect before I spend all of the $.

Rob

[Kevin Stricker]

If you want to do all your sanding with one sander go with the 150/5. The 150/3 takes a lot longer to work through the grits. I sold my 150/3 for a Mirka Ceros which is a big step up in both usefulness and price but worth the money based on the time I spend sanding. Besides air sanders the Ceros is the state of the art in sanding right now, but if I did mostly flat sanding on a bench I would opt for a 150/5 as they are the Cadilac of sanders. In my opinion the 150/3 is more of a finish sander, you will spend almost twice as long as a 150/5 getting mill marks out of hardwood. I think that a 5mm stroke is optimal for woodworking unless you spend most of your time sanding between coats or rubbing out finishes.

[George Octon]

The Festool is every bit as aggressive as the PC 333? The PC 333 is about as aggressive as a little vibrator. The 333 has to be the least aggressive sander out there.

[Steven Hsieh]

Try one at Rockler or Woodcraft before buying one.

[Alan Lightstone]

My 150/3 is my "go to" sander 95% of the time. I also own the Rotex 150 and while it's a wonderful sander, it really takes two hands to use it...not convenient for many of my project needs. I use it more in home improvement than I do in the shop. I think you could be happy with either the 150/3 or the 150/5. While the latter is a little more aggressive, it's still going to be controllable for finer sanding needs. And the former is no slouch when taking off material with coarser grit abrasives, either. Not inexpensive, for sure. But built like a tank and will likely outlast me.

+10. Absolutely agree with all of this. Even the grammar. Fixed the spelling. ;)

I would get the 150/3. My Rotex 150 mostly collects dust. Or is that my dust collector. So confusing.

On sale now. 10% off, FWIW.

[David Kumm]

You should try both. Pecan is as about as hard as you get for cabinet woods. I use dynabrade air sanders so I don't have a direct comparison with festool but can tell you that most dynabrade users, myself included, use the 3/16 orbit for most sanding. The 3/8 and 3/32 are used for specific reasons. The metric equivalent for 3/16 is more like 5. The 5 being slightly more aggressive. Bring a piece of wood to the store and get a feel for both. Dave

[Jim Neeley]

One idea for those seeking Festool where you live: find out where the local custom cabinetmakers buy theirwood locally. Here's it's from a warehouse in an industrial district that few have heard of but, since they cater to the custom cabinetmakers, they sell Festool.. also Fein, Powermatic and a few high-end others.

All this in Alaska, where otherwise there's the Borgs and a couple of small hardware stores.

Cabinetmakers are a key niche for Festool and if you find where they buy... <g>

It's also a great local source for a gallon jug of Titebond II, Blum & K-V hinges and drawer slides, pocket screws and clamps, 4'x8' sheets of veneer and all the rest of the specialty woodworking "jewels". Unfortunately no Lie-Nielsen... but that's why there's Craftsman Studio!! <g>

[Craig D Peltier]

I have the ETS 125 and although a nice sander its not agressive enough. I have to go to my 5" dewalt to get more aggressive.i.e 4 foot edge thats 1/16th or less over edge. Im going to buy shortly the RO125 , the RO150 just seems way too large.

[Peter Kelly]

In a similar class (or better?), has anyone here compared the festool sander lineup with the mafell lineup?

http://www.mafell.com/produkte/prod_schleifen_i.htm

The handful of people who I've seen comment on them seem to feel that the mafell is somewhat more "industrial" but every bit as nice (and a bit more $$ - yikes! its pushing $500 to get started there, probably not for me at my current workload).

Not that the festool isn't very very nice, just curious...

Just get the Metabo (http://www.cpometabo.com/metabo-600129420-sxe450-turbotec-6-in-dual-random-orbit-sander-with-turbotec/mtbn600129420,default,pd.html?start=2&cgid=metabo-sanders-and-polishers) version of the Mafell one. $300 less...

[Greg R Bradley]

Mafell is a very strange company.

They make some incredible things like the P1cc Jigsaw that makes all the other Jigsaws seem poor by comparison. I know a guy that builds wood boats that bought one of these for $800 when they were only available 240v 50hz and made a converter so he could run it. He must have had $1500+ in the setup and still thought it was worth it. I think you can now buy the 120v version for about $650 and they are actually worth that if you do work that needs that. The normal Mafell Jigsaws in the first reference above are very much like Bosch 1590/1590 but at a Festool price and nothing special - just overpriced.

They make some things nobody else makes like an electric planer that will plane 12" wide beams in one pass for about $5000. They have a whole line of handheld circular saws that START at 13" blades!

They also sell some products like the sanders mentioned above that are just plain way overpriced. Same sander with a different name is available for much less. I think one of them was even available with a Rigid name on it for even less.

The original subject was Festool sanders and I had people running three of them hooked up to Fein vacs for most of the weekend redmodeling a commercial building. They are fabulous. Since it wasn't woodworking, I won't go into the models used since they don't necessarily apply to woodworking. The dust free environment is great around hazardous dust or just plain irritating drywall dust.