Festool Pro 5 Question

[Chris Fairbanks]

Question for you guys. I pulled the trigger on one of the Festool Pro 5's when they went on sale last year and just received it today. I already own a Mirka Deros 5" sander so I did not really need this one but for $50 after rebate I figured it would be nice to have a 2nd 5" sander around. I opened up the case and it looks like a really nice sander but I am wondering if I would be better off just selling it on Craiglist or eBay without the rebate coupon and putting that money towards another Festool sander as they seem to be going for ~$200. I was looking at the both the RTS and DTS as they look like they would compliment my Deros well. I have an older 6" Porter Cable sander for really big stuff so I think I am covered on that end. I have 3 bathrooms and a kitchen worth of cabinets to build this year and I think the RTS and DTS would be more useful for me compared to the Pro 5. What do you guys think?

Thanks!!

[Mike Fritz]

I have 3 Festool sanders - the ETC EC 125/3 which is similar to your Deros. I can use both 5" and 6" pads on this, which isn't really advertised by Festool. It's my goto sander that I use 95% of the time. I have the Pro 5, which is basically my backup 5" sander but frankly doesn't get much use anymore with the ETC EC. Then my "speciality sander" is the RO90 one of their ROTEX sanders and this one has three modes - aggressive gear driven ROTEX mode, random orbit sander model, and with a triangular shaped pad it's an orbital sander. My wife even puts on polishing pads and uses it.

To your question yes I would consider a speciality Festool sander to compliment your already very capable Deros. The RTS and DTS have good form factors and many use them for sanding rails and stiles and smaller detailed work. The DTS is great for getting into corners. But with only one tip, compared to the three tips I have with the triangular shaped pad on the RO 90, you are going to go through more sandpaper and even pads. Go over to the FOG and you can read about all these speciality sanders for a while. But yes it would definitely compliment your current set. The big question is which one and be ready to start spending on paper.

[Ben Rivel]

I kept my Pro 5 and decided itll be dedicated to high grit finish sanding. When I want to get that 1000-4000 grit high gloss shine.

[Dave Macy]

I can't afford any festool so I just use my dewalt and sand by hand. Good enough for now.