Mike Heaney
01-06-2007, 9:19 PM
Folks,
I'm growing more concerned about dust as I go along. My Makita sander was sending more stuff into the atmosphere than into its bag, and it does not have a port for hooking up to a vacuum or DC. So, I decided I should upgrade- I looked at both the PC and Dewalt 5" random orbit sanders- and was disappointed that reviews criticized both on dust pickup- even when connected to the vacuum. Since I was hearing such fantastic things about Festool on the site here, I thought I would go the whole hog and purchase without compromise. My local hardware store here in Cooperstown- Bruce Hall Hardware, are used to seeing me every week, and they are Festool dealers, so I went over this morning to lighten my pockets. I came away with a Festool ES 125 EQ. It came in the usual Festool box- this being my first, it has nothing else to stack on!
Also came supplied with a free CD- which apparently qualifies me for a t shirt. I confess, this was not the dealmaker some in the Festool marketing dept may have thought.
I also purchased a sizeable quantity of Festool paper to help me make more dust.
On to the review pics will come in several posts to make sense of all this.
Out of the box- instructions were clear, assembly of the "turbo" cardboard dust collector was easy. I had decided to run with the collector first, then switch to the Vac hookup (which cost and additional $12), to compare.
The "after" pics show the amount of dust outside the sander after sanding the lap desk I have nearly completed for my wife (basically this is a box with a hinged lid- overall dimensions approx 20"*13"*6" to give you an idea of the amount of sanding. You can see that there is some dust in the cardboard thingy, but its not full by a long way. The sander was easy to use- quieter than my Makita, but I still wore earplugs. The dust collection seemed to be ok- but not great. In one pic you will see the desk air cleaner I have (thanks Ken) that helped to stop the shop getting dusty from uncaught dust.
So, by the end of this stage, I thought the sanding was good, the noise was less, no noticeable fatigue from the vibration, sandpaper still clean an unclogged, but more dust around the unit/on the bench than I find acceptable
On to the vacuum attachment- it was easy to fit onto my small vac hose- and easy to then push fit into the sander, replacing the turbo bag (hope the power doesn't drop now I have taken off my turbocharger!). I also switched to a finer paper at this stage. I cleaned out my vac before this test, so I knew the filters were clear and the Festool had the best I could provide.
Immediate difference was noticeable on the suction side of things. The Festool blows air out the middle of the sanding disk, and sucks it back in through the holes around the outside. With the vac attached and running, I could feel the sander being really sucked onto the surface- don't know if thats good or bad, but it is noticeable. At the end of sanding the lapdesk with the finer paper, there was almost no dust on the table, the tool, or me (but lots in the bottom of the vac).
Altogether I'm happy- I think the finish I'm getting is silky smooth (on hard maple, aspen and walnut). The tool is light enough to use without getting tired or crampy, the vibration onto my hand was minimal, and the dust collection was great when attached to my vac.
I will still wear a canister type mask when sanding, but there was hardly any change in the visible air in the shop after this work. I had cleaned residual dust off my jointer tables before this test (about 6 feet from the sanding area)- and they were still clean afterwards- not scientific, but a good sign.
The are two pieces of bad news- I think I like these tools and their funny little stackable boxes- an expensive version of Lego! the other piece of bad news is that after I finished sanding I stupidly put the lapdesk on our washing machine for a second. My wife then called and distracted me, the machine went onto spin, and the lapdesk went off the top of the washer and hit the concrete floor. So, I am now trying to repair a crack to the back piece and a ding on the edge of the walnut top. That's when I knew it was time to walk away for the evening! Tomorrow will be another day....
hope someone finds this useful
Mike
I'm growing more concerned about dust as I go along. My Makita sander was sending more stuff into the atmosphere than into its bag, and it does not have a port for hooking up to a vacuum or DC. So, I decided I should upgrade- I looked at both the PC and Dewalt 5" random orbit sanders- and was disappointed that reviews criticized both on dust pickup- even when connected to the vacuum. Since I was hearing such fantastic things about Festool on the site here, I thought I would go the whole hog and purchase without compromise. My local hardware store here in Cooperstown- Bruce Hall Hardware, are used to seeing me every week, and they are Festool dealers, so I went over this morning to lighten my pockets. I came away with a Festool ES 125 EQ. It came in the usual Festool box- this being my first, it has nothing else to stack on!
Also came supplied with a free CD- which apparently qualifies me for a t shirt. I confess, this was not the dealmaker some in the Festool marketing dept may have thought.
I also purchased a sizeable quantity of Festool paper to help me make more dust.
On to the review pics will come in several posts to make sense of all this.
Out of the box- instructions were clear, assembly of the "turbo" cardboard dust collector was easy. I had decided to run with the collector first, then switch to the Vac hookup (which cost and additional $12), to compare.
The "after" pics show the amount of dust outside the sander after sanding the lap desk I have nearly completed for my wife (basically this is a box with a hinged lid- overall dimensions approx 20"*13"*6" to give you an idea of the amount of sanding. You can see that there is some dust in the cardboard thingy, but its not full by a long way. The sander was easy to use- quieter than my Makita, but I still wore earplugs. The dust collection seemed to be ok- but not great. In one pic you will see the desk air cleaner I have (thanks Ken) that helped to stop the shop getting dusty from uncaught dust.
So, by the end of this stage, I thought the sanding was good, the noise was less, no noticeable fatigue from the vibration, sandpaper still clean an unclogged, but more dust around the unit/on the bench than I find acceptable
On to the vacuum attachment- it was easy to fit onto my small vac hose- and easy to then push fit into the sander, replacing the turbo bag (hope the power doesn't drop now I have taken off my turbocharger!). I also switched to a finer paper at this stage. I cleaned out my vac before this test, so I knew the filters were clear and the Festool had the best I could provide.
Immediate difference was noticeable on the suction side of things. The Festool blows air out the middle of the sanding disk, and sucks it back in through the holes around the outside. With the vac attached and running, I could feel the sander being really sucked onto the surface- don't know if thats good or bad, but it is noticeable. At the end of sanding the lapdesk with the finer paper, there was almost no dust on the table, the tool, or me (but lots in the bottom of the vac).
Altogether I'm happy- I think the finish I'm getting is silky smooth (on hard maple, aspen and walnut). The tool is light enough to use without getting tired or crampy, the vibration onto my hand was minimal, and the dust collection was great when attached to my vac.
I will still wear a canister type mask when sanding, but there was hardly any change in the visible air in the shop after this work. I had cleaned residual dust off my jointer tables before this test (about 6 feet from the sanding area)- and they were still clean afterwards- not scientific, but a good sign.
The are two pieces of bad news- I think I like these tools and their funny little stackable boxes- an expensive version of Lego! the other piece of bad news is that after I finished sanding I stupidly put the lapdesk on our washing machine for a second. My wife then called and distracted me, the machine went onto spin, and the lapdesk went off the top of the washer and hit the concrete floor. So, I am now trying to repair a crack to the back piece and a ding on the edge of the walnut top. That's when I knew it was time to walk away for the evening! Tomorrow will be another day....
hope someone finds this useful
Mike