Festool & dust control

[Greg Pavlov]

I did a bit of work with my two new Festool sanders this last week, an RS 2 and a 150/3. The dust control definitely was as good as I had hoped it would be, except for one detail I had never thought about: sanding edges. I was working on a 1" top so naturally not much of either sander was ever on the edge and so much of the dust escaped the CT22's clutches. What do people do? Just live with this, or are there ways to reduce/minimize the problem (nooooo, a DX 93 is not an option at the moment, there are a few other priorities, but if that is what it will take, I'll add it to the list).

I noticed that this dust control thing is making me sand flat surfaces a bit differently: I'm much more conscious of the *boundaries* of the surface, since I don't want too much of the sander sliding over an edge and pushing dust with it. That seems like a good thing, since - for me, anyway - it's been too easy in the past to slightly chamfer an edge accidentally that way.

[Scott Coffelt]

That is interesting, I never see that with mine. Maybe the air flow was not turned up enough on the vac. I can actually see a flow of dust right into the sander. I do use a Fein with my sander.

[Greg Pavlov]

That is interesting, I never see that with mine. Maybe the air flow was not turned up enough on the vac. I can actually see a flow of dust right into the sander. I do use a Fein with my sander.

So what happens if/when you are sanding a 1" edge with something like the 6" 150/3? Or do you use something more appropriate, or do you have a technique that minimizes the dust?

[Jim Becker]

I haven't experienced much dust escaping either. I tend to turn up the vac to "full power" for that work and turn it back down to about half for flat sanding. (To avoid "sticking")

[Greg Pavlov]

I haven't experienced much dust escaping either. I tend to turn up the vac to "full power" for that work and turn it back down to about half for flat sanding. (To avoid "sticking")

Ok, folks, I'll do that next time. Sounds like I want to keep the CT22 close by so I can play with the voluime control as I go along :).

By the way, I'm not saying that there was any sort of major problem here: the total amount of dust that escaped from the entire sanding operation was a hundredth or less of what it would have been if I were doing this with my older sanders.

[Roland Chung]

Along with turning up the vac, you could turn down the sander until you found that sweet spot where you are happy between speed and optimum dust collection.

[Dave MacArthur]

An idea you might use is to clamp another board perpendicular to the 1" edge, creating a broad face there... then moving it back 1/4" or so. Now you have created an air-flow control device, which would help keep dust from flying off, help direct airflow into the edges of the sander, and at the same time, provide a visual index to help you keep the sander truly perpendicular to the 1" edge so you don't chamfer, while you keep it the 1/4" away from the other board.

You could do it to both sides if desired.

I don't have a festool, but this is how I handle sanding edges with my DewaltROS-- I actually clamp the piece in the center slot of my WorkMate bench, just sticking up proud 1/2" or so, and sand away... the benchtop/jaw faces of the workmate greatly increase the efficiency of the vacuum through the ROS.

[Rye Crane]

Hi Greg,

I use the Festool LS 130 EQ when working an edge. They have different profiles and to concave pads, also a DIY kit to make your own profile just for that particular application. It's a great small linear sander, with the dust control you would expect. I know Per Swenson uses his all the time.

Rye Crane

[Greg Pavlov]

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions; I'll keep them in mind & try them as needed (I do think that I better pass on buying another sander at this moment, tho...)