How come no Festool Belt Sander ?

[Doug Shepard]

Just wondering out loud here. Every time I have a need to use my crummy Craftsman belt sander (which aint that often) I get wishful and start looking at the various belt sanders out there. Just seems like Festool would have tossed their hat in the ring by now with some dustless model.???

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Maybe because they can't do better than Porter Cable?;) :rolleyes:

[Jim Becker]

The market for belt sanders isn't all that big anymore and the field is loaded with a number of very good units. I have a Bosch 3"x21", but use it about once every two years and then usually clamped upside down in the bench vice. I did use it with the CT-22 the last time it was out of the tool coral, however... ;)

[Chris Rosenberger]

Just wondering out loud here. Every time I have a need to use my crummy Craftsman belt sander (which aint that often) I get wishful and start looking at the various belt sanders out there. Just seems like Festool would have tossed their hat in the ring by now with some dustless model.???

I was wondering the same thing. I have been using 3 x 21 PC belt sanders for years to fit counter top backsplashes & other parts. The last one I bought had terrable dust collection, even when connected to a shop vac. I need a belt sander with very good dust collection.

Jim.
How is the dust collection on the Bosch belt sanders?

[Jamie Buxton]

They make two. http://www.festool.net/mediandoweb/index.cfm?ID_O_TREE_GROUP=3669&sLanguage=EN

You just have to talk them into importing them. Or maybe you can order one directly from a European retailer.

[Bob Marino]

As Jim said, the market is getting smaller for the belt sanders, and as Jamie posted, Festool currently has 2 models. I do think it is possible that Festool will introduce one of the models to the USA, but not anytime soon.

Bob

[Mark Singer]

Before ROS and Rotex we used bel sanders a lot. Now a ROS can remove material almost as fast and with more control. I still have a couple and use them often, The Bosch 3x21 is a great unit!

[Doug Shepard]

Thanks guys. Hoodathunk Festool would make something for Europe that they wouldn't sell here:D Not looking to get anything at the moment but if I get the urge, I'll probably be looking at ones that have sanding frames available and include that in the price comparisons. Those PC models have always looked pretty sweet though. What I have works, but tracking isn't that great and it tends to overheat if you dont give it frequent pit stops.

[Jim Becker]

How is the dust collection on the Bosch belt sanders?

Surprisingly good if you can get a nice seal on the very small connection port. But not anything close to the Rotex or 150/3 I use for general sanding. What I like about the Bosch 3'x21" belt sander is that it's easy to use...it's not super heavy like many of the 4" units are and it's flat profile means you have a lot of "gripping" options. I do have the surfacing plate attachment, but have never used it...bought the 22-44 Plus before I had the chance to see how well I could gouge out a table top with the belt sander... :)

[ROBERT ELLIS]

When I was wworking full time I always reached for my belt sander to do the edge sanding (mostly end grain) on table tops and since I already owned a drum sander and a stroke sander it was limited to such use. At that time I used a Skil Belt Sander strictly because of the lightweightedness of it..., but having worn out two, I finally upgraded to the smaller, lighter weight Makita. It's a sweet little machine, with about half the noise level as the Skil, and I expect it to last a lot longer.

I now own the Grizzly Oscillating Edge Sander, expecting to retire the Makita. Not so, believe it or not, I still prefer to clamp the table tops in a benchmate and hit them with the Belt Sander. I guess after 10 years of doing something a certain (comfortable) way it's becomes hard to make the change. The edge sander from Grizzly is a nice machine, but it seems to be the boss (I learned this the hard way when it jerked a piece of wood right outof my hands), whereas the belt sander I can handle it pretty much anyway I like for it knows who's the boss!

I've been looking at the tiny PC belt sander, I think it would be even better at edge sanding than anything out there.

Robert

[Jason White]

Hi Jim.

I"ve been thinking about a new belt sander, too. I can't ever get the belt on my cheap Craftsman to keep tracking straight and have trashed a few belts because of this.

How is the tracking on the Bosch? I don't care much about the dust collection because, like you, I don't use one very often. But when I do, I want it to do a good job.

JW


Surprisingly good if you can get a nice seal on the very small connection port. But not anything close to the Rotex or 150/3 I use for general sanding. What I like about the Bosch 3'x21" belt sander is that it's easy to use...it's not super heavy like many of the 4" units are and it's flat profile means you have a lot of "gripping" options. I do have the surfacing plate attachment, but have never used it...bought the 22-44 Plus before I had the chance to see how well I could gouge out a table top with the belt sander... :)

[Jim Becker]

How is the tracking on the Bosch? I don't care much about the dust collection because, like you, I don't use one very often. But when I do, I want it to do a good job.

'Never had a tracking problem with it, although again, I don't use it very often.

[Dan Clark]

The Makita 9903 belt sander and Festool vac work well together. Within the next few days, I'm posting a short review about the 9903 and show how to hook it up the Festool vac.

IMO, the Makita 9903 is an excellent belt sander and dust collection is almost perfect when hooked to your Festool or Fein vac.

Regards,

Dan.

[Gary Keedwell]

I have the Makita 9924DB. Had it around 15 years and is still like new. Anybody else have this model? :)
Gary K

[Doug Shepard]

...
I"ve been thinking about a new belt sander, too. I can't ever get the belt on my cheap Craftsman to keep tracking straight and have trashed a few belts because of this.
...


Yup. Had one drift over too far this afternoon, hit the housing then broke at the joint line. Figures it was the last really coarse grit one I had so I had to make a trip for a few more. Managed to get most of the job done, but what a piece of junk. Makes nice clouds of dust though.:D

[Mickey Finn]

I have a Bosch 3"x21", but use it about once every two years and then usually clamped upside down in the bench vice.

I was just considering doing this...

What points on the sander do you clamp it in at? The handle, or somewhere else on the frame?

Thanks....

[Mickey Finn]

Because they haven't figured out how to charge 600 bucks for the thing yet?

I keed, I keed.... jus' kiddin'. (sort of) :)

[Chris Rosenberger]

Surprisingly good if you can get a nice seal on the very small connection port. But not anything close to the Rotex or 150/3 I use for general sanding. What I like about the Bosch 3'x21" belt sander is that it's easy to use...it's not super heavy like many of the 4" units are and it's flat profile means you have a lot of "gripping" options. I do have the surfacing plate attachment, but have never used it...bought the 22-44 Plus before I had the chance to see how well I could gouge out a table top with the belt sander... :)

Thanks Jim.:)

[Jim Becker]

What points on the sander do you clamp it in at? The handle, or somewhere else on the frame?

The handle if I'm recalling properly...