Festool air sanders?

[J.R. Rutter]

Anyone have experience with the pneumatic Festool sanders? I've worn out some of their electric models and am not thrilled with the dust collection of the pneumatics that I'm currently running. My shop vac is getting tired, so I might consider the extractor package. Sure is a pile of $$$ tho...

[Jim Becker]

No use, but I've heard nice things about them. If you have not already done so, do post the question in the "Festool User's Group Forum" as it may broaden the audience for these specialized products not typical to woodworkers.

That said, the 150/3 and Rotex 150 I have are built like tanks. I don't expect to wear them out in my lifetime, more or less!

[Peter Quinn]

I just saw a new Dyna Brade demo at the New England Industrial Expo, it had good dust collection and cranked like a dyna brade should. Think it was around $300, needed like 13CFM minimum to push it. The guy was hogging maple boards with a coarse grit and it seemed to be catching every thing, no dust in the air. Might be worth a look if you have the compressor.

[J.R. Rutter]

Thanks - I've got the compressor to run a couple. I've been running the new 3M sanders for a couple of months. Nice and light, but not quite up to Dynabrade quality. It may be that I need to go to a better extractor to get more of the dust. I got the models with venturi extraction, so the tool exhaust goes into the vac hose, which is nice. That got me thinking about the Festool single hose solution. My 150/3 would actually suck the dust out of the pores, while the 3M leaves a fine film.

[Peter Quinn]

Come to think of it at my last job we had an older dyna brade with a dust port, one of the guys made a 6 X 1 1/4" reducer out of wood and hooked that sucker up to the dust system, that seemed to work well. Must admit that festool single hose setup with a wand or something to bear the weight looks like a nice set up.

[Brad Shipton]

I think the 14cfm air req't puts it out of the typical hobbiest league. I looked at one, but dont have the space for the compressor. I remember trying to use a autobody sander without adequate air, what a pain. By the time I would have bought a compressor and the sander I figured I could have had a decent 15" wide belt. Let us know how you like it if you buy one. Sure looks like a nice sander.

Brad

[Bruce Pennell]

JR I have the rotex 150 and ct-22 vac great dust collection. Did you wear out a Festool sander or some other brand? The Rotex seems like its bullet proof to me! In the aggressive mode it can really hog out a lot of wood. Yet can polish as well as my Beal buffing system. The sandpaper lasts for much longer, because of the dust collection. Sorry I can't answer your question on the air sander, don't own one yet. Hope this helps, just my 2 cents. Bruce

[John Payne]

I have used both the older style, toggle switch pneumatic sanders as well as own one of the newer dead-man style switch units. The older style sander could be had in both 125mm and 150mm diameters with with either 3mm or 7 mm orbital motion. The newer units I think are only 150 mm dia with either orbit size available. All are very well made.

The dust collection system is first rate with the pneumatic line co-radial with the vacuum line. The unit vents back into the vacuum line so they are very quiet. The whole hose assembly is a bit heavy so you have to be careful about it causing excessive pressure on the back edge of the sanding pad.

Relative to the Dynabrade sanders the Festool units are a bit taller which puts your hand further away from the work. It requires you to be a little more careful about keeping the sanding pad flat on the work. One of the Dynabrade units I have has dust collection also and it is very effective although maybe slightly less so than the Festool.

I don't use the Festool sanders constantly so can't comment on their life expectancy. Although my experience in general is if you use a drip oiler and keep the water out of the air lines with good quality air tools they seem to last forever.

[J.R. Rutter]

Did you wear out a Festool sander or some other brand?

I have a couple of Festools. The 150/3 is running rough after 800-1000 hours of use...