Scott Vroom
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
I hook my Dewalt up to my Shop Vac vacuum using its 1-1/2” hose. The vac has a HEPA filter and HEPA bag and the dust collection is pretty good- rarely any visible dust but I’m going to check it all out when I can with my Dylos meter.
Vibration is a problem mainly because the sander doesn’t always want to go where I want it to. I think I would need to do a lot more woodworking to justify the cost of the Festool.
My experience with Abranet is limited, but I was not happy with it when compared to the Festool product. The salesman tried to discourage me from stocking up on Abranet, but what does he know? I compromised and bought one pack of 400 grit instead of stocking up on all of the grits available.
From my one use, I noticed the dust cleared well around the vacuum holes in my ETS EC 150/3, but appeared to accumulate in the little nooks and crannies between the holes. I also noticed a little dust remaining on the sanded surface. When I removed the Abranet and took it outside to shake it, lots of fine dust became airborne. When I repeated this with the Festool 400 grit paper, I didn't see any residue on the paper and there certainly wasn't any on the piece I was sanding.
It's possible that I didn't have the suction turned up enough on my vacuum, but I kept the same settings for both runs.
Isn’t Mirka making Granat net for Festool? I actually never used Granat Net but the abranet Technology is excellent, especially in respect to dust extraction.
I will second the suggestion on this Bosch, I talked dad into trying one when his old Porter Cable gave up the ghost. Neither of us are going to take the jump to the Festool price range in the near future, this Bosch definitely does not disappoint. Lots of power for low grit work on large surfaces, virtually no swirl marks with high grit paper compared to the PC. It is a lot larger than expected but it is so smooth that it is easy to control with one hand.
I'm another guy that uses Festool and would never go back to something else. I had the aforementioned Bosch and the difference is profound. I can sand as long as I want with the Festool but with the Bosch and the buzzing and vibration I would only last a short time using it. There really is THAT big a difference. As others have mentioned you can use the Festool easily with one hand.
I don't have that much need, but when I need a new sander, I go to the BORG and come home with one with sandpaper for it.
I have three sanders. None are new.
In order to eliminate having to deal with the dust in the shop I normally move outside to a covered deck area. A couple months ago I had a substantial amount of sanding to do, but it was raining sideways and 35*. I chose to bite the bullet and got set-up inside. I took my Dewalt RO and fired it up and it just spewed a huge amount of dust on start-up. I said the hell with it and went to the Tool Barn. I bought the $200 version of the Festool. I couldn't go the $510 for the better sanders, but I intend to get one in the future. In conjunction with my Festool Dust Extractor sanding is not nearly the odious task it had been. I will on occasion still go to the Dewalt or Bosch RO's, but it is always outside. That one sander has let me enjoy woodworking even more. Money well spent!
Iended up buying the Surfprep SPES5 3/16 orbit ROS. Out of the box it looksand feels great. When I have had the opportunity to put it to good use, Iwill report the results.
I ended up buying the Surprep SPES5 3/16 orbit ROS. Out of the box it looks andfeels great. When I have had the opportunity to put it to good use, I will report the results.
Last edited by Bill Lyman; 06-24-2019 at 4:28 PM.
I have had the Festool ETS EC 150/5 EQ (thats a lot of letters!)
Have owned it for about 6 months now, and very much like it.
I see no benefit to a smaller pad, so went with the 6".
I see no benefit to the 3mm orbit pattern. It is variable speed, and I go down in grit to get smoother.
I do use the Festool mesh type discs (it has a extra pad that goes on first to use these mesh discs).
I use it one handed.
I have it hooked up to my central dust collector when in use, which works quite well with both regular paper and mesh discs.
I am not a Festool 'nut'. But would buy again.
My experience only, yours (and others) experiences may differ...
Sanding is not my primary method of smoothing, but I have used the forerunner of the Festool 150/3 for 20 years. Still have it. It works pretty well ... but it is a large and heavy bugger ...
My needs run to sanding on angles, and I wanted a light, one-handed sander with superb dust control. Not much to ask
Some months ago I purchased a slightly used Mirka Ceros, which gets used with Abranet into a Festool CT26E.
This is a fantastic sander! It has been replaced by the Deros, which is probably slightly better.
The Mirka sanders deserve serious consideration.
Regards from Perth
Derek
They are selling for awesome prices on Amazon now, I am not sure which one to get.