Festool Orbital Sander

[Robert Engel]

I have the sander while I'm not a Festool fanatic, it is much better than a standard ROS.

I sprung for the dust extractor & it was worth the money IMO.

I use my noisy shop vac for cleaning the shop

[Matt Day]

Perhaps just replace the 125 pad with a 150 pad. They're exactly the same sanders otherwise. The 150 pad fits the 125 perfectly.
That's what I did, and it works great.

Thanks for mentioning that. I have the 125 and 90, and wished I got the 150 and 90. Seeing that I can just change the pad will save me a lot of money!

[Mark Flippin]

I've been surviving on far less for a long time. Now, I'm at a point in my life (kids gone, house paid off) where I can dabble in getting some higher end tools. I hate sanding and my current sander is on it's last legs. Hoping that the Festool will make me hate sanding less.

[Mark Flippin]

It makes sense to get the smaller vac; the main use would be for tool extraction. The price point of the CT 15 makes the buying the combo (sander and vac) doable. Getting to the point where I'll be able to spend much more time in the shop, making it more important to me to make sanding less onerous

[Gustav Gabor]

I've been surviving on far less for a long time. Now, I'm at a point in my life (kids gone, house paid off) where I can dabble in getting some higher end tools. I hate sanding and my current sander is on it's last legs. Hoping that the Festool will make me hate sanding less.

Sanding is unfortunately a necessary evil in most woodworking operations. The only method I know of that makes me hate sanding less ......... is having someone else do it!!
Sadly that never happens, so I just deal with it.
What I like about the ETS EC 125/150, is low vibration, low center of gravity, adjustable speed, and it stops rotating very quickly. Sands pretty good too....

Festool sanders and the CT26 extractor (it's a friggin' vacuum, get over yourself Festool!) are the only "green" tools I own, but I've found those are actually worth it.
So much nicer not having dust flying all over when sanding for hours at a time. Much easier to clean the shop, and my lungs are very appreciative of it.

The nice thing about getting the 125 and adding the 150 pad, or pads for it is you can buy a super soft, soft (standard) or a hard pad for it. You can buy a couple of pads plus the 125 sander for less than the cost of just the 150, and still have the option of using the 125 pad.

[Warren Lake]

when I learned this 40 years ago a teacher told me you will see you will hate sanding. I later asked a question as something didnt feel right on a first time thing for me, got an answer, I didnt know was wrong and a nice kick back. Teacher was an idiot. The positive was next day another teacher asked me about the kick back, he turned red and shook his head. I changed classes and had him for the rest of the year. Later he tracked me down and that was another 35 years.

Most people are 2/3 water, im 1/3 sawdust. I dont hate anything about this trade and never have.

[Randy Heinemann]

If you are going to buy the ETS125, I would recommend buying a vac that has the capability to dial down the suction. The pads on the Festool sanders are efficient enough for dust collection that a significant amount of suction is created and this tends to suck the sander down tighter to the surface than it should. I own a couple of Festool sanders and have found the ETS 125 is more sensitive to this than the others; maybe because it's a little lighter, possibly a little more top heavy than some of the others.

You certainly don't have to buy a Festool CT, mini, or midi, but they are great vacs and help keep sanding as dust free as possible when combined with one of the Festool sanders. It may just be a vac but it's a great one (any of their vacs). Maybe just a small one like the Mini or Midi would work for you if you are just using the vac for sanding and around the house.

[Jim Dwight]

I do not have a festool sander but I have a domino and it works very well with my rigid shop vac which pulls through a dust deputy and a bosch 35mm hose and discharges through a quasi hepa filter. I also use the same setup on a bosch devs 1250 sander. I have an aftermarket auto on switch and I could slow it down with a soeed controller if I wanted to. I would not claim this is equivalent to a festool dust extractor in any way other than performance. I've never used a festool vac but my setup works fine. It is not at all impressive in appearance and is not so easy to transport, however.

[Jim Becker]

I've been surviving on far less for a long time. Now, I'm at a point in my life (kids gone, house paid off) where I can dabble in getting some higher end tools. I hate sanding and my current sander is on it's last legs. Hoping that the Festool will make me hate sanding less.

One of the primary reasons I moved to the Festool sanders, aside from the excellent dust extraction, was to get rid of the vibration I had been experiencing with common, lower end sanders...my hands were constantly going numb which meant I had to stop sanding with frequency. I can sand for an hour with my 150/3 with barely a tingle, if that. There are a few other high end sanders that are smoother like that, of course, but I embraced "the system" long ago and have been very happy.

[Dave Sabo]

Thanks for mentioning that. I have the 125 and 90, and wished I got the 150 and 90. Seeing that I can just change the pad will save me a lot of money!

Just to clarify - the 150mm pad swap only works with the ETS 125 EC. You will not be able to accomplish this with any ROTEX sanders.

If you are going to buy the ETS125, I would recommend buying a vac that has the capability to dial down the suction.

While I agree with this , it is not absolutely necessary. The same thing can be accomplished with a bleed port on some hoses. Bosch has a couple and I think Fein has one too. This is the best value in my opinion:

https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tec-Syste...72&s=hi&sr=1-3

antistatic version:

https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tec-Syste...97&s=hi&sr=1-9

[Ben Helmich]

Mark, I bought the Festool sander and vac because I hate sanding. I still hate sanding. But it is the most comfortable sander I have used, and the vac is much queiter than a typical shop vac. I still wear hearing protection with it, but some might not. And, of course, there's virtually no sawdust. You definately don't need Festool for what you're trying to do, but I don't think you'll regret it. If mine disappeared I would replace it.
-Ben

[Alan Lightstone]

One of the primary reasons I moved to the Festool sanders, aside from the excellent dust extraction, was to get rid of the vibration I had been experiencing with common, lower end sanders...my hands were constantly going numb which meant I had to stop sanding with frequency. I can sand for an hour with my 150/3 with barely a tingle, if that. There are a few other high end sanders that are smoother like that, of course, but I embraced "the system" long ago and have been very happy.

This is exactly what I did a number of years ago, for the exact same reasons as Jim, and am still very happy with my 150/3. The vibration on my Rotex is so great that I hate using it, and rarely do.

[Jim Becker]

The vibration on my Rotex is so great that I hate using it, and rarely do.

The Rotex in rotary mode is very apt to chatter due to the aggressiveness of the abrasive action...which is one of the reasons it's a two-handed tool. Fortunately, it's also a tool that I only pull out when it's additional capability to remove material is what is needed. 95%+ of the time, my 150/3 gets the work.

[Randy Heinemann]

Just to clarify - the 150mm pad swap only works with the ETS 125 EC. You will not be able to accomplish this with any ROTEX sanders.




While I agree with this , it is not absolutely necessary. The same thing can be accomplished with a bleed port on some hoses. Bosch has a couple and I think Fein has one too. This is the best value in my opinion:

https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tec-Syste...72&s=hi&sr=1-3

antistatic version:

https://www.amazon.com/Cen-Tec-Syste...97&s=hi&sr=1-9

Based on feedback from others, this may work. However, it appears that, with some vacs, it might not be an adequate solution. the ETS125 is a much touchier sander with regard to this. I own several Festool sanders and the others aren't very sensitive to this suction issue. The ETS125 is. It's certainly worth a try rather than spending the amount of money a Festool CT, Mini, or Midi will cost. If it doesn't work, you're not out much money.

[Jim Becker]

The draw from the extractor should ideally be reduced as you move up to finer and finer abrasives to prevent "sticking", etc. It's amazing how well the extractor can hold the tool down when the air space between the "grit" gets diminished!