Abrasive Assortment & Grit schedules

[jlim]

Hi fellow FOGers, 

New to the FOG.  Got sucked in with a new CT36 and DF 500. Was pulled in further with a used RO 150 off of craigslist. 

About to buy the RO 90 for refinishing cabinets, siding, exterior trim, and old furniture, but I ran into a few questions I was hoping to get help with:

1.  Is there an online festool dealer that offers an assortment of abrasives for RO 90 and RO 150?

2.  What is your preferred grit schedule for prepping cabinets, furniture, & trim for spray painting (using festool abrasives of course)?

3.  Got my first festools at bobmarino's and had a pretty good experience.  Can you recommend any other festool dealer?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give,

jlim

 

[monstrol]

Granat and then.....granat. IMHO.

 

[ear3]

[member=2298]Tom Bellemare[/member] at Tool Home offers the WOW pack abrasive assortment for the RO90 and the RO150, and is an all around great Festool dealer:

http://www.tool-home.com/products/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/25213

http://www.tool-home.com/products/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/25297

The guys at Tool Nut, which has great service in part due to its employment of former Festool rep and frequent FOG contributor [member=48572]Shane Holland[/member] is also an excellent dealer.

+1 on the Granat.  I'm not sure why anyone uses the Rubin these days, even for bare wood.

There's a couple of different philosophies of sanding when it comes to the Rotex (the essential difference being the balance of Aggressive vs. RO mode).  Main thing is not to skip grits at the lower end.  Depending on the wood I start at 80 or 100, then progress through each grit up to 220.  If I'm doing something that requires a finer finish, at that point I will go 320, 400, 500, 800, 1200, 1500.  But for most finishes you will be fine stopping at 180 or 220.  Some people wipe/clean religiously after each grit.  I only do that if I'm going above 220.  This provides a good start:

Hi fellow FOGers, 

New to the FOG.  Got sucked in with a new CT36 and DF 500. Was pulled in further with a used RO 150 off of craigslist. 

About to buy the RO 90 for refinishing cabinets, siding, exterior trim, and old furniture, but I ran into a few questions I was hoping to get help with:

1.  Is there an online festool dealer that offers an assortment of abrasives for RO 90 and RO 150?

2.  What is your preferred grit schedule for prepping cabinets, furniture, & trim for spray painting (using festool abrasives of course)?

3.  Got my first festools at bobmarino's and had a pretty good experience.  Can you recommend any other festool dealer?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give,

jlim

 

[SS Teach]

Bob Marino is great, I got my Ro 150 from him. From Tom Bellemare I got a great assortment of paper for the 150 all in a sandpaper systainer. With the assortment you will not be skipping grits. Both dealers are a win win.

 

[jlim]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the great information.  Had ordered my RO90 from Bob before I checked back on the message boards.  Ended up ordering some Cristal sandpaper being clearanced by festoolproducts.  Any one have thoughts about Cristal VS Granat?  I'll have to revisit buying an assortment set from Tom when I start focusing on finer finishes.  Do you guys happen to know if any FOG members have teamed up to buy in bulk? Thank you also for the grit schedule tips … I've been skipping grits for years.

Jon