Availablity of Sanding media

[wotan]

Here I am entrenched in all things Festool, working diligently on a job finishing plaster and drywall with my  ETS125 and I run out of 80 and 100 grit Cristal sandpaper. I call my local Festool dealer and I'm told it's on back order and no, they don't have it at the other store either. I call the local woodworking shop and am told that they haven't had a request for that kind or grit. I go to another supply house and informed that to get the discount(wink, wink) you need to have an account.

People! If you are going to stock the sanders, have at least one of every grit available. I work as a painter/handyman and I don't always know what I'm getting into until I get on the job. It's not like building furniture or cabinets when you use the same paper every day. Am I expected to pre-order all my paper before I get the bids? Most dealers stock the fine grits 120 - 400, but if you work with course grits, you are usually SOL.
So please Dealers stock the course grits in Brilliant2, Cristal and Saphir. Also stock the 5 and 10 packs too.

Am I in the minority here, has anyone else experienced this problem and any answers?
Thanks for this opportunity to vent!

 

[stvrowe]

I haven't experienced this but I don't have a local dealer (80+ miles to nearest) nor a local woodworking shop (200+ miles) so I must stock up on my supplies well before I get to the work.  That said, if I were to have either of those local and they didn't stock what I needed, it would be frustrating.
Steve

 

[Steve Jones]

Took me about 4 months of bitching to my local dealer, I'd go in at least once a week, seek out the manager and boringly and at length discuss exactly what is it was in intricate detail what bothered me about what Festool supplies he was lacking.

Didn't matter that we'd covered all this just a week ago and again a week before that, if he was still out of stock (whether he stocked it or not) he obviously had not fully understood my position and I apparently had to explain it all again..

By now he's been subjected to my detailed analysis of exactly what problems his stocking policy had at least 12 times. needless to say now when I go to my local dealer, he's got every darn size in every damn available grit anybody could possibly want..

And he doesn't want to discuss it any further ;D

 

[greg mann]

My dealer doesn't have everything, but he sure has most of it. Two walls worth, and it takes two walls with the grades, shapes and grits Festool offers. The Rockler down the street has lost business to him because they don't stock a quarter of what he has. It is expensive to stock so much but he caters to the professional trades, carpenters, painters, cabinet shops, solid surface guys, so he needs to stock almost all of the lines.

 

[Chris Billman]

Greg:  What dealer has the 2 walls - Glenn Wing?  If so that's a bit of a hike for me but it might be worth a visit...

--Chris in Ypsi

 

[greg mann]

Yes, two walls of abrasives, along with tools set up for tryout. Don't know where you are Chris, but Glenn Wing is a nice place run by nice folks. That is always worth a trip, eh?

Oh, now I see. Ypsi! Probably an hour if you pick the right time of day. ;D

 

[Chris Billman]

Thanks Greg.  I pass through the area once in a while for work, and I'll try to stop in next time I'm up there.

 

[Coss]

IF you are comfortable enough to order the sanding media online,  please contact me . East coast is usually 5-6 business days and West Coast around 7-8 business days. If we run out of stock, we can usually ship it directly from our distribution center. The days I provided are the longest you would have to wait. In stock take off a couple days and we have great combined shipping as well. Hope this helps!!

Ryan C.
Sales Specialist
www.cpofestool.com

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Here I am entrenched in all things Festool, working diligently on a job finishing plaster and drywall with my  ETS125 and I run out of 80 and 100 grit Cristal sandpaper. I call my local Festool dealer and I'm told it's on back order and no, they don't have it at the other store either. I call the local woodworking shop and am told that they haven't had a request for that kind or grit. I go to another supply house and informed that to get the discount(wink, wink) you need to have an account.

People! If you are going to stock the sanders, have at least one of every grit available. I work as a painter/handyman and I don't always know what I'm getting into until I get on the job. It's not like building furniture or cabinets when you use the same paper every day. Am I expected to pre-order all my paper before I get the bids? Most dealers stock the fine grits 120 - 400, but if you work with course grits, you are usually SOL.
So please Dealers stock the course grits in Brilliant2, Cristal and Saphir. Also stock the 5 and 10 packs too.

Am I in the minority here, has anyone else experienced this problem and any answers?
Thanks for this opportunity to vent!

Wotan,

I suggest that you contact Klingspor and determine what they have in stock to fit your sander, and if they don't have in stock what you want, check into having them custom make it for you.  A few year's ago, I was refinishing an oak parquet floor using a Bosch 5" RO sander and looking for disks coarser than the 60 grit then available in Klingspor's standard product line.  The lady agent I spoke with on the telephone suggested that I could have H & L disks of the right size and hole pattern made in the material type and grit size that I wanted.  In a little over a week I had a box of 40 grit stearated disks in hand.  The additional cost for this personal service was not that much.  It sure made my job go a lot faster.  All of this was before I discovered Festool products.  I do not know if Klingspor still offers such service; I have yet to make a request for supplies for my Festool sanders since I have been able to purchase Festool brand abrasive supplies whenever needed.

Dave R.