Cristal Sandpaper Discontinued (US & Canada)

[Sean7a]

Going away as of right now.  Festool will sell through it's remaining inventory and then the fat lady will sing.  Look towards Rubin2 for your bare wood needs (as well know) and Granat for almost every other application.

 

[fdengel]

Not good.

What about saphir?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

No changes to Saphir, only Cristal.

 

[fdengel]

That at least is good.

How agressive is the Rubin 2 compared to the Cristal?

Not having tried the Rubin 2, maybe it is a passable replacement?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

How agressive is the Rubin 2 compared to the Cristal?

Aggressiveness is based on grit. Rubin2 offers grits from 40-220 and Cristal offered grits from 40-120. So, Rubin2 range is broader.

Cristal had a coating that would extend abrasive life and Rubin2 shares that property. I think you'll find that it will meet your expectation if you've used Cristal in the past.

For the most stubborn surfaces, use Saphir, which goes down to 24 grit.

 

[semenza]

Cristal also has a more sparse grit distribution which helps prevent clogging when using it to strip finishes.  I like Cristal but I think Granat will be a good replacement  for stripping , at least in the low grits.

Seth

 

[fdengel]

That is probably why the original post qualified the use of Rubin 2 for "bare wood" needs...

Sounds like I'll need to try those new abrasives when I next run out of Cristal.  I have a few sheets of 24-grid Saphir at home, need to be quite careful about touching that one...

Thank you!

 

[wetndry]

This is very disappointing.  I use cristal with my RTS400 to remove layers of paint on inside and outside trim.  It made this sander much more versatile and I use it in place of the delta head on my RO 90 most of the time as it is lighter and easier to control one handed, especially on a ladder.  I was hoping that festool would start making cristal for the RO 90 someday not discontinue it. This now takes my RTS 400 out of my heavy prep work arsenal.  Saphir is not available for the RTS 400 and I find Granat not as effective and more expensive than Cristal. I bought into festool not just for the great sanders but also the wide range of abrasives.  This will make me rethink the purchase of the LS130 (that I was going to demo at K119 Tools) to go with the RTS 400 as it will not be as useful to me without the Cristal paper. What other papers will be discontinued in the future? 

Craig

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

What other papers will be discontinued in the future? 

Currently, there are no plans to discontinue other abrasives that I'm aware of.

 

[rvieceli]

From a quick look online, it appears that several dealers still have Cristal stock, If it is an important part of your work process, you may want to stock up now while it is available.

 

[K119Phil]

This is very disappointing.  I use cristal with my RTS400 to remove layers of paint on inside and outside trim.  It made this sander much more versatile and I use it in place of the delta head on my RO 90 most of the time as it is lighter and easier to control one handed, especially on a ladder.  I was hoping that festool would start making cristal for the RO 90 someday not discontinue it. This now takes my RTS 400 out of my heavy prep work arsenal.  Saphir is not available for the RTS 400 and I find Granat not as effective and more expensive than Cristal. I bought into festool not just for the great sanders but also the wide range of abrasives.  This will make me rethink the purchase of the LS130 (that I was going to demo at K119 Tools) to go with the RTS 400 as it will not be as useful to me without the Cristal paper. What other papers will be discontinued in the future? 

Craig

Oh goodie you're still coming for the demo!  (I hope..)

You're spot on correct about Festool making awesome abrasives, which is why I'm really surprised/perplexed by your results with Granat being less effective than Cristal.  If you could please bring in a sample piece of painted wood for us to play around with, I'd love to see what's going on / try to figure out what would work better for your specific application.

That said, and feel free to skip over the following if you already know this, but I do find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place with sander selection.  Light weight, easy one-handed operation appears to be your criteria, but stripping paint is something pretty darn heavy duty tough.  The RTS, with its super-fine 2mm sanding stroke qualifies it as a very-fine finish sander -- not entirely meant to do stripping in the first place.  My favorite RO 90, yea, isn't entirely the easiest thing to pilot with one hand. 

Shane?  Any other Festool gurus?  Recommendations?

And actually the delayed lightbulb just came on -- like Cristal?  Get stocked up while supplies last!  That said, we don't even stock that many Cristal.  Let me know if you'd like to put in an order and we can take the lot before they go away. 

Hope I'm being helpful!  Hopefully see you soon at the shop

 

[tbellemare]

I have a box of 40, 60, 80 (x2), 100, 120 Cristal for the RO 90's 93mm delta or the DX 93.

I'd be happier sending it to an end user than back to Festool...

Tom

 

[Brice Burrell]

This is very disappointing.  I use cristal with my RTS400 to remove layers of paint on inside and outside trim.  It made this sander much more versatile and I use it in place of the delta head on my RO 90 most of the time as it is lighter and easier to control one handed, especially on a ladder.  I was hoping that festool would start making cristal for the RO 90 someday not discontinue it. This now takes my RTS 400 out of my heavy prep work arsenal.  Saphir is not available for the RTS 400 and I find Granat not as effective and more expensive than Cristal. I bought into festool not just for the great sanders but also the wide range of abrasives.  This will make me rethink the purchase of the LS130 (that I was going to demo at K119 Tools) to go with the RTS 400 as it will not be as useful to me without the Cristal paper. What other papers will be discontinued in the future? 

Craig

Craig I'm with you on being bummed out about this.  I like Granat but I fine its backing paper doesn't hold up well when being used hard on rough surfaces.  I never tried Cristal and Granat head to head but I believe both work well with Cristal holding up a little better.  And Cristal is cheaper making it a far better value for rough work.  I fine Saphir too pricey for all but the most demanding stripping tasks. 

I suppose I'll have to pick up a few boxes of before they're all gone. 

 

[wetndry]

Light weight, easy one-handed operation appears to be your criteria, but stripping paint is something pretty darn heavy duty tough.  The RTS, with its super-fine 2mm sanding stroke qualifies it as a very-fine finish sander -- not entirely meant to do stripping in the first place.  My favorite RO 90, yea, isn't entirely the easiest thing to pilot with one hand. 

Philip,  The RTS is a great finish sander and I bought it to do just that and sand drywall patches which it is also great at. After trying a couple 10 packs in coarser grits from K119 and using it on exterior trim I found a new use for this little finish sander. It has almost replaced my long time favorite Porter Cable 330 Speed Bloc (great sander but no dust collection) .  The RTS 400  can be surprisingly aggressive on heavy  layers of paint with the Cristal and then put on some Brilliant and it feathers real nice. The RO 90 is my go to trim sander but the RTS 400 with Cristal complements it perfectly and is always where I can reach it.

I fine Saphir too pricey for all but the most demanding stripping tasks.

I also use Saphire (another paper I wish they would make in 90mm) for tough finishes with the RO 90 in delta mode but, because of the higher price, I choose to use Cristal when ever possible.  I could just use all purpose Granat for everything and not have to buy so many varieties but I  find each abrasive does have its little advantages over Granat.  Most are cheaper too.

Craig

 

[nickao]

Holy crap that's the only paper I use WTH!

 

[SittingElf]

Sent an email to my German Festool Dealer in Kaiserslautern, and he responded today.  Cristal has been discontinued worldwide.
He does have some remaining stock as shown below.  I am going to be picking up 110V pigtails in Germany on the 6th of September before heading for Florida for the remainder of September (Hurricane Season). If you have a need for any of the products listed below, I'll do the same deal as the pigtails. No markup.  I'll carry them with me to the USA and those that want them will be charged whatever I have to pay for the product and shipping from Melbourne, Florida. First come, first served. No profit incentive on these items.

Please hurry. I have to send him the total order for the pigtails later this week, and I'd like to tell him to lock up whatever stock he has left of Cristal that people want.  Just be aware that this offer does NOT extend to the clocks, toolies, and other logo items I will be selling later through the classified section of the forums...at a profit!

Here's the relevent portion of the email my dealer sent me: (Note also the new systainers coming in September...at least in Germany!)

I have some Cristal paper on stock but i can't order it again. Festool replaced it with the Rubin paper.

I have the D150s paper:
2x P40
1x P60
1x P80
3x P100
1x P120

There are some new products which appear in september.
1. A Systainer like a "mini mft" with the same board on top like the mft (instead of a cover).
2. A new systainer tool box you can open or unfold on both sites
I hope I'll get it till september.

Cheers,

Frank