ETS125 REQ Hard Pad?

[pacificdune]

Hi friends,

I have a project where I want to sand some fairly narrow 45 degree bevels.  I have been thinking about getting an ETS 125 REQ with the edge sander for this reason, and this seems like a good enough excuse to pull the trigger.

In order to make the perfect kit for the application I also wanted a hard pad for the ETS125 REQ.  After some searching online and in the forum it appears that (at least as of 2019) there was no hard pad available for this sander.  Seems like you would want one, especially with the edge sanding kit available.

Is this still true?  Does anyone have this setup?  Would a hard pad be overkill, or have you been able to find a suitable hard pad for the ETS125 REQ?

Thanks!

Dune

 

[Michael Kellough]

My favorite edge treatment is a crisp chamfer but the wood I use is rarely straight grained enough to risk using a plane. So I use abrasives.

It’s true, there is no hard pad for that sander, but even is there was the flex of the Velcro is enough that you can’t get a truly crisp chamfer with the sander. The bulkiness of the edge sanding rig makes it too troublesome for small chamfers in my judgment.

For truly crisp chamfers I use psa abrasives on a block of wood, a really hard backer.
Just sticking a strip of abrasive on a stick doesn’t work so well because dust piles up and throws the angle off and clogs the abrasive. To mitigate that I cut the abrasive into 3/4” wide strips and stick them to the block of wood on a diagonal with about 3/16” space between strips. This makes channels that give the dust a place to accumulate non-destructively and even migrate off the stick. The stick is 12 to 16 inches long and 1/2” to 3/4” thick and about 1-1/2” wide so it’s comfortable to hold with two hands at once. The length also helps prevent over cutting the ends of the run if you stop while one hand is still onboard (and lighten the pressure at the same time). I often add some psa abrasive to the sides and back of the stick to improve my grip. I put a strip of heavy duty packing tape on the business side of the stick to make it easier to remove the psa strips when worn. Sanding heats up the adhesive and it can become diff to get the adhesive off bare wood.

I usually just approximate the angle by eye but if I want to be a little closer to 45* I’ll compare the angle of the stick at the start with a 45* instrument, usually the head of a combination square. When I need the chamfer to be a specific angle for real I make little outriggers to glue to the back of the stick.

 

[pacificdune]

My favorite edge treatment is a crisp chamfer but the wood I use is rarely straight grained enough to risk using a plane. So I use abrasives.

It’s true, there is no hard pad for that sander, but even is there was the flex of the Velcro is enough that you can’t get a truly crisp chamfer with the sander. The bulkiness of the edge sanding rig makes it too troublesome for small chamfers in my judgment.

For truly crisp chamfers I use psa abrasives on a block of wood, a really hard backer.
Just sticking a strip of abrasive on a stick doesn’t work so well because dust piles up and throws the angle off and clogs the abrasive. To mitigate that I cut the abrasive into 3/4” wide strips and stick them to the block of wood on a diagonal with about 3/16” space between strips. This makes channels that give the dust a place to accumulate non-destructively and even migrate off the stick. The stick is 12 to 16 inches long and 1/2” to 3/4” thick and about 1-1/2” wide so it’s comfortable to hold with two hands at once. The length also helps prevent over cutting the ends of the run if you stop while one hand is still onboard (and lighten the pressure at the same time). I often add some psa abrasive to the sides and back of the stick to improve my grip. I put a strip of heavy duty packing tape on the business side of the stick to make it easier to remove the psa strips when worn. Sanding heats up the adhesive and it can become diff to get the adhesive off bare wood.

I usually just approximate the angle by eye but if I want to be a little closer to 45* I’ll compare the angle of the stick at the start with a 45* instrument, usually the head of a combination square. When I need the chamfer to be a specific angle for real I make little outriggers to glue to the back of the stick.

Hi Michael,

My friends at Timber woodworking machinery explained the same to me.  Apparently there is no hard pad for this sander.  I went ahead and purchased it along with the edge sanding attachment.  A guy there uses the sander and attachment and said that as long as I am careful and slow it will not round over very much even with a medium pad.

I really do appreciate your time spent in describing how you approach this problem.  I have exactly the same concerns...  A plane kinda scares me on this wood.  I'm going to try your method, and the sander and see how it goes.  I also have an LS130 that I can try.  Here is a picture of my practice piece showing the chamfers as it looks coming off the router.  I really want to preserve the crispness of the edges.  This will end up being a decorative railing in case you are interested.

Thank you for your insight!

Dune

 

[Mark Katz]

I was just searching for the same thing - a hard pad for the ETS 125 REQ. I did find the following on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C1C9RKMV

I have no idea of its quality (country of origin is China) or if it really will fit but for $20.99 for 2 pads, I figure it's worth a shot so I'm ordering it. I don't even have an immediate need for one but I'd like to have it around just in case. And I can return it (them) if it doesn't fit.