Experience with the Festool air sanders?

[routerovich]

Hi all,

I am wondering if any of you tried the Festool air sanders compared to industrial ones like the Dynabrade Spirit.
Got a Rotex 150 recently (With the new 26 vac) and it is by far the best electric sander I ever used. However, after being used to industrial pneumatic random orbitals, an electric motor on a sander (Any brand..) is a true punishment when it comes to weight, size, maneuverability, and sound.
I am wondering if the pneumatic Festool will be better than the Dynabrade I use.

Thanks.

 

[Warrior]

I'm interested too.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Well, I think it might gonna be a long wait for this information, because I haven't seen one single response on this entire site where somebody said he owned or used any of the Festool air sanders.

 

[monte]

I'd sure like to hear something as well.
Especially as compared to the rest of the Festool lineup.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

As I understand it, air sanders are more commonly used in the automotive industry. Festool has a large presence in the auto industry in Europe. This forum is comprised primarily of woodworkers. So, there's not a high probability of any forum members having experience with the LEX sanders. If you like our electric sanders, you will likely like the pneumatic sanders just as well since they employ the same design features and functionality.

This would be an opportunity to put that 30-day money-back guarantee to use and give one a try if you can.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Haven't used the Festool air sanders, but I have used other brands at school for woodworking.  They are quieter, less vibration, and otherwise work just like a regular sander.  The long view is that with fewer moving parts they pretty much last forever.

If I had a big compressor and the shop was rigged for air, I would be all over a Festool pneumatic.

 

[Bob Marino]

Ok, Shane pretty much nailed it regarding these sanders having a larger market in the automotive industry. My biggest customer for them is BMW - NJ. I have sold to a few larger woodworking/milling shops and a couple of small shops. All seem very satisfied. I did demo at a couple of smaller shops and the bosses deferred to the guys doing the sanding. They prefered the Dynas. Why? Beacause they were smaller and they did not to want any, or were not concerend with, dust collection. Needless to say, the shop and the guys were covered with wood dust. This was years ago though; times have changed.
If memory serves, the Festool  sanders left the better finish.  Festool's system is unique in that the hose supplies the air, exhaust and dust collection.
I don't know how practical the Festool air sanders are in the homeowner's shop - you need a large compressor to run them, and the flavors are ros only, no detail or orbital sanders for those corners.

Bob

 

[peter halle]

Hey, the 30 day return policy would work.

One of our members - Bill Hendrix - has had a bunch of Festool air sanders in the classifieds.  You could send him a PM or email and ask about them.  You might also ask if his are still for sale.

Peter

 

[bhendrix]

Thanks. Peter.  I do still have these sanders.  The link for the list and pricing is here:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/classifieds/fs-compressed-air-sander-systems-with-sanders/msg104616/

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Sorry Bob, but Hutchins has had sanders with the dust collection and air supply together for years and they're American made.  I've owned pretty much all of their sanders from being in the bodywork field.  I never owned a Festool air sander or got to use one so I can't comment on anything about them other than the fact that they are rated for requiring considerably more air than my Hutchins counterparts.  The Hutchins sanders are extremely powerful and make very efficient use of air - the reason they don't require as much as most others.  I will point out that if you're thinking of going to air power, consider that you'll need a minimum 5hp compressor with a 60 gallon tank, 80 being a better choice.  You'll need the higher electric service for the compressor, a good filtering system, mostly to keep moisture out of the tools and possibly you'll want a line lubricator unless you don't mind putting air tool oil in the tools minimum daily.  The other important factor will be the design of the piping from the compressor to the filter system. I'm not going to go into a long detail on that, but it's very important how that's done and the kind of pipe used for safety, maintenance and performance. ---A lot to think about when going air.

 

[Bob Marino]

Sorry Bob, but Hutchins has had sanders with the dust collection and air supply together for years and they're American made. 

Ken,

Thanks, good to know; thought Festool sanders were the only ones using just a single hose.

Bob

 

[counterfix]

i have this set up and us a lex2 150/7 you will never use a better air tool it is so smooth in your hand that you don't even realize that its a random orbital'how ever it does require a screw drive or fast recovery compreser

also this puts dustless to a new level so be prepared to shell out about 1200 us just to start
but you pros will be vary satisfied and know this is a bit arkward to get use to do to the stiff hose but still awsome [big grin]

 

[counterfix]

Sorry Bob, but Hutchins has had sanders with the dust collection and air supply together for years and they're American made.  I've owned pretty much all of their sanders from being in the bodywork field.  I never owned a Festool air sander or got to use one so I can't comment on anything about them other than the fact that they are rated for requiring considerably more air than my Hutchins counterparts.  The Hutchins sanders are extremely powerful and make very efficient use of air - the reason they don't require as much as most others.  I will point out that if you're thinking of going to air power, consider that you'll need a minimum 5hp compressor with a 60 gallon tank, 80 being a better choice.  You'll need the higher electric service for the compressor, a good filtering system, mostly to keep moisture out of the tools and possibly you'll want a line lubricator unless you don't mind putting air tool oil in the tools minimum daily.  The other important factor will be the design of the piping from the compressor to the filter system. I'm not going to go into a long detail on that, but it's very important how that's done and the kind of pipe used for safety, maintenance and performance. ---A lot to think about when going air.

festool air system has all the water and oil sepertor devices as part of the stuff that connects to the ct

 

[tbellemare]

I was wondering if you'd comment, Lance.

Thanks for your observations.

Tom

 

[Ken Nagrod]

If it's of any help or anyone's interested, here's a couple of my Hutchins sanders.  My 6"/8" RO (I have both pads for the same unit).  They have three versions of this sander.  No dust collection hookup, a small tube for dust collection and the model I have with the normal size dust collection hose with built in air line and tool exhaust to keep oil off of the surface your working on.  The other sander is my orbital wet sander that has a suction pump on the end so you can just drop it in a jug of distilled water for finalizing those expensive paint jobs.  Love that tool.  So fast and easy compared to wet sanding by hand.  All the ones I have use velcro backed paper.  Pads are also available for adhesive backed paper and standard clamp on like the wet sander can use.  I've used that RO (model 8660) on my little compressor that puts out 5 cfm @ 90psi and it works beautifully, although I typically use it on my bigger compressors starting at 10 cfm and up.

 

[counterfix]

well its been a busy end to Q4 i had planed to do a reveiw on this but had thought it might be out of
most fog members reach cost wise oh by the way i got mine from tom so enjoy

 

[Ken Nagrod]

I'd like to see a review!

 

[Holzhacker]

I've used air sanders a little bit over the years and always liked them. No I am definitely not experienced. I did ask about this sort of when I was in Lebanon. I was thinking about getting a Festool air sander. I also was under the misimpression that one could turn the CT into a compressor for other air tools with the CT attachments. If someone was actually using this setup or we could check it somewhere (hint) buying a LEX sander would be an option for me.
Shane how about setting up a CT/LEX combo down in Lebanon? When guys come down for classes they can check it out. Would really get the info out and maybe some sales.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Shane how about setting up a CT/LEX combo down in Lebanon? When guys come down for classes they can check it out.

Sounds like a good idea. Let me see what I can do. Wouldn't mind giving them a try myself. I regret having to admit that I haven't used them either.

 

[bhendrix]

Craig Johnson, Kansas City-based Festool rep, shared a story of a cabinet shop that had been given a warning to eliminate sanding dust within a short period of time.  Craig took a Festool air set-up to the shop with the plan that several people would have the opportunity to test the sander.  The first to use it would be one of the gals.

Upon returning some time later to the shop, the owner said the demo did not work as planned.  The first gal to demo the sander would not share it with her colleagues.  The sanders were declared to be very quiet and very smooth compared to their electric counterparts.  Craig reports the shops now runs all Festool air sanders.

I would love to try these, but I don't have a compressor that will deliver 14cfm at 87psi.

The units I purchased came with a large collection of Festool I purchased from Randy Smith, former Festool factory rep.  They are unused or little-used in like-new condition.