Festool belt sanders

[woodguy7]

I was using my 4" Bosch belt sander today, hooked up to the vac but the dust collection was virtually non existant.  How do the Festool belt sanders perform for dust collection.  The complete range of Festool sanders is very good but i don't own their belt sander (yet) & wondered how they hold up.  Belt sanders in general are very messy but i could be tempted if Festool have sussed it out.

Cheers, woodguy.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I was using my 4" Bosch belt sander today, hooked up to the vac but the dust collection was virtually non existant.  How do the Festool belt sanders perform for dust collection.  The complete range of Festool sanders is very good but i don't own their belt sander (yet) & wondered how they hold up.  Belt sanders in general are very messy but i could be tempted if Festool have sussed it out.

Since neither the BS75 nor the BS105 belt sanders are available in the USA, you probably won't get too much feedback on them.

I recently got the BS105, which is the 4" model, complete with the frame, and used it to sand the floorboards of my hall. The boards were very uneven, mainly because they were cupped in the centres or edges, and I was extremely happy with the results from the belt sander. When connected to my MIDI, there was very little airborne dust, and any dust that did escape tended to just lie on the floor around the sander. When I checked the dustbag, it was very full - it gave me quite a shock to see how much dust had been captured.

The right-angled connector to the sander's dust port did come off a few times when using it, so that's one thing to watch. I haven't used the sanding bag that some with the sander, so can't comment about its efficiency. Also watch that you don't trundle over the power cable! I used Rubin 40 belts, and got through about 5 of them. I finished the edges and corners of the floor with my Rotex RO125 and a Multimaster with a trianglular pad.

All in all, I'm very pleased I got the sander, and the large footprint of the Sander's frame makes it very good for flattening large surfaces. On the one hand it's a beast of a machine, with the whole kit in its Systainer weighing 14kg. On the other hand it can happily float across a floor with minimal restraint (so long as it's mounted in the frame and there are no high points for the belt to suddenly catch on!). I wouldn't want to use it on vertical surfaces for long though!

Forrest

 

[woodguy7]

Thanks Forrest

I mainly use my belt sander on the bench to take down the face of a door or sand dovetails of drawers ect.  Do you think the extraction would be as good without the frame ?
I am wondering if the 3" belt sander would possibly suit me better seeing as i already have a 4" Bosch.  I might see if i can get a demo of one.

Thanks, Woodguy.

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I mainly use my belt sander on the bench to take down the face of a door or sand dovetails of drawers ect.  Do you think the extraction would be as good without the frame ?

The frame is open-topped. so I wouldn't have thought it would influence the dust collection too much, but I wouldn't expect the dust collection to be quite as good without the frame, which tends to "corale" the heavier dust.

The frame makes it much easier to use. If nothing else, there's a lever at the front which raises the sander a few mm so that the belt is clear of the surface and the whole machine is supported by the bristles of the frame. This makes it very easy to quickly take the machine out of action with a flick of the fingers - useful when answering a phonecall or something! The BS105 also has a great soft-start.

Forrest

 

[justinmcf]

hi woodguy and forrest.
i have owned the bs105 for over a year now. it is a great machine, dust extraction is slightly better than the makita 100mm version.
during a low period of work last year i made solid slab furniture for bars and restaurants.
i had been using the makita for weeks on end. i then had to get another employee, so i bought the festool bs105. it does out perform the makita, but it is not 3 times better, which is what the price difference is.

i would gladly buy the makita again for doing more slab furniture and rough work such as floorboards. the bs105 comes into its own when doing detailed work with the frame. it really is a precise piece of engineering, so i guess this is why we pay extra for the bs105.

i had the same problem with the bs105 as forrest pointed out before. the dust extraction connection is a right angle piece of plastic and falls off constantly even when you make sure it is locked in properly. i find this connector to be badly designed and wish it were near the back of the machine.

but it is still a great machine and you will have arms like arnie after using this beast for a couple of weeks!

regards, justin.

 

[EcoFurniture]

I have the Bosch belt sander and are very happy with it! They are way lighter then the other brands like Makita and such. But I haven't used the Festool version yet.
You mentioned that you are not happy with the dust collection on your bosch. This could come from a jammed dust extraction channel. Every ones in a while I have to open the housing (takes only a couple of minutes) and clean it out with a brush and a vacuum. It's very easy to do. After  doing that, you will be surprised how much dust the internal blower will transport into the standard dustbag! Hook up a CT and you will work close to 100% dust free.

Try it out it really works.

Cheers
Andreas

 

[woodguy7]

OK Andreas, i will give that a try.  I would estimate i am getting around 10% efficiency so that could be the problem.  I could see that the problem that Forrest & Justin speak off about the connector being a real problem for me.  I tend to get frustrated with silly problems.

Will pull my Bosch apart first to see,

Woodguy.

 

[EcoFurniture]

Give it a try!
Although I said that attaching a CT will help. I should also mention that because the Bosch dust chute comes out straight, the hose will have to be attached that way too. That creates some pull from the hose and can get frustrating... But it works!

 

[Eli]

I've had the BS75 for a year or two, and I like it. Dust collection yes, but as with the Kapex it's most, not all. Still no comparison between it and a conventional belt sander. Love the frame.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Too bad these guys are NAINA.  [unsure]

Eli, good to see you again.

 

[mwhafner]

I have the Bosch belt sander and are very happy with it! They are way lighter then the other brands like Makita and such. But I haven't used the Festool version yet.
You mentioned that you are not happy with the dust collection on your bosch. This could come from a jammed dust extraction channel. Every ones in a while I have to open the housing (takes only a couple of minutes) and clean it out with a brush and a vacuum. It's very easy to do. After  doing that, you will be surprised how much dust the internal blower will transport into the standard dustbag! Hook up a CT and you will work close to 100% dust free.

Try it out it really works.

Cheers
Andreas

I have had pretty good luck using an air compressor to clean out the channel, just to keep from having to take anything apart.  When clean, I do get pretty good collection. 

Bosch makes a frame for the 1274.  I bought one a couple of months back and have been pretty impressed, although I haven't used it a lot. 

 

[Eli]

Eli, good to see you again.

[thumbs up]

Cheers! Ditto.

 

[woodguy7]

Eli,

How do you find the power of the 75 ?  I know its not going to be as good as the 4" but i would think it would be sufficient.

Thanks, Woodguy

 

[Eli]

Plenty heap strong. I don't always feel bigger is better though, so If you're a Fatmax kind of guy, we might not be speaking the same language.

 

[woodguy7]

Andrea's

I did take the cover off & vacuumed it clean then blew it out with the airline.  You were right, its made a huge difference.

Cheers, Woodguy.