Festool Sanders

[earbogast]

Hi, I recently came across a lot of pecan lumber with the back on them.  I have six 6 foot long pieces and wanted to do something with the live edges.  But once routing the lumber straight, I don't think my finishing sander, the 125eq finishing sander, will do the job sanding the piece.  I think I need a more aggressive sander and would hope for some replies on what sander I might need in the Festool line.  Also if anyone does pieces like this on what they think.  Thanks in advance,  Earl

 

[nickao]

Pecan is hard, harder than Oak. DO you have a planer? If you do then after planing your little sander will work.

For me the Rotex 150 is best for harder woods in the rough that I don't want to plane. It will make Short work of that Pecan. I use to back that up with the ETS 150/3 for final sanding, but since I have an ETS EC 150 now I rarely ever pull out my ETS 150/3.

The sander you have is weak, very weak, that being said I find a weak sander just takes a heck of a lot longer to do stuff. You can still do what you want. The ETS 125  will sand the Pecan unless that Pecan is super rough, which I doubt. For me the ETS 125 is a dog of a sander and I am hoping this new Pro5 coming out makes up for it.

Now if you are talking about shaping something of Pecan in any way at all you will need a Rotex or even a RAS.

 

[Birdhunter]

"pecan lumber with the back on them"

what does this mean?

 

[earbogast]

I meant bark.  Wanted to do a table with the rough edge.

 

[mrboult]

The Festool ets125 is a good sander, it's just meant for fine finishing.

The Festool Rotex sanders are the most powerful and versatile sanders. They have a super aggressive direct drive mode and the normal random orbit mode.

If you already have the ets 125, then I would consider the Rotex RO 125. It  can do just about anything, from aggressive to fine, and will mean you only need to buy one size of paper for your two sanders.

 

[antss]

[member=15289]Birdhunter[/member] will know what pecan bark is, being from the south. 

 

[earbogast]

ok, thanks everyone.  I made up my mind and I agree with MrB.  I have 50 packs of the different abrasives for the 5" model and I am going to order the RO125.  I think that will do the job fine.  Thanks again.

 

[SS Teach]

Good move to get the Ro 125. It will do the job. I do suggest you watch some YouTube videos dealing with the proper way to use  a Rotex sander. Also if you do not have a CT get one or you will be living in a dust bowl. The Ro will kick up a lot of dust. Enjoy the sander.

 

[earbogast]

Yes, I have the dust collection and many festools (track saw, two routers, both dominos, kapex, etc)

 

[nickao]

Yes, I have the dust collection and many festools (track saw, two routers, both dominos, kapex, etc)

For me you went the wrong way, get rid of that 5", and get into  the 6" sanders. I haven't used a 5" sander in 7 years and only ordered the pro5 for kicks because I have some smaller drawers to make. Don't base your next large purchase based on an underpowered 5" sander sander and 50 sheets of sandpaper.

I am betting anything if you just got a 6" ETS TC you would love it, might not even need to the Rotex. For me I don't get the appeal of a 5" sander, especially in the Rotex variety. Most all my work is 36" to 60", that's not very large and I would go crazy if I had to use 5" sanders. I don't think mamy users of the 5" sanders understand what they are missing, there is a substantial difference , I would say 30% increase in speed between the two sander sizes.

 

[leakyroof]

"pecan lumber with the back on them"

what does this mean?

  The back of the tree, that part you couldn't see since you were looking at the front bark of the tree...... [wink] [wink] [poke]

 

[leakyroof]

Yes, I have the dust collection and many festools (track saw, two routers, both dominos, kapex, etc)

For me you went the wrong way, get rid of that 5", and get into  the 6" sanders. I haven't used a 5" sander in 7 years and only ordered the pro5 for kicks because I have some smaller drawers to make. Don't base your next large purchase based on an underpowered 5" sander sander and 50 sheets of sandpaper.

I am betting anything if you just got a 6" ETS TC you would love it, might not even need to the Rotex. For me I don't get the appeal of a 5" sander, especially in the Rotex variety. Most all my work is 36" to 60", that's not very large and I would go crazy if I had to use 5" sanders. I don't think mamy users of the 5" sanders understand what they are missing, there is a substantial difference , I would say 30% increase in speed between the two sander sizes.

  Good point about the pad increase in size helping to speed up the work process. When I went from my 5" old Bosch RAS to the 6"/150mm ETS 150/5 sander in 2004, it was a real eye opener in terms of faster surface coverage alone... [eek]

 

[AlexThePalex]

While I'm sure the Ro125 will do fine I really prefer the 150 model over the 125 for the Rotex. The extra area, power and stability make it a much more effective and enjoyable sander to use.

I like my ETS125, but it's indeed not the sander for a job like this, but for fine work. 

 

[Xoncention]

While I'm sure the Ro125 will do fine I really prefer the 150 model over the 125 for the Rotex. The extra area, power and stability make it a much more effective and enjoyable sander to use.

I like my ETS125, but it's indeed not the sander for a job like this, but for fine work. 

I enjoy using my Rotex 150 for most larger sanding jobs.  It is very good on keeping sanding disk use to a minimum and that is important.  This week I had to strip down some square RHS metal poles on a sign down to bare metal.  These posts had about 5 coats of paint and the Rotex cleaned these very quickly and only using 2 disks for the whole job.  No fatigue after 40mins sanding.  The great thing was the disks were still ok to use on other jobs - just wanted to get the job done quickly so changed disks.  Like you said, the ETS125 is a great sander for finishing jobs, but the 150 is the perfect tool for cutting preparation time down.