First purchase RO 90 - my first impressions

[michelangelo]

Hi FOG,

I hope I'm posting this in the right place. This is not an official review, just some first thoughts and questions...

My first impressions of the RO 90...
Powerful but also smooth. It seems to do almost all the work by itself. An old sander I was using beforehand needed plenty of muscle power to keep it in control and still my whole body would resonate with it.

My first project is to sand remnants of lead laden paint from wooden door door frames from which most of the paint has been removed by heat gun. So that means vertical, upside down, edge and corner sanding - a good all round test I think! I have attached the sander to a FLEX VCE 45 H dust extractor.

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The RO came in a systainer with two abrasive pads, one delta and one circular - P80 probably Granat.

I managed to sand one door frame with these two. The initial sanding power was striking, it really chewed its way through effortlessly. Considering I was sanding vertical and upside down, little relative effort was needed on my part because of its lightness and damping properties.

My initial thoughts are I'm really glad I got the RO 90 for many reasons but one reason stands out - it has a round pad. I almost decided on a DTS 400 because I felt a delta pad would work better for me as all rounder, but in the end went for the RO 90 because as many users point out the delta abrasives can be rotated as corners wear out.
Well from my fisrt use the round pad stole the show and the delta came through a sorry loser.

The round pad tackled edges just as well and lasted much, much longer. Neither of the two though could get into the extremities of corners.
The delta abrasive got ripped apart too easily. Even the backing pad got its corner chewed - I can't see that lasting very long. Is there a way around this besides babying it?

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Dust extraction seemed ok, just a small amount of large particles fell to the ground and deposits on the abrasive (maybe due to not enough suction)

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Also dust gets clogged in the chamber:

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I could be causing problems by pressing too hard due to muscle memory from the past sander I used.

Even though I haven't had much experience with different sanders I can tell the RO 90 is an excellent product.

I would love some advice from forum members on improving my technique and correct use of my new RO.

I'm going to get some P40 abrasives for initial removal of paint, is Granat the best choice for this? also which should I get for surface prep for priming and painting?

 

[peter halle]

Nice write up.  Regarding a couple of things to try with stripping paint, the first would be to experiement with sander speed.  You didn't mention what speed you used.  If yo were at the feastest speed you might want to slow it down to see if you can reduce melting of the paint onto the pads.  The second would be to experiment with pressure holding the sander to the trim.  I don't have the RO 90 but I know that the delta or triangular shaped pads on other sander I have a tendency to want to use the tips with a heavy hand.  I had to learn to fight that tendency with the DTS 400 and it took some time.  At least with the 90 the backing pad Velcro is rotatable unlike others and can be replaced separately.

Peter

 

[Kev]

The state of the abrasives in your pics are way beyond throw away ... getting the right grits and sorting out the pressure you apply, speed of the sander and rate of DC are a real learning curve.

That build up you show is significant if that's from one door frame and two pieces of abrasive - it'd be checking your DC flow!

It's hard to get the pressure right sanding upside down [smile]

The state of the delta pad looks like you were forcing it into the corner rather than running it close and letting the orbit reach the edge ... you'll be relaxing your pads frequently and that's going to get expensive.

I think you'll be a lot more satisfied when you have the right abrasives, but let the sander do the work for you, you really only need to drive it, not push it.

 

[michelangelo]

Thanks for the pointer Peter! I was using max speed 6 - oops

I'll try to tone it down... I have a tendency to try too hard generally and it shows. I'm learning that although the RO does most of the work, technique is quite make or break.

My DC has auto filter cleaning but I've been told the filter is clogged and needs changing so I'll report back on that when replaced.

 

[michelangelo]

let the sander do the work for you, you really only need to drive it, not push it.

I believe, and I'll try

 

[Kynasf]

I've been stripping old paint off wardrobes this week down to bare wood and repainting.  I dialled the speed down to 3 or 4 and the CT midi around halfway.  This seemed to stop any clogging of the abrasive.  I used granat 40 then Rubin 80 and 120 on the bare wood prior to painting.  Granat 320 on the top coat of paint but i expect Brilliant might be the recommended choice?

 

[michelangelo]

That is a brilliant idea and advice - no pun intended. I was always looking for an alternative to thick, brushed-on paint but could only think of a spray gun for a smoother finish. I never thought about sanding paint to smooth it down. Incidentally the paint I'm going to be using on the frames is linseed oil based. That can be sanded with Granat 320?

 

[Dan Clark]

michelangelo,

It's hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like the delta pad may have melted.  I did that with mine when the DC suction was set too low.  I had to buy a new one.

For the delta pad, keep the suction turned up pretty high when working in spaces where the pad is off the outside edge, or working corners or inside edges where the pad may be tilted.  Conversely for the round pad, keep the suction lower especially when it's held flat on the wood.

I didn't see where you've purchased additional abrasives.  My approach is to always toss an abrasive if it starts to clog or feels dull to your fingers.  IMO, it's better and cheaper to use more sandpaper and not damage the pad.

Granat is great stuff for stripping paint and as an excellent all-around paper.  Once down to bare wood you might consider switching to Rubin.  In my experience, Rubin will leave finer scratches for a given grit size, but it clogs more easily than Granat.  You can get rid of the deeper scratches with Granat also, but you'd probably have to go to a higher grit.

If you haven't see this, here's a link to the Festool abrasives search tool: http://www.festoolusa.com/abrasives.  It will help you choose the right abrasive.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[michelangelo]

Thanks for the replies and good advice, very helpful. I'm going to try and put them into practice now. I'll use P40 Granat then Rubin 80 120 and Granat or Brilliant 320 as kynasf suggests. It will be a while till I order the abrasives and replace my DC filter, I'll report back then..

 

[ear3]

I was having similar build-up issues inside the chamber the first few times I used the RO90 (sanding down old oak floors).  It was suggested that this happens as a result of not keeping the pad flat on the surface.  Having developed more of a technique with more frequent use, I'm noticing less build up.

I was also made aware of the excellent deal offered by Tool-Home of an assortment pack of RO90 abrasives, which includes both the round and delta pads.  Here's the link.

UPDATE (Forgot to include the link):

http://www.tool-home.com/products/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/25213

 

[wow]

I think this is the link that Edward intended to include:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/ro-90-abrasives-assortment/msg309600/#msg309600

I can't thank Tom enough for coming up with this assortment for me, and I highly recommend it to any first-time RO 90 user. If you want one just like it, contact Tom and tell him that you want the same thing that 'wow' from the FOG bought. He'll know exactly what you want, and you'll get exactly what you need!

(the fine print: I have no affiliation with Tom except as a happy customer, blah..blah..etc.)

 

[michelangelo]

Sounds good, but I think purchasing goods outside the EU incurs customs charges and other complications.

Yesterday I took a trip to the dealer I bought the sander from (via e-commerce) to take a look at abrasives, but they had none for me to look at - FAIL. Had I come all this way for only a palm slap to the forehead? I sulked for a bit, then I had a light bulb over said forehead moment. From the list of Festool merchants for Greece it seemed there was another on the same street somewhere. Now this merchant is more of a cabinet maker so it was a long shot. Well they had a box of 50 v93 Granat P80 lying around - RESULT!

Granted my desires were way more jazzy, I wanted to see all the different abrasives and grits laid out exhibition style, feel them, talk about them. Instead I got a God-send in my moment of despair. They said they would only bring abrasives on order but that's ok, just order what I like and they'll bring it.

 

[michelangelo]

Ok,
I had my second attempt at sanding my door frames with the p80's yesterday. Thanks to your advice I had much better results. I dropped the speed to 1 and the delta pad lasted much longer with less clogging and no tearing and coped with corners better. Thanks FOG!

 

[roblg3]

Im not sure if you need or want this, but noone has mentioned the interface pads.  They are velcro foam pads that go between the sanding pad and the abrasive.  They are used to form to irregular surfaces.  Meaning you can sand different levels of a surface simultaneously.  I can't find the proper phrasing to further explain at this time hopefully a more articulate fogger can explain.

 

[michelangelo]

Thanks for the tip,
I had a look at the accesories, very impressive. I think you mean the interface pads, helpful for sanding the curves of the door frames