Is the RAS 180 being discontinued in the EU?

Joined
Dec 18, 2009
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Hi all

Santa left (lucky) me a RAS 180 this Christmas.

I visited the Festool.co.uk see to see which abrasives are available only to discover that it is no longer listed under the sanders subcategory. Has it being discontinued? I know that Festool commit to making sure that consumbles and spares are available for a predefined amount of time but if they don't publicly announce that a product has been discontinued, how does one know when the "support" clock has started ticking down?

It is still listed on the Australian Festool site, and bizarrely lists the "Stirring Rod Adapter M14 10 mm" as one of the top accessories...

BTW I was able to find the sandpaper options by using the Festool (UK) search box.

 
If you're after paper for general abuse you can find plenty much cheaper on eBay. "Dr Abrasives" sells some good disks equivalent to Rubin 2 for wood. Personally, I'll use these cheaper low grit disks (40, 60 and 80) on the RAS and save my money for fancier papers as I get nearer to finishing with the RO150.

If you're looking for something more agressive like Saphir then I've yet to find anything comparable... and they're knocking on £60 a box.
 
Well, they already discontinued the RAS 115 so I would not be suprised of they also discontinued the 180. I am pretty sure that especially the 180 is not a big seller.

The 180 is still listed on the Dutch website, but not on the UK website anymore. I have the idea that they are only selling the machines they still have in stock and probably ran out of the UK machines already. I have a strong inclination they are not producing new stock anymore.
 
Roachmill said:
If you're after paper for general abuse you can find plenty much cheaper on eBay. "Dr Abrasives" sells some good disks equivalent to Rubin 2 for wood. Personally, I'll use these cheaper low grit disks (40, 60 and 80) on the RAS and save my money for fancier papers as I get nearer to finishing with the RO150.

If you're looking for something more agressive like Saphir then I've yet to find anything comparable... and they're knocking on £60 a box.

Thanks Roachmill,

I will checkout Dr Abrasives.

BTW Nuts and Bolts are selling the 80g Safhir disks for £44.81
http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/festool-sanding-discs-stf-d180-0-p80-sa-25.html

and £28.07 for the 120 and 180g
 
Alex said:
Well, they already discontinued the RAS 115 so I would not be suprised of they also discontinued the 180. I am pretty sure that especially the 180 is not a big seller.

The 180 is still listed on the Dutch website, but not on the UK website anymore. I have the idea that they are only selling the machines they still have in stock and probably ran out of the UK machines already. I have a strong inclination they are not producing new stock anymore.

I suspect you may be correct.

As an aside my RAS was made in 2018 which isn't that long ago.
 
i managed to get probably the last ras 180e 230v on the 5th 0f july 2022 from south africa after seeing this thread i swiftly looked online and found a company i also offered the lady from that company £150 extra to find another 1 at rival companies and she couldnt so i reckon this is the last, i have 3 other working machines being a floorsander so this 1 will be put away for a few years or longer and wont even get my 3 year warranty, love this machine with its 180 mm width
 
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