Looking to Make First Purchase: Sander + Dust Extractor

Joined
Feb 16, 2014
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Greetings!  First post here.  Hope to get some friendly advice!

I've been reading a lot lately while I gain the courage to throw down for a sander and dust extractor.  I build small wood projects and repair the home on weekends when I have the time.  I need something to help me prep and finish projects better without making a mess with sandpaper.  I frequently will wait to sand until I can go outside, and the timing doesn't always work out with my weekend limitations.

I do not do a lot of panel work, so I was thinking the RO 90DX may be the best choice for me as a "first sander."  I don't see a lot of reviews on the RO 90DX so that is a concern.  Otherwise, I'm not sure if I should just go a bit bigger with the RO 125.

For the dust extractor side of the purchase, I was thinking to just get a CT48 simply for economy of size and less frequent bagging.  I'm not too concerned about size.

I was looking at the Ultimate Dust Deputy to add to the dust extractor to save on bags and filters.  If I were to take the UDD approach would it make sense to save some money and get the CT26?

I'd appreciate any opinions.  Thanks!

Steve
 
The RO90 and midi got me started on the green path.
I used it to refinish my stairs. It took off all of the old poly on the treads and the Delta pad got into all of the corners. I was able to do all 13 treads in half a day. best of all no dust! [big grin]

The Delta pad is what sold me on it being able to get into corners and tight places.
I'm doing a lot of remodeling right now and i find the 90 to be just about perfect. however if you want a smoother finish (fine furniture etc) i'd suggest you look at the other finish sanders.
If you want bigger I think that the RO150 would be your best bet but you loose the corner delta pad.

I got the midi for the portability i go up and down stairs, however if I had it to do over again I might choose the CT26 for the attachments.
 
 Steve,

Welcome to the FOG.  You will get good advice here - lots in fact. All the Rotex sanders - 90, 125 and 150, offer versatility; sort of soup to nuts sanding - at a price/weight point. Will you be needing the aggressiveness of the Rotex sanders for your projects? Sounds like you might. The RO 90 has the added versatility of the 2 different sanding heads. The feedback from customers is pretty positive on the RO 90.

Regarding the CT vacs, you may want to consider the  CT 26 or 36,  unless you are sure that the 48 will fit under your benches and/or in your car or van (if you will be going mobile) or if you need to carry it up the stairs, etc. I suppose the CT 26 hits that sweet spot between capacity and height/weight and price. I think you'd surprised as to how much capacity those bags actually hold before filling up and needing replacement.

 Bob
 
If I only made dust on weekends, then I would just use the midi with the dust deputy and buy another tool...larger sander to go with the RO90 or something that you need.
 
Thanks for the quick replies!  Hope to get an order in this week to complete a mantel project.

I may need some aggressiveness on refinishing around the house.  There's water damage on most my window stools and regularly find paint peeling all over on trim.  The corners on the delta pad will definitely come in handy.  I have a Dremel Multi-Max oscillating tool that I use with sanding pads, but it is messy every time I use it.  While I like to make a mess my wife doesn't like it when I don't clean it up.

I didn't mention it but I also need some dust extraction for my Triton TRA001 router and Ridgid R4510 table saw, so the unit would not be used just for sanding.  That's why I didn't mention a midi earlier.  I'm currently using a Ridgid shop vac, but when I had to clean it out for wet pickup this weekend I wished I had a dedicated unit for dust.  I made more dust just emptying it out.  ::)

Is the boom arm extension too big for the CT26?  Make it more likely to tip over?  Or does it give it some beneficial additional weight?

 
There are no worries with the Boom Arm and CT 26. If you are uncomfortable with the stability, there are "outriggers" that come with the Boom Arm. My observation is that most people don't even deploy them.

Tom
 
The Ro90 is a superb piece of equipment, I recently went round in circles not knowing what sanders to go for but with some help from this site I ended up getting a good kit list with the Ro90 being one of them - very ergonomic and definitely a keeper.

Do a little forward planning if you can, I suspect you will be adding other sanders to the fold before long (trust me it happens) and it makes sense to get economies of scale with your abrasives paper, i.e. 90/125/150mm. I say this as you mention the Ro125.

Also bear in mind that the dust cyclone will generate huge amounts of static - few reports of this damaging the electronics of the CT's and the tools. It's easy to work around, you just run an earth through the cyclone, but worth looking into to.
 
First,  [welcome]

I just recently bought the RO90 as my first Festool sander. I haven't used it a boatload yet, of course, but I am already happy with my purchase.

The posts above regarding dust extraction are more informed than what I could give, so I'll defer on that.

Be sure you pick up a nice assortment of abrasives to get started with. Tom Bellemare (see his post a couple up) made up a great assortment for me, and it was also very affordable. Call him and ask about it.

Good luck with your decision!
 
+1 on Tom's assortments. The ct26 will do all you need. Like mentioned before, it will hold a lot of dust and you won't enjoy carrying around a 3/4 full bag.

Kevin
 
Welcome Steve,

I think the RO90 will suit your needs perfectly but, I think that the CT48 is overkill for just sanding and even if you get the CT26 you won't need the Oneida UDD unless you jump into other tools like the Domino or Kapex and do a lot of work.  The RO90 and CT 26 will give you a great introduction to Festool with room for expansion.  For me the Garnat sanding discs are the best Festool has to offer for wood sanding and they seem to last forever.

Jack
 
Welcome Steve!  I think the RO 90 is great first sander.  I went with the RO 125 as my first but do wish I had the delta pad option for getting in corners.  In my opinion you cannot beat the RO for versatility. I agree with others in that Garnat disc are great.  I have several varieties of Garnats and while a little expensive upfront they seem to last forever.

 
Hello,
I'm  as well looking to make my first purchase, it seems that I'm in the right place for great advice. In my case I do little of everything built custom cabinets, quite a bit of trim work even those small handyman services as well which involve drywall sanding, door planing etc. From the research I've done best set up for me would be ct26 and or 125 or 150 sander Or ct36ac.
Please advise and thank you in advance. [smile]
Pete
 
Pete@dsy said:
Hello,
I'm  as well looking to make my first purchase, it seems that I'm in the right place for great advice. In my case I do little of everything built custom cabinets, quite a bit of trim work even those small handyman services as well which involve drywall sanding, door planing etc. From the research I've done best set up for me would be ct26 and or 125 or 150 sander Or ct36ac.
Please advise and thank you in advance. [smile]
Pete
  Okay, since I own both the 26 and the 36 AC I can safely say that unless you're doing lots of drywall, the CT-26 will work just fine as an all-around dust extractor. The larger size and auto-clean feature of the 36AC is great, but not needed if you're rarely working with drywall dust.
I have an Oneida Dust Deputy on top of my 36 unit, and having used it on my old now-gone CT-22, it really keeps dust out of the vac's bag in the long run, saving your money on bag replacement costs. The downside is that you're now using space on top of your vac that could hold Systainers or Sortainers while moving the vac around. I do mount a Sortainer under my UDD, but just the one.
For moving the Systainers around, I use the Sys-Roll to make up for the UDD hogging vac space. In other words, you have choices.. [wink]
For sanding, Seth S. and I are big fans of the 150/5 sander since it covers more area than a 5"/125mm sander and has a slightly larger orbit for more aggressive sanding when you need it, but can be a finer finish sander with just using high grit abrasives easily too.
The RO90 sander compliments it nicely and you get Delta sanding plus Polishing Ability with the 80mm pads in Rotex mode too.
Lastly, I'll add one more sander as a 3 party to the sanding kit, the DTS400. Flat, stable, and with a larger footprint than the RO90 delta pad, covers more ground/area as well.  It's also great for drywall sanding since it's light when working overhead on ceilings, and sands right into corners with ease.
 
leakyroof said:
Pete@dsy said:
Hello,
I'm  as well looking to make my first purchase, it seems that I'm in the right place for great advice. In my case I do little of everything built custom cabinets, quite a bit of trim work even those small handyman services as well which involve drywall sanding, door planing etc. From the research I've done best set up for me would be ct26 and or 125 or 150 sander Or ct36ac.
Please advise and thank you in advance. [smile]
Pete
  Okay, since I own both the 26 and the 36 AC I can safely say that unless you're doing lots of drywall, the CT-26 will work just fine as an all-around dust extractor. The larger size and auto-clean feature of the 36AC is great, but not needed if you're rarely working with drywall dust.
I have an Oneida Dust Deputy on top of my 36 unit, and having used it on my old now-gone CT-22, it really keeps dust out of the vac's bag in the long run, saving your money on bag replacement costs. The downside is that you're now using space on top of your vac that could hold Systainers or Sortainers while moving the vac around. I do mount a Sortainer under my UDD, but just the one.
For moving the Systainers around, I use the Sys-Roll to make up for the UDD hogging vac space. In other words, you have choices.. [wink]
For sanding, Seth S. and I are big fans of the 150/5 sander since it covers more area than a 5"/125mm sander and has a slightly larger orbit for more aggressive sanding when you need it, but can be a finer finish sander with just using high grit abrasives easily too.
The RO90 sander compliments it nicely and you get Delta sanding plus Polishing Ability with the 80mm pads in Rotex mode too.
Lastly, I'll add one more sander as a 3 party to the sanding kit, the DTS400. Flat, stable, and with a larger footprint than the RO90 delta pad, covers more ground/area as well.  It's also great for drywall sanding since it's light when working overhead on ceilings, and sands right into corners with ease.

  Agree with above recommendation, but to also have you consider the MINI or MIDI as you seem to be doing  on- site work.

Bob
 
wow great responses! Giving me more questions!  And making me want to buy more tools already before I bought my first ha!

Can the RO90 be used for small drywall repair?

How do I need to be careful of the static grounding?  I just noticed there are non-static hoses, too.  I was considering getting the wye hose accessory so I can use on my router & table.

And has the UDD recent fixes addressed static issues?  I read the posts from last year about CT boards frying.  No recent reports of it though.
 
weekendwarrior said:
wow great responses! Giving me more questions!  And making me want to buy more tools already before I bought my first ha!

Can the RO90 be used for small drywall repair?

How do I need to be careful of the static grounding?  I just noticed there are non-static hoses, too.  I was considering getting the wye hose accessory so I can use on my router & table.

And has the UDD recent fixes addressed static issues?  I read the posts from last year about CT boards frying.  No recent reports of it though.
. The RO 90 will certainly work, it's just not usually a first choice for a dedicated drywall sander.
That honor normally goes to the RTS 400 or DTS 400.
As for static and using a CT with a UDD, I use the 50mm AS hose from Festool to connect my CT to the output connection of the cyclone. This 50mm hose is the Boom Arm hose, short, and fits perfectly and is also Anti-Static.
I have never suffered a circuit board loss with this set-up over the stock hose that came with the UDD , which may not have been Anti-Static from Oneida.
I have not added as much copper tape to the inside of the cyclone or collection box like Corwin and other posters have, but it's easy and cheap enough to do if one wanted to
 
Welcome to FOG. You will find a lot of useful advice from knowledgeable people. The RO 90 is a great sander and very versatile. Before I got mine I checked out Paul Marcel videos and a few others. The Ro 90 is my 4th sander. Doing work  around the house I found the RTS 400, ETS125 and LS130 were also very handy. Along with a CT 36 and few systainers of sandpaper I'm set, (right)? ? A word of warning, I started with just one. Before I knew it I had 4.
 
I'd say the RO90 and CT26 would be ideal. As people have pointed out the CT26 is in a sweet spot with regards to size and capacity. However it is a bit cumbersome when the bags are neally full so don't rule out the Midi. There are times when I wish I had the Midi if I have to move my CT26 up and down stairs a lot. You could also consider two extractors in time. Once you own one Festool extractor you may come decide that it is the most important part of your setup. Once people have done "Festool Dust Free" very few want to go back to the dark side.

I say RO90 as you did say "first sander" and it sounds like you will end up with 3-4 anyway. So however you get there the RO90 will always feature in anyone's list. You might be better off asking the question "Which 3 Festool sanders would offer the most versatility for a range of tasks?" and see what responses you get.  You could be making a short term tactical decision when a longer term strategy might serve you better.

Either way you're addicted so the biggest decision you need to make is how to tell the wife why you need to cancel that holiday! Anticipation of owning many things in life is often the best bit and ownership often disappoints. That doesn't happen with Festool, ownership exceeds expectations and there's no going back. Be sure to get your wife membership on festoolwidows.com.

My most favorite comment of all time that best describes Festool: "Crack cocaine for chippies"
 
SS Teach said:
Welcome to FOG. You will find a lot of useful advice from knowledgeable people. The RO 90 is a great sander and very versatile. Before I got mine I checked out Paul Marcel videos and a few others. The Ro 90 is my 4th sander. Doing work  around the house I found the RTS 400, ETS125 and LS130 were also very handy. Along with a CT 36 and few systainers of sandpaper I'm set, (right)? ? A word of warning, I started with just one. Before I knew it I had 4.
  I know what you mean. I now have 10 sanders, 1 polisher, and yet none in the 5"/125mm size. Go figure... [embarassed]
 
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