LS 130 Sander

truck90278

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May 12, 2010
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103
I am thinking about adding the LS 130 sander to my collection of sanders.  I currently have the RO 125, ETS 125, DTS 400.  My use is generally for cabinets and furniture and I am a hobbyist. What is your experience with this sander and would you recommend adding it to my collection?

Thanks in advance
Ralph
 
I also have several Festool sanders and bought the LS sander for a remodeling project that required sanding a lot of molding.

I gave away a Porter Cable profile sander that was purely non-usable.

The LS, with the profiles I purchased with the sander, work as advertised. I was able to sand the moldings very quickly and avoided many hours of hand sanding. The dust collection is excellent. I did have to experiment with vacuum & sander settings and sander handling to get the best results. The sander is louder than I expected.

I liked the vacuum turned to about 50%.

To me, this is a limited use tool as random orbit sanders are much more versatile.

 
my thoughts were adding a linear sander might be good for finishing and help eliminate any swirl marks.
 
The LS 130 is certainly a great choice for profile sanding. It can also be used as a finish sander.

I have a customer that uses it to make the "brushed" look in softer metallic surfaces.

All of these sanders have multiple personalities in the right hands...

Tom
 
Since I don't have an edge sander (like the Ridgid edge sander), I clamped my LS130 horizontally on the MFT to do some edge sanding.  It worked quite well. 

The LS130 is not as flexible as an orbital sander, but it is an excellent specialty sander IMO.

Dan.
 
If you are ever refinishing any cabinets, especially raised panel doors.... it cant be beat.  but the make your own profile kit and run it through router table and presto!  exact profile sanding.  LOVE IT!!
 
I got an LS 130 when refinishing my kitchen and bathroom cabinets, door and drawer profiles, worked like a charm. I had to make a profile it was not hard at all. It is a specialty sander, but no question it does make sanding profiles so much easier and cleaner with a CT. You won't regret it.
 
Just to add to what has been said, I got the profile sander over the summer to finish off some crown moulding I had milled for some renovations in my home.  It was particularly valuable during the installation of the moulding for creating seamless joints, as my plaster walls were very uneven and made it almost impossible to get the ends flush on two long pieces. , even with a scarf joint. After that project, I figured I wouldn't have that much use for it unless I were doing another large run of moulding (which I had not immediate plans to do), so I returned it and put the proceeds towards a Domino -- it does it what it does really well, but not much else.

And of course, I recently got a commission to do a large room that called for almost 400 ft. of moulding.  So I promptly repurchased the LS 130, knowing that it's a lifesaver in these situations, especially when you make the moulding yourself, and it is now a permanent part of my tool kit.

I especially like the versatility of the profiles.  They are soft enough that you can form them into the shape of the profile with a little pressure.  And as others have already mentioned, the DIY profile kit will help you sand those shapes not already covered in the standard profiles (particularly smaller bull-nose shapes).  Be aware, though, that there is a size constraint for the DIY profile -- I haven't worked it out exactly, but if the profile has tiny elements, like beading, you won't be able to sand one element discreetly without inadvertently sanding down another.

My only complaint is the sometimes inefficient use of the sandpaper, though I'm not sure if there's any better solution that would still maintain the full dust collection capabilities of the sander.  For many profiles you end up using only one part of the paper, because it's riding on the edge.  Once that edge is used up, you can't reposition the paper too far unless you want to sacrifice dust collection, as the holes on the paper will no longer line up with the profile. 
 
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