More RAS 115 Fun!

[peter halle]

Every time I use this sander I am more amazed than the last time.  One day last week it was fun but not so fun – I spent 3 ½ hours in the broiling sun sanding down 150 sq feet of pressure treated decking.  Decking that was installed 25 years ago.  And it looked like it too.  Decking that had at least four heavy coats of latex solid deck stain and two coats of primer.  And the stain had sand added for traction.

Of course I forgot my CT-22 in my other truck.  No problem.  I had my emergency trashy orange shop vac.  But no green hose.  Well at least I didn’t have to listen to that orange screaming vac while sanding.  Only while cleaning up.

It probably turned out for the best after reading that post about setting a CT on fire.  It seems that 24 grit Saphir creates quite a lot of sparks when it hits those nail heads.  I really wish that I could have burned the deck down and started over, but the customer is always right.

About half way thru I started worrying about the number of new disks I had on hand.  Called my favorite dealer and ordered some more plus some other little stuff.  As it turned out I was able to finish the job with a couple disks to spare, but if I had more on hand I would have switched them out more often and decreased the time sanding.  I still only used 7 disks – which I consider amazing given the film thickness and sand content in some areas.  And the nails.

I know some of you would have used another type of sander, but sometimes you use what you have on hand and because this is a T&M job – go with the flow.

Don’t know what I would have done without the RAS this time.

Peter

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Pressure blast with water first. Let fully dry, then sand?

 

[peter halle]

Yes.  That is what I did.

Peter

 

[Ken Nagrod]

I'm surprised the pressure didn't remove the surface coatings after all these years. At least you weren't stuck with just an RO90. RAS was a good choice. Only other alternatives I can think of right now would be the Paint Shaver which uses a grinding wheel or a commercial floor sander with something smaller for the unreached areas. The Peel Away 7 would have been a very costly chemical option.

 

[fshanno]

Why was the RAS better than an angle grinder with a pad or a flap disk?

 

[peter halle]

Ken,

Your observation was right on target.  The deck had lived for 18 or more years naked - sans a coating.  Then the decision was made to put a solid stain on it.  The coating has to be recoated annually due to failure.  We are trying a different system not and I wanted to go to bare wood as much as possible.

Peter

 

[peter halle]

Why was the RAS better than an angle grinder with a pad or a flap disk?

The RAS definitely has advantages for most of these heavy sanding situations.  It does have dust collection capabilities.  Of course if you did what I did and leave your dust collector at home, then that aspect is moot.  The variable speed definitely helps with getting the speed down to the point where the abrasive is abrading versus melting the coating onto the disk.  Even if you don't have the dust collection working, by rotating the shroud handle, you can get the debris knocked down to the work surface versus creating a cloud.  I forgot to mention that I was using the hard pad.  The RAS pad can be flat on the surface.  With most angle grinders like my Makita, if you use the sanding disks, the part that hold the disk to the pad would mar the surface if you tried to set it flat on the surface so you have to hold it at an angle and then you are creating ridges.

Hope this helps.

Peter

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Peter, the RAS is pretty sweet.

Not too long ago, we had to fit a section of butcher block counter into an opening. I cut it close with the jigsaw and ts 75, but then used the RAS to tune it up to the scribe lines. 

I didn't realize how durable the abrasives are, so I bought a large amount when I bought the tool.  It turned out to be way too much  and I won't have to reorder RAS abrasives for a long time.

 

[Electric Trim]

Peter, I would reccomend a dumb worker to do a job like that.  Of course he would probably trash your sander and sand at least a few boards all the way through.  Never mind that idea. [eek]

 

[Electric Trim]

I just used the RAS the other day to cope some 4 1/2" large cove crown which was the large part of a 3 piece crown.  I think I like using if possible even more than my barrel grip Festool with the Collins coping foot attachment.

 

[peter halle]

Peter, I would reccomend a dumb worker to do a job like that.  Of course he would probably trash your sander and sand at least a few boards all the way through.  Never mind that idea. [eek]

I was the dumb worker on this job, but not as dumb as many.  You know Festool.  Faster.  Easier.  Smarter.  [big grin]

Peter

 

[Brice Burrell]

Peter, I would reccomend a dumb worker to do a job like that.  Of course he would probably trash your sander and sand at least a few boards all the way through.  Never mind that idea. [eek]

I was the dumb worker on this job, but not as dumb as many.  You know Festool.  Faster.  Easier.  Smarter.   [big grin]

Peter

So Peter, you're saying it was you that sanded through a few boards. [tongue]

 

[fshanno]

Why was the RAS better than an angle grinder with a pad or a flap disk?

The RAS definitely has advantages for most of these heavy sanding situations.  It does have dust collection capabilities.  Of course if you did what I did and leave your dust collector at home, then that aspect is moot.  The variable speed definitely helps with getting the speed down to the point where the abrasive is abrading versus melting the coating onto the disk.  Even if you don't have the dust collection working, by rotating the shroud handle, you can get the debris knocked down to the work surface versus creating a cloud.  I forgot to mention that I was using the hard pad.  The RAS pad can be flat on the surface.  With most angle grinders like my Makita, if you use the sanding disks, the part that hold the disk to the pad would mar the surface if you tried to set it flat on the surface so you have to hold it at an angle and then you are creating ridges.

Hope this helps.

Peter

Peter,

Thanks, it does help.  So from your experience would it be safe to say that you find that the RAS is vastly superior to compromise disk sanding solutions such as those I mentioned?  At least for this type of thing?  Meaning heavy finish and wood removal, scribing, coping, etc.?  At $290 it's far from being the most expensive tool in the Festool lineup.  Seems easy to justify it.

 

[peter halle]

I bought mine with the intention of using it as an experiment on one project.  I was pleasantly surprised by what I considered to be more than reasonable cost.  I was going to return it if I wasn't happy.  After seeing it in action the first time, my wife turned around and started shaking her head.  She knew I wasn't going to return it.

I keep a diamond blade on my grinder and use the RAS for the heavy sanding.  If you want to use it for coping moldings, several guys here have mentioned using the Fiberfix pad on the RAS which allows you to use common grinding disks.  That helps get into the tight corners a little better.

Hey, the worst thing that will happen is that you try one out for 29 days and then decide!

Peter

 

[deepcreek]

I just bought a RAS used and discovered that while the tool looks relatively new the pad is messed up.  The foam has turned a yellowish color and disintegrates at the slightest touch.

I'm planning on using it for shaping wood - coping and scribing.  What backer pad and disks would you recommend?

I'm a little confused by all the options (Stickfix, Fiberfix, Hard, Soft, Saphir, Rubin).

Thanks!

 

[peter halle]

When I bought mine I bought both the hard and also the soft pads.  The hard pad is better for coping than the soft - helps keep sharper corners.  I did not know about the Fastfix pad which allows you to use commonly available disks designed for disk grinders.  Disk grinders are not normally placed flat on the surface, so the central locking nut / flange doesn't come into play.  

I use the Saphir disks - they are the heaviest duty.  If you are primarily shaping wood, the Rubin is designed to shed wood fibers.  Stickfix is the Festool proprietary velcro like attachment system - no need to worry about that.

The pads do wear as do the brushes - don't worry that much about them, just keep an eye on the edge of your abrasives especially during prolonged heavy shaping.  Heat will affect plastics.

Have fun and create some dust that will get collected!

Peter

 

[tbellemare]

Peter makes a very good point.

With aggressive sanders, like the RAS and ROTEX's, heat build-up is a pad's worst enemy. Using a proper dust extractor helps a lot with heat reduction but you can still overheat a pad or an abrasive disk and cause the hook-and-loop bond to fail.

Eventually, any pad, like any tire, will fail. Getting either too hot will cause premature failure.

Tom