New person looking for first (proper) sander

[Dva99999]

I think satisfactory dust extraction is really important - the ability to vary the speed of the 'vacuum' will enable you to get optimum extraction and best finish possible; whilst prolonging the life of whatever abrasive sheets you use. 
A part of me would, almost, want a good extractor to start with... even if it meant getting less desireable sander(s) to start with. 

(Don't know if worth following up - but see there is a 240v Midi dust extractor on eBay at the moment - might need a bit of a tidy up? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Festool-CTL-Midi-workshop-hoover/233079616390 ) 

Richard UK.

I’ve seen this....it is a collection only item and I doubt it will fit in my little car. I am watching it and looking at shop vacs from Machine Mart as an alternative.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I've used home vacs for years before I got my first Festool vac, they work just fine if you can live without the auto start.

My Mini vacs fit the back of my bike, surely they will fit any car bigger than a dinky toy?

 

[ryanjg117]

On a budget, you can find Fein Turbo vacs at a mere fraction of what Festool CTs cost. I see them pop up all the time on Craigslist for $200 or less, and they do have the auto-start feature.

 

[Cheese]

On the accessory page of their website they list the turbo dust bags as a compatible accessory.
If this is incorrect then I’m going to have to wait or look at what Mirka have to offer (although I’ve read there are reliability issues with the Deros).
My head hurts.... [crying]

If you go to the accessory page, the dust bags are listed for use with a ETS 125, ETSC 125 and ETS 150. Under the ETS EC 125 & ETS EC 150 columns the boxes are empty.

The Mirka Deros 5650X will run about $600+ and I believe it also needs a direct attachment to a vac, no dust bag available.

An ETS EC 125 runs $400 while a used Fein Turbo runs $200. That combo will give you more bang for your buck. Or you can just run the ETS EC 125 off of your Dyson.

 

[rst]

The Festool vacs are great, but not the only viable choice.  My first three vacs were Feins, all a connected to steel Oneida Dust Deputys and are tool station specific.  The fourth one, a new style II, I bought because I got it with the accessories and the electric beater for the price of the basic vac,I am a real sucker for a great deal.  I also have three Festools, a Midi that is cutting station specific sits under an Oneida Festool dust deputy.  I have a 26 that sits under a Festool work center and a Sys Vac that lives in my van.  Lastly, within two weeks of buying the last Fein, I won a $700.00 Hitachi- actually Metabo Hepa from Protoolreveiws.  I think my vac needs are pretty much covered and I do not think any one of them is marginally superior to the others.

 

[Cheese]

I think my vac needs are pretty much covered and I do not think any one of them is marginally superior to the others.

I also have a Fein Turbo II that works well. It's a nice vac, but it does not have variable suction so I keep it with the Kapex. Fein makes a good vac for the money. 

 

[Dva99999]

Absolutely love the advice given. I’m going to try my hand at a few from Amazon. I’ve seen a Vacmaster multi 20 which is cheap with some positive reviews (it’s easy to spot the real from the questionable). At a fraction under £70 it also features a power socket to plug the sander in so it’s worth a try. Am I correct in also saying that part number #452879 would be the correct adapter for fitting 3rd party vacs to the sander?
I’ve seen the Festool setup in action so eventually I will invest in a Festool vac with the 3rd party one confined to the garage....it’s much the same way I converted from Windows to Apple 20 years ago, the initial costs were high and it was an expensive learning curve, but there’s no regrets and no going back.

 

[Pnw painter]

If you have a local Festool dealer I’d recommend buying from them. For the most part, Festool enforces pricing so you won’t save anything buying from Amazon and it’ll make it easier if you happen to need any customer service.

Also remember to buy some Festool abrasives with your sander. The hole patterns that Festool uses is different than what you’ll typically find from 3M, Norton, etc...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dva99999]

If you have a local Festool dealer I’d recommend buying from them. For the most part, Festool enforces pricing so you won’t save anything buying from Amazon and it’ll make it easier if you happen to need any customer service.

Also remember to buy some Festool abrasives with your sander. The hole patterns that Festool uses is different than what you’ll typically find from 3M, Norton, etc...

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Thank you
Yes that’s my intention....the vacs I’m trying out will be from Amazon. I’m giving Toolfest a call later as they have some good pricing and only sell Festool products. Unfortunately I can’t take advantage of the 10% discount from Festool as it only applies to US customers...but pricing from Toolfest is quite competitive.
Yes I’ll get some Rubin’s to start with as I’m only stripping back a table and bed for the moment.

 

[Gregor]

Yes that’s my intention....the vacs I’m trying out will be from Amazon. I’m giving Toolfest a call later as they have some good pricing and only sell Festool products. Unfortunately I can’t take advantage of the 10% discount from Festool as it only applies to US customers...but pricing from Toolfest is quite competitive.

That's because they're (for the moment) in the EU where the cartel price fixing that's happening in the US is illegal, thus the Festools dealers on our side of the ocean are free to sell at prices they select (which allows for haggling).

Might be worth to ask if they're willing to offer a similar deal to you for buying multiple things at once.

 

[leakyroof]

If you have a local Festool dealer I’d recommend buying from them. For the most part, Festool enforces pricing so you won’t save anything buying from Amazon and it’ll make it easier if you happen to need any customer service.

Also remember to buy some Festool abrasives with your sander. The hole patterns that Festool uses is different than what you’ll typically find from 3M, Norton, etc...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you
Yes that’s my intention....the vacs I’m trying out will be from Amazon. I’m giving Toolfest a call later as they have some good pricing and only sell Festool products. Unfortunately I can’t take advantage of the 10% discount from Festool as it only applies to US customers...but pricing from Toolfest is quite competitive.
Yes I’ll get some Rubin’s to start with as I’m only stripping back a table and bed for the moment.

If there is ANY type of Finish on that Bed and Table, don’t use Rubin as it will clog. It’s meant for Raw Wood. Old stocks of Cristal and Brilliant 2 along with current Granat will handle prefinished material.  Cristal and Brilliant 2 have been discontinued by Festool but you might find some old stock at a discount over current Granat prices to save money starting out.
Brilliant 2 was used by many of us as the All Around Abrasive from Festool before we got Granat since it handles raw wood sanding and finished material.
Cristal was great for fast stripping but tended to leave scratch patterns you ended up sanding out with higher grits.

What Finish is in your Table and Bed...Lacquer, Shellac, Oil. Paint?, or Varnish?

 

[Dva99999]

If you have a local Festool dealer I’d recommend buying from them. For the most part, Festool enforces pricing so you won’t save anything buying from Amazon and it’ll make it easier if you happen to need any customer service.

Also remember to buy some Festool abrasives with your sander. The hole patterns that Festool uses is different than what you’ll typically find from 3M, Norton, etc...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you
Yes that’s my intention....the vacs I’m trying out will be from Amazon. I’m giving Toolfest a call later as they have some good pricing and only sell Festool products. Unfortunately I can’t take advantage of the 10% discount from Festool as it only applies to US customers...but pricing from Toolfest is quite competitive.
Yes I’ll get some Rubin’s to start with as I’m only stripping back a table and bed for the moment.

If there is ANY type of Finish on that Bed and Table, don’t use Rubin as it will clog. It’s meant for Raw Wood. Old stocks of Cristal and Brilliant 2 along with current Granat will handle prefinished material.  Cristal and Brilliant 2 have been discontinued by Festool but you might find some old stock at a discount over current Granat prices to save money starting out.
Brilliant 2 was used by many of us as the All Around Abrasive from Festool before we got Granat since it handles raw wood sanding and finished material.
Cristal was great for fast stripping but tended to leave scratch patterns you ended up sanding out with higher grits.

What Finish is in your Table and Bed...Lacquer, Shellac, Oil. Paint?, or Varnish?

Noted...the bed and table are waxed.

 

[leakyroof]

Hah, Wax, the one thing I didn’t think of...  [embarassed]
You might be okay with it, I’ve never tried Rubin on a Waxed piece before, so I don’t know. You could always bum 1 disc off a supplier and try it out before committing to an Abrasive. Here in the US however, most commercial Festool users stock only Granat for themselves and their kits since it handles such a wide range of materials.

 

[Dva99999]

The more I look into this the more I steer towards the Rotex....I didn’t realise when I initially asked the question the number of options Festool do.
And to think I almost bought a Mirka Deros!!

 

[leakyroof]

The more I look into this the more I steer towards the Rotex....I didn’t realise when I initially asked the question the number of options Festool do.
And to think I almost bought a Mirka Deros!!

. I own two Rotex Sanders, 150 and the smaller 90.  Please try them and the other Sanders out in person before mentally committing to a Rotex.
My EC Sanders WILL strip finishes, even with the smaller 3mm orbit on my smaller EC 125.
I’ve neatly removed ancient Varnish and Oil Stains off doors in my home and not suffered much time by not pulling my Rotex out unless the Rotex is really called for.  As a bonus, my hands weren’t tired like they would have been using a Rotex in Rotex mode to strip the finishes off.
Also, I can strip vertical trim/ casing, baseboards, as long as the pad sizes fit the project.
The EC Sanders are that powerful, even with a smaller orbit. You just use Coarse Abrasives like 40grit or 60 grit Granat and Saphir.

 

[Dva99999]

Having looked at the videos I have narrowed it down. Unfortunately getting a dealer to let me have a go at the two I’ve narrowed it down too is proving to be a trial in itself. Nobody has them in stock or nobody is calling me back. I ordered the Rotex 150 from one company based on their stock (and they were the cheapest) only to be told the online info was wrong and they don’t stock it!! I like the Rotex 150 because after stripping down a table and bed, I like the fact I can polish afterwards using same unit. I also find it would be helpful when I start the car restoration from start to finish. I’m not yet at the stage to go in and buy two units but in time that may well be a possibility.

 

[terry314159]

I bought a Festool 574993 ETS125 sander. I coupled it to my Dyson 23 canister vacuum with a 10’ x 1 3/16” OD Dust Collection Power Tool Hose with Fittings supplied by Peachtree Woodworking Supply through Amazon ($20). The adapter fitting allowed the one hose end to connect perfectly to the sander and the other adapter allowed the hose to make a tight press fit into the end of the Dyson hose. I added an Automated Vacuum Switch supplied by iVac through Amazon ($50) that automatically cycles the Dyson on/off as I use the sander. I strapped the switch to the Dyson for convenience. The switch is not required but it is nice to have. The whole system works perfectly for my home maintenance jobs. In preparation for painting, I just finished sanding down all my wife’s kitchen cabinets with so little dust she was able to use her kitchen during the project.