Oneida:
This is an awesome purchase.
The bad: the fittings for the hose, as well as the 1/4" suction line need to be thought out better, and currently look like a complete afterthought, but they do the job. The unit perched up top of the vacuum is kind of cumbersome, and pulling it by the hose around the floor just causes the hose to pull out of the Oneida. I'm going to have to bolt a handle onto the Oneida to tug on. I wish Festool would have put 4 casters on the vac instead of just two. Pushing it sideways out of the way is a real pain when its full because you have to turn it to point where you need it to go all the time, and you can't tug on the hose to spin it around! Use good quality bags in it though, when it's full the bag is very heavy (especially with drywall dust!) and there is a molding ridge around the perimeter of the Oneida which faces in about 3/4". This ridge tries it's best to keep the bag for itself or at least tear it open while heaving the 50 lb bag out, not to mention while mounted on top of the vacuum this is all happening 4-5' high, so upper body strength is a per-requisite to do this. Otherwise you can remove the Oneida and put it on the floor, but without being clamped into the Systainer clamps on the AC36 using the vac as a counterweight, lifting out the bag results in simply lifting the very light Oneida with it causing unbelievable cuss words to find their way into the air and the end result is a very UFC like match of wills.
The good:
We had a solid month of using this set-up. I used it with the Planex to sand a 900 sq ft basement we are finishing, with a drywall ceiling, archways and pillars, lots of bulkheads and a tray ceiling in the theater room. I also used this set-up as our daily vac using it to clean up at the end of every day, after each mess, and we hooked it to every tool that made dust. The project had quite a bit of wood working also. A custom wet bar, a small office space with a custom desk wrapped with wainscoting, 6 built-in wall units and bookshelves, trim, and the counter-tops were all 1.5" thick oak butcher block which were cut to size on site-so, we had it hooked to our table saw, miter saws, a ton of hand power tools and a jointer. LOTS of dust and floor clean up was always interesting-if it fit in the hose, it was now property of the AC36! The Oneida sits on top of the AC which means you can still store your attachments in the storage tray on top of the vac, which is in the space between the vac and Oneida, which BTW seems built pretty sturdy.
We emptied the Oneida twice, and the vac never showed a hint of power loss. The Oneida was JAMMED full and the AC 36 was empty. No joke. Dusty, but empty.
Works very well with drywall dust, and now that my AC36 is kaput (two months old and on it's second switch repair, however Shane offered to send me a new vac to replace the old one) I'm using my Ridgid w1450. Which still majorly benefits from the Oneida. I made a little dolly where the Onida sits in a basket next to the Ridgid. Without the Oneida, sanding with the Planex today I would have had to clean the filter in the Ridgid (the auto clean on the AC36 works wonderfully) at least every 10 minutes. I was able to finish the last 3 hours or 80% of the walls and didn't have to clean the filter once. Which I would also like to note the Ridgid has almost 200 cfm, and around 65 inches of water lift (with the supplied 2.5" hose, I noticed less with a smaller 1.5" hose) , vs the AC36 137 cfm and 96" lift. The Ridgid did work well with the Planex and would be a very workable solution to those wishing to purchase the Planex and not the AC, but the AC does have a very clear advantage, especially with cleanup, and noise.
attached is a pic of a JAMMED Oneida!
well there are some negatives to Planex as well. Not ALL roses, but mostly rosy [big grin]
Get yer popcorn fellas, here's another long one.
When I was looking to purchase these units, I scoured the net for reviews and never found what I was looking for so all this reviewing I am putting here will hopefully help out others. I think I'll copy and paste into the tool review forum. Can I do that??
You have to pay attention when using it or it will gouge the surface, using it in "suction mode" does make it stick to the wall, but it tends to get crazy and hard to control. In this mode it also only uses the center dust holes instead of the perimeter dust ports letting a lot of dust escape into the room. I just use it in non suction mode and deal with the weight as a trade off of good dust collection.
You can take off the front guard to get close to corners but I don't recommend it as the corners are usually built up a bit with mud, so the sander "bridges" and will gouge the corner as the edge of the paper will act like a knife.
It would be REALLY nice if the power cord & the hose were integrated. The hose does swivel which I can see why Festool may not have done this to allow for rotation, but the hose doesn't swivel very freely and it twists up anyway, so I taped the power cord to the hose and I have become accustomed to keeping conscious of not doing the ballet while sanding, this method works very well. The unit is not overly heavy, and the ergonomics are excellent as are the control placement. The Planex's noise level is pretty tolerable, far from silent, but operates quieter than a drill or saw. It also has good power, the head articulation and movement is also excellent. While sanding don't pause or it will sign your wall VERY quickly! The unit is built very well, and while I think $1000 is about $300 high, I am considering a second unit. Just make sure you have a good vacuum and a flexible hose. This doesn't need to be a Festool vac, but a good one. If you don't have a Festool AC36 you don't get the locking hose, which I frown upon Festool for, the Planex hose should come with the Planex, but I suppose this will entice people to also purchase the vac. A normal hose works fine, but you will have to tape the joint or it will work loose a couple times and come off. No big deal if your saving $800 by not buying the AC36. NOTE: If you are not using an Oneida with your vacuum, you WILL need the AC36, or you'll be cleaning your filter every 20 minutes. Period! The AC is a VERY good vac, mine quit twice, but I'm hoping it was an isolated unit, but when it works it's a very good vac, and it's nice that the Oneida sits on top of it. The 3 units, AC, Planex and Oneida work incredibly together.
We are pretty picky about our drywall, (this is what happens when a cabinetmaker starts doing his own drywall on projects instead of subbing it out!) we do a very light tape coat, then a first coat of compound. I sand this initial coat then put on a second coat. The second coat barely needs to be sanded, just maybe a few ridges, and to rough up the surface a bit as the skimmed mud surface is much smoother than the drywall paper which makes the paint look different when applied, so we sand it lightly and I find using worn sanding disks from the first coat works well and doesn't want to dig to the studs.
Paper disks last a long time, using one or two for a whole basement, I use 220 only, and it cuts sanding time from 4-5 hrs to 2 and it's much easier on the person. People who turn up their nose at a power sander and prefer doing it by hand need their head checked! You still need to do the corners by hand, and yes it's great putting a fan in the window and I do that as well, but the dust has to float around in the room in order to get to the fan, which causes exposure to the men instead of going directly into the vac.
Stipple: yes it works great on textured surfaces! You get more debris so wear your glasses, and it's hard work if the texture has been painted, but it's a great investment if your a painter and remove stipple or texture, as well as sanding a strip along the wall in preparation for crown molding. It will produce an 8" strip, which I use for built-up crown which comes away from the wall about 6", but for small crown 8" leaves a strip 4-6" in front, which is sometimes too much so I use a 5" orbital to clear the strip, meaning a scaffold is needed, not a big deal because we use one anyway for crown installation.
Floors: FLOOOOOORS!!! you say? Yep, floors. You say you want to strip a small area? Maybe a small room? Well since you gave half your kids college fund to Festool, let's make that thing earn it's keep, don't rent a sander if you don't have to. Go ahead, Planex is up to it as long as you follow with a light sanding using an orbital to clean up the (very small however) swirl marks. Once you get used to it, you can keep the swirl marks to a minimum and if you keep the worn out pads from other jobs, using them pretty much eliminates the marks, combined with the spring loaded sanding pad, you can achieve great results with it. The dust collection is much better than a commercial floor sander, (for big areas or deep sanding these are still the best), and much Planex is much more maneuverable. Things like shed walls, decks, picnic tables and other large surfaces which need sanding where an 8" pad would be a benefit the Planex works. I try to make my tools work as much as possible so they earn their keep while making my life easier, and the Planex is very versatile. Now that being said, don't go sanding fine furniture with it, the head isn't orbital! It will dig and cause swirl marks if you let it, it's designed to remove and it takes it's job seriously lol.
Cleaning, I use compressed air to clean out the nook's & cranny's and you'd be surprised how much dust actually gets inside. I lubricate the pivot points and clean the overall unit with WD40. BTW, WD40 cleans drywall mud and dust off your tools like crazy especially cleaning and lubricating the heads of auto-loading screw guns where the fine dust causes friction in the loading heads. Just remember that WD40 is actually a penetrating fluid and if not wiped or blown off, it will rust out bare metal!
The Planex loves getting cleaned and it rewards you by looking and acting like new again. If the reliability holds up, this will be a must have for every general contractor or home improvement guy out there. If you are a contractor where time is money, my Planex paid for itself in the first 13 hrs it saved me. So 3-4 jobs and if you value your health, less than that.
I'm not someone who paid dearly for a tool and has convinced himself it was a good purchase, rather simply I gambled on it and it earned it's keep. If I buy a tool and it doesn't pull it's weight, it goes to craigslist pronto, I lick my wounds and carry on, but how can you find out what tools will make you money if you never try them? [eek]
EDIT> For topic split
This is an awesome purchase.
The bad: the fittings for the hose, as well as the 1/4" suction line need to be thought out better, and currently look like a complete afterthought, but they do the job. The unit perched up top of the vacuum is kind of cumbersome, and pulling it by the hose around the floor just causes the hose to pull out of the Oneida. I'm going to have to bolt a handle onto the Oneida to tug on. I wish Festool would have put 4 casters on the vac instead of just two. Pushing it sideways out of the way is a real pain when its full because you have to turn it to point where you need it to go all the time, and you can't tug on the hose to spin it around! Use good quality bags in it though, when it's full the bag is very heavy (especially with drywall dust!) and there is a molding ridge around the perimeter of the Oneida which faces in about 3/4". This ridge tries it's best to keep the bag for itself or at least tear it open while heaving the 50 lb bag out, not to mention while mounted on top of the vacuum this is all happening 4-5' high, so upper body strength is a per-requisite to do this. Otherwise you can remove the Oneida and put it on the floor, but without being clamped into the Systainer clamps on the AC36 using the vac as a counterweight, lifting out the bag results in simply lifting the very light Oneida with it causing unbelievable cuss words to find their way into the air and the end result is a very UFC like match of wills.
The good:
We had a solid month of using this set-up. I used it with the Planex to sand a 900 sq ft basement we are finishing, with a drywall ceiling, archways and pillars, lots of bulkheads and a tray ceiling in the theater room. I also used this set-up as our daily vac using it to clean up at the end of every day, after each mess, and we hooked it to every tool that made dust. The project had quite a bit of wood working also. A custom wet bar, a small office space with a custom desk wrapped with wainscoting, 6 built-in wall units and bookshelves, trim, and the counter-tops were all 1.5" thick oak butcher block which were cut to size on site-so, we had it hooked to our table saw, miter saws, a ton of hand power tools and a jointer. LOTS of dust and floor clean up was always interesting-if it fit in the hose, it was now property of the AC36! The Oneida sits on top of the AC which means you can still store your attachments in the storage tray on top of the vac, which is in the space between the vac and Oneida, which BTW seems built pretty sturdy.
We emptied the Oneida twice, and the vac never showed a hint of power loss. The Oneida was JAMMED full and the AC 36 was empty. No joke. Dusty, but empty.
Works very well with drywall dust, and now that my AC36 is kaput (two months old and on it's second switch repair, however Shane offered to send me a new vac to replace the old one) I'm using my Ridgid w1450. Which still majorly benefits from the Oneida. I made a little dolly where the Onida sits in a basket next to the Ridgid. Without the Oneida, sanding with the Planex today I would have had to clean the filter in the Ridgid (the auto clean on the AC36 works wonderfully) at least every 10 minutes. I was able to finish the last 3 hours or 80% of the walls and didn't have to clean the filter once. Which I would also like to note the Ridgid has almost 200 cfm, and around 65 inches of water lift (with the supplied 2.5" hose, I noticed less with a smaller 1.5" hose) , vs the AC36 137 cfm and 96" lift. The Ridgid did work well with the Planex and would be a very workable solution to those wishing to purchase the Planex and not the AC, but the AC does have a very clear advantage, especially with cleanup, and noise.
attached is a pic of a JAMMED Oneida!
well there are some negatives to Planex as well. Not ALL roses, but mostly rosy [big grin]
Get yer popcorn fellas, here's another long one.
When I was looking to purchase these units, I scoured the net for reviews and never found what I was looking for so all this reviewing I am putting here will hopefully help out others. I think I'll copy and paste into the tool review forum. Can I do that??
You have to pay attention when using it or it will gouge the surface, using it in "suction mode" does make it stick to the wall, but it tends to get crazy and hard to control. In this mode it also only uses the center dust holes instead of the perimeter dust ports letting a lot of dust escape into the room. I just use it in non suction mode and deal with the weight as a trade off of good dust collection.
You can take off the front guard to get close to corners but I don't recommend it as the corners are usually built up a bit with mud, so the sander "bridges" and will gouge the corner as the edge of the paper will act like a knife.
It would be REALLY nice if the power cord & the hose were integrated. The hose does swivel which I can see why Festool may not have done this to allow for rotation, but the hose doesn't swivel very freely and it twists up anyway, so I taped the power cord to the hose and I have become accustomed to keeping conscious of not doing the ballet while sanding, this method works very well. The unit is not overly heavy, and the ergonomics are excellent as are the control placement. The Planex's noise level is pretty tolerable, far from silent, but operates quieter than a drill or saw. It also has good power, the head articulation and movement is also excellent. While sanding don't pause or it will sign your wall VERY quickly! The unit is built very well, and while I think $1000 is about $300 high, I am considering a second unit. Just make sure you have a good vacuum and a flexible hose. This doesn't need to be a Festool vac, but a good one. If you don't have a Festool AC36 you don't get the locking hose, which I frown upon Festool for, the Planex hose should come with the Planex, but I suppose this will entice people to also purchase the vac. A normal hose works fine, but you will have to tape the joint or it will work loose a couple times and come off. No big deal if your saving $800 by not buying the AC36. NOTE: If you are not using an Oneida with your vacuum, you WILL need the AC36, or you'll be cleaning your filter every 20 minutes. Period! The AC is a VERY good vac, mine quit twice, but I'm hoping it was an isolated unit, but when it works it's a very good vac, and it's nice that the Oneida sits on top of it. The 3 units, AC, Planex and Oneida work incredibly together.
We are pretty picky about our drywall, (this is what happens when a cabinetmaker starts doing his own drywall on projects instead of subbing it out!) we do a very light tape coat, then a first coat of compound. I sand this initial coat then put on a second coat. The second coat barely needs to be sanded, just maybe a few ridges, and to rough up the surface a bit as the skimmed mud surface is much smoother than the drywall paper which makes the paint look different when applied, so we sand it lightly and I find using worn sanding disks from the first coat works well and doesn't want to dig to the studs.
Paper disks last a long time, using one or two for a whole basement, I use 220 only, and it cuts sanding time from 4-5 hrs to 2 and it's much easier on the person. People who turn up their nose at a power sander and prefer doing it by hand need their head checked! You still need to do the corners by hand, and yes it's great putting a fan in the window and I do that as well, but the dust has to float around in the room in order to get to the fan, which causes exposure to the men instead of going directly into the vac.
Stipple: yes it works great on textured surfaces! You get more debris so wear your glasses, and it's hard work if the texture has been painted, but it's a great investment if your a painter and remove stipple or texture, as well as sanding a strip along the wall in preparation for crown molding. It will produce an 8" strip, which I use for built-up crown which comes away from the wall about 6", but for small crown 8" leaves a strip 4-6" in front, which is sometimes too much so I use a 5" orbital to clear the strip, meaning a scaffold is needed, not a big deal because we use one anyway for crown installation.
Floors: FLOOOOOORS!!! you say? Yep, floors. You say you want to strip a small area? Maybe a small room? Well since you gave half your kids college fund to Festool, let's make that thing earn it's keep, don't rent a sander if you don't have to. Go ahead, Planex is up to it as long as you follow with a light sanding using an orbital to clean up the (very small however) swirl marks. Once you get used to it, you can keep the swirl marks to a minimum and if you keep the worn out pads from other jobs, using them pretty much eliminates the marks, combined with the spring loaded sanding pad, you can achieve great results with it. The dust collection is much better than a commercial floor sander, (for big areas or deep sanding these are still the best), and much Planex is much more maneuverable. Things like shed walls, decks, picnic tables and other large surfaces which need sanding where an 8" pad would be a benefit the Planex works. I try to make my tools work as much as possible so they earn their keep while making my life easier, and the Planex is very versatile. Now that being said, don't go sanding fine furniture with it, the head isn't orbital! It will dig and cause swirl marks if you let it, it's designed to remove and it takes it's job seriously lol.
Cleaning, I use compressed air to clean out the nook's & cranny's and you'd be surprised how much dust actually gets inside. I lubricate the pivot points and clean the overall unit with WD40. BTW, WD40 cleans drywall mud and dust off your tools like crazy especially cleaning and lubricating the heads of auto-loading screw guns where the fine dust causes friction in the loading heads. Just remember that WD40 is actually a penetrating fluid and if not wiped or blown off, it will rust out bare metal!
The Planex loves getting cleaned and it rewards you by looking and acting like new again. If the reliability holds up, this will be a must have for every general contractor or home improvement guy out there. If you are a contractor where time is money, my Planex paid for itself in the first 13 hrs it saved me. So 3-4 jobs and if you value your health, less than that.
I'm not someone who paid dearly for a tool and has convinced himself it was a good purchase, rather simply I gambled on it and it earned it's keep. If I buy a tool and it doesn't pull it's weight, it goes to craigslist pronto, I lick my wounds and carry on, but how can you find out what tools will make you money if you never try them? [eek]
EDIT> For topic split
