Planex sander

[Spinner]

After purchasing the track saw with the ct 26 vac and being so impressed I decided to purchase the planex sander along with the ac ct 36 . I didn't want to buy another vacuum but they insisted that I would not get good results without it .
Well, so far I'm totally not impressed with the planex sander . Walls are a breeze ...but I purchased it primarily to remove popcorn on ceilings . I just removed two ceilings ..by hand scraping . Skimmed out the entire ceiling . Since I had another job coming up to remove popcorn I bought the unit . The ceiling work is painful , can't get good results ...lots of dust ...lots of gouging . I actually had to pole sand the final coat. I spent $3000 for this set up and still had to pole sand . I need some tips on how to use this thing properly . I've seen you tube videos removing popcorn . I can't even get it to sand drywall let alone remove popcorn .if anyone can offer some tips it would be much appreciated ... Thanks

 

[Dunn wood]

Hate to say this because you probably don't want to spend more money on a tool that you are not sure of, but the harness makes removing popcorn a lot easier. It also takes a lot of practice. It does do a great job and very little clean up afterwards. I started with 80 grit and moved down to 40. Careful 40 will really gouge a ceiling that's why its good to start with a higher grit and work a little slower til you get the hang of it. I found it the same for any ceiling work, start with a finer paper till you get the feel of the sander. Also Mirca makes Abranet sheets that fit, they work awesome.

 

[Shane Holland]

[member=63379]Spinner[/member], welcome to the forum.

I've not personally used the Planex for popcorn, so I don't feel like I can help out personally.

But, [member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] or [member=18235]Saskataper[/member] could probably give some tips. The best advice I can give is that you reach out to Festool directly. They have very knowledgeable applications specialists that can give great pointers and advice on how to use the Planex for popcorn. 888-337-8600

Shane

 

[gsdvorak]

[member=63379]Spinner[/member] , Welcome!

My experience echoes [member=19799]Goner[/member] :  it takes practice but can be done clean and efficiently.  I started with 80 grit as well (based on recommendation from Festool rep) before moving to more aggressive grits.  I heard the harness really helps with ceiling work- I probably should have spent the $$ on it as my arms were pretty sore when I finished the ceiling. I used a DTS-400 in the corners.

I'm one that really hates doing any drywall work- the Planex made it much easier, but it still didn't change my opinion.  I hope that is one Festool I never need to use again.

Regards,
Gerald

 

[Saskataper]

The planex is the best thing to happen to drywall but it takes some practice. I can get a near perfect finish with mine, but I have been using it hard for four years now, I've sanded hundreds of thousands of square feet of drywall with it.

Sanding anymore than a couple hundred sqft of texture you want the harness for sure otherwise it'll be murder on your shoulders. I run 24 or 36 on painted ceilings 60 or 80 on lightly painted or unpainted. Use the perimeter suction for better dust collection on the texture, the heavier particles tend to build up in the head ofter a while so its good to have a garbage can nearby to dump the head into otherwise it just starts building up and pouring out the holes in the guard. I try and sand in to the texture so the front half is doing the work near where the dust port is. You should be able to get around 90% of the dust.

Finish sanding you NEED the soft pad kit, my biggest peeve with the planex, this should be stock. The stock pad is only good for heavy sanding like texture removal. 220 or 240 depending what kind of mud your using. 320 is good for practice.

You can see my work on my Instagram page under @drywallbydesign I have a lot of planex stuff. Just put up a vid of sanding an unpainted textured ceiling.