RAS 115.04 E Rotary Sander as a dust-free grinding option?

[RPSmith]

My closest Festool dealer is over an hour away, so forgive me if this is a simple question whose answer would be instantly apparent if the tool were in front of me.

I do a lot of crown and base coping in my line of work.  Normally I grind out the touching finishes on my cope, and create a lot of dust in the process.

Is the RAS 115.04E Rotary Sander (whew, that's a mouthful) a good option for this task?  I have a CT 26.  Is this going to catch most of the g'nerb?

Thanks.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I have the RAS and I have on occasion used it to cope crown.  I still need to work on my technique some to get the same results I can with my coping saw.  The dust collection is good and if you're used to using a grinder I think you'd be very pleasantly surprised just how good it is.  

 

[chrisrosenb]

I put up crown in a kitchen before Christmas. I used the RAS to do all of the copes. That was the first time I did not use a coping saw. It worked great & was mostly dust free.
The only dust was what fell on the floor right below where I was working.

 

[ccarrolladams]

The RAS 115.04 E is commonly considered an angle grinder. It is popular for shaping.

I have owned on for a few years. Honestly I have never tried it for coping crown molding. Installing crown molding is somewhat outside our specialty of wholesale custom cabinet construction. I am sure the installation firms who buy most of our cabinets do often cope crown molding.

My experience with the RAS 115.04 E is that it has typical Festool effective dust collection. It seems to me of the Festool sanders this would be a good choice to cope molding.

My own favorite Festool dealer is probably less than 15 miles away, if I could go there by helicopter from my roof top to their rooftop. My shop is in the airspace of a major airport, so I cannot use a helicopter. So, in traffic it can take almost an hour to get there on streets.

I feel your pain. Nothing is better than actually using a tool.

 

[tbellemare]

Mr. Smith:

I'm not an expert with the RAS but the first time I used it as a coping tool, I was shocked at how little dust was left. Also, as Chris pointed out, the very little that was left was right beneath the tool.

It is the only sander of the stable of Festool sanders (AINA) that has a rotating brush for dust collection. That allows you to hang it with part of the pad off the edge of the work piece and still collect almost all of the dust. You just have to orient the rotating, partial brush so that it grabs the dust. The airflow produced by the attached dust extractor does the rest.

I found it really quite surprisingly effective the first time I used one. It still tickles me how effective it is.

Tom

 

[USPcompact]

Is the RAS 115.04E Rotary Sander (whew, that's a mouthful) a good option for this task? 

It's an excellent option. 

 

[GPowers]

Check out post number in the following thread

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/coping-crown-with-the-ras-115/

Peter does a cope with and with out dust collection.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

It works.  I can't cope faster or better then I do with my coping foot.

 

[danrush]

The RAS will cope, (and dust collection is excellent) but it's not really good for getting in the tight corners of some intricate moulding profiles. 

When using a grinder, it's best to have a double sided sanding disk (I haven't yet figured how to do that with the RAS)  to be able to hit those tight spots, and grind from two directions.  For me, it helps to have a disk larger than is intended for the grinder.  (5" disk on a 4" machine, for example.)  but that will negate the dust collection on the RAS.

I also use the Collins coping foot, and with some practice, I believe it's the fastest and most accurate way to cope mouldings.  And sometimes, only a hand coping saw will do.

Dan

 

[peter halle]

If you try it, I found that the hard pad makes getting into the nooks and crevices better and easier - but still not perfect.  The videos linked to did not use the hard pad.

Peter