My husband and I just bought the RO 125 FEQ , we are having a hard time getting a fine finish. Right now we are working with walnut and trying to get it ready for oil.... we are sanding with 400 grit sandpaper, using very little to no pressure and we keep getting swirl/scuff marks. I am not talking about the ones made from the sandpaper.... these scuff marks from the edge of the pad..... we are using the semi soft pad that came with the sander a...... do we need to use the softer sanding pad? WE have tried all the different speeds and have it in the fine sanding mode.... it also tends to walk/chatter across the wood......... We are using a different brand of sandpaper, not a festool brand.....
RO125 Swirl Marks / sander pad scuff marks
- Thread starter cahicks
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Handyman Mike
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There's a few things to consider here. First is the sandpaper. If you're not using Festool sandpaper, you're not getting the full air flow that the sander sets up. All those holes, including the one in the middle, really matter.
Second is dust extraction. Festool sanders work best as part of a complete system and the dust extraction isn't just for neatness. It has a real effect on the efficiency and smoothness of the work. It's important to match the suction to the speed of the sander and the type of sandpaper, materials, etc. If you're not using a variable-suction sander, you can adjust the suction with a wand that has a little sliding cover to vary the size of hole.
Third is the tool itself. I think that the weight and orbit size of the Rotex sanders makes them unsuitable for really fine finishing. In random orbit mode they're good for intermediate sanding, but the work has to be finished with something like the ETS 125 EQ, which is lighter and has a smaller stroke.
I hope that helps.
Second is dust extraction. Festool sanders work best as part of a complete system and the dust extraction isn't just for neatness. It has a real effect on the efficiency and smoothness of the work. It's important to match the suction to the speed of the sander and the type of sandpaper, materials, etc. If you're not using a variable-suction sander, you can adjust the suction with a wand that has a little sliding cover to vary the size of hole.
Third is the tool itself. I think that the weight and orbit size of the Rotex sanders makes them unsuitable for really fine finishing. In random orbit mode they're good for intermediate sanding, but the work has to be finished with something like the ETS 125 EQ, which is lighter and has a smaller stroke.
I hope that helps.
Handyman Mike
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So long as you bought it within the last 30 days, you'll be able to return it for sure.
Yeah we bought it within the last 30 days....
Our dilemma is: we have always used a makita 5" random orbital sander and it works great for getting the surface to almost ready for oil.... the problem that we have: after we sand with 400 grit or any grit... you can see scuff marks from the edge of the sanding pad/paper. so we then have to sand by hand with 400 grit paper to remove the "scuff" marks. We bought the RO 125 hoping it would eliminate having to hand sand and save time..... So would use the ETS 125 do the trick? Thinking maybe we could use our makita and then use the ETS 125 for the fine sanding, say 400 grit and up?
We sand a lot of table tops and are getting ready to final sand a large walnut headboard... if we could eliminate the hand sanding it would speed up the process 10 fold.
our website is www.rmtwist.com
Our dilemma is: we have always used a makita 5" random orbital sander and it works great for getting the surface to almost ready for oil.... the problem that we have: after we sand with 400 grit or any grit... you can see scuff marks from the edge of the sanding pad/paper. so we then have to sand by hand with 400 grit paper to remove the "scuff" marks. We bought the RO 125 hoping it would eliminate having to hand sand and save time..... So would use the ETS 125 do the trick? Thinking maybe we could use our makita and then use the ETS 125 for the fine sanding, say 400 grit and up?
We sand a lot of table tops and are getting ready to final sand a large walnut headboard... if we could eliminate the hand sanding it would speed up the process 10 fold.
our website is www.rmtwist.com
Walk On Wood
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How is the sanding pad making contact with your work surface? Doesnt the paper fully cover the pad?
Sounds from your post that you may want to try the RS2E which is a finish sander. I don't have direct experience with this sander but a friend of mine used it on a larger flat surface and the results were great. It didn't leave any observable swirl marks. It would seem that it is the right type of sander for table tops. Probably wouldn't work well for smaller jobs and, therefore, might be for just the large flat surfaces. Just a suggestion as a possibility and hopefully there are others out there who have used it and would verify the results for your type of use.
Handyman Mike
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cahicks said:
Those marks indicate uneven pressure or an uneven pad. The Festool pads are about as even as you're going to get. You could experiment with the supersoft pad (not a returnable item), which is pretty forgiving, but I haven't found it necessary on flat surfaces. Honestly, any of Festool's small-stroke orbital or random orbital sanders will do well for you. I get a lot of use out of my DTS 400, but people who are smarter than me recommend the random orbit sanders for fine finishing. If you have any substantial pieces of scrap from your project, it would be useful to practice various approaches on it.
The pad and sander are new, we just got it last week, even when it "floats" across the surface with the semi soft pad we still get these marks.... we get them with the festool RO 125, makita and dewalt sanders.....
We have thought about purchasing the super soft pad to see if that helps..... We would hate to send back the RO 125 and exchange it for the ETS 125 because of the downtime we will have waiting on it.
We have tried with different speeds, pressure, no pressure... suction and no suction and these marks are still visible...
We have thought about purchasing the super soft pad to see if that helps..... We would hate to send back the RO 125 and exchange it for the ETS 125 because of the downtime we will have waiting on it.
We have tried with different speeds, pressure, no pressure... suction and no suction and these marks are still visible...
Handyman Mike
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cahicks said:
You didn't mention suction control, and I know I'm becoming a bore, but turning the suction down l.o.w makes a big difference.
overanalyze
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Are you skipping any grits? I had a similar issue with some hard maple before. I was skipping grits and my vac was turned up too high. Also are you in fine mode or aggressive?
Don T yes I hear ya about turning the suction low....... have to see if that helps...
When we are sanding we make a straight "swipe" then move over to the next section with a slight overlap... going back and forth or up and down..... these marks arent scratches its more of a lighter color "line"/ "swipe mark" / "track" from where the edge of the sander passed over...... even using makita or dewalt that comes with the dust collection bag and not suction for dust collection we still get these marks......
I do appreciate all the input, its frustrating to spend almost $500 to not get any better results than what we were getting with a $50 sander...
When we are sanding we make a straight "swipe" then move over to the next section with a slight overlap... going back and forth or up and down..... these marks arent scratches its more of a lighter color "line"/ "swipe mark" / "track" from where the edge of the sander passed over...... even using makita or dewalt that comes with the dust collection bag and not suction for dust collection we still get these marks......
I do appreciate all the input, its frustrating to spend almost $500 to not get any better results than what we were getting with a $50 sander...
overanalyze said:
No we aren't skipping grits and we are using the fine sanding mode and have tried different speeds. We dont have scratches its more like a "swipe" mark where the edge of the pad/sandpaper passed over and we have been using a shop vac with no way to regulate the suction.... We get these same marks sanding redwood and pine
tiralie
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cahicks said:
The RO sanders are not really designed for higher (>100) grit paper.
Do you have the sander set to sand in the non Rotex mode.
Their sweet spot is 100 and lower grit. Take it back or just get an ETS sander and please test that out using some Festool paper and see if your results are better.
Tim
Sooo.... I guess we don't have a way to control the amount of suction..... we were using a shop vac.... I think the RO 125 is more of a sander than what we need. I think we can use the makita until we are ready for the super fine sanding.... New plan is to send back the RO 125 and replace it with the ETS 125 5-inch Random Orbit Sander plus 583360 CT MINI Dust Extractor Package what are any ones thoughts on this?
Tim Raleigh said:
I believe you are correct Tim..... I think we can use our makita to get ready for the fine sanding... then we will use the ETS 125 for the fine sanding. I think we will purchase the ETS with the dust collection so that we have proper suction and all...... and yes we will use the Festool finer grit paper....
Handyman Mike
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cahicks said:
Good plan.
