Rotex 90 - PC vac and abrasives for rocking chair

[icewindblue]

I don't own any Festool (yet....!), but am seriously considering the Rotex 90 sander to use for various things, but the most important is sanding on a maloof-inspired rocker.  I have been following the blog of Charles Brock, who suggests in one of his latest posts that he found this sander to be very useful, particularly for the final shaping of the flowing lines of this chair.  He runs from 24 grit all the way up to 400, using every grit.  What kind of paper do you suppose he is using here, and what would you use?

Here's the link to the blog:
Charles Brock Blog

My second question is, will the sander work adequately if I don't use a festool dust extractor with it?  I have a Porter Cable 7812 that is tool actuated.  If I have to spend another 500-600 for an extractor to make this sander work properly, then the whole deal just becomes too pricey for me now.  I'm not too worried about the size of the hose, as I'm sure that I can figure out some kind of adaptor.  I would of course, welcome info about a simple solution that someone has already worked out...!

Thanks very much for your help!

 

[Alan m]

first of all  [welcome] to the fog.

rubin, brilliant 2 and granit are comonly used on wood. as for the festool dust extracter, they are great but not 100% needed. extraction (fom any shop vac) is needed thow to cool the tool

 

[AlexThePalex]

You can use any vac you like. All they do is suck air, and Festool vacs don't do anything special in that regard.

Paper, what Alan said.

 

[woodnerd]

All they do is suck air

I think it's a little more than that.  The variable suction is pretty useful both from a control and noise aspect.  I also like the idea of the new self-cleaning bags in the 26/36 models.  And I highly underestimated the value of being able to stack Systainers on top.

I used a regular shop vac with my Festools for a couple years before getting a CT, it was a real eye-opener using one.  I'd never want to go back.

 

[mouppe]

First, welcome to the FOG.

As for papers, I would use Rubin 100, 120 and 180, then switch to Brilliant 220 and 320. This is all you need. There are better ways to prepare wood than by going as low as 24 grit paper, IMO.

As written previously, the vac can wait and there are adapters available to enable you to use your existing vac with the Festool tools. But, a Festool dust extractor is an excellent investment at some point in the future. As well as the advantages listed above, they are also very portable and quiet. The noise aspect is not something you hear mentioned very often, but I cannot use my shop vac without ear muffs- no such problems with the CT22.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

If money is tight, start with a shop vac, but keep the CT in mind.  In addition to what WoodNerd said, the bags complete the dust free cycle (I hate emptying shop vacs and cleaning those filters.  The CT also connects to the boom arm which makes things so much easier.  I'm a big fan of the new workcenter that sits on top of the CT, you can keep all those little items (collets, bits, wrenches, chucks, squares, rulers, Qwas dogs, etc.) handy and not have to get up to find them.

By the way, you will probably still have to do the rough sanding outdoors.  I've been practicing with the Festool angle grinder Brock uses (RAS 115) and still can't get all the dust extracted.  No problem though with the later sanding stages.

 

[woodnerd]

I'm a big fan of the new workcenter that sits on top of the CT

Yeah, I've been really surprised how much I like the Workcenter.

 

[Wood_Junkie]

The RO90 has fast become my favorite sander.  It is so easy to handle, and useful for a wide, wide range of tasks.  Truly a gem of the Festool lineup, IMO.

As far as dust collection goes, you are not going to get great dust collection sanding curves and arms, and any tasks where much/most of the pad is going to be over open air.  Having DC will of course help keep some out of the air, but don’t expect a spotless workplace.

If you are only sanding non-flat surfaces, the primary advantage of a CT (the variable suction) isn’t a big deal.  When the suction is very high, and you’re sanding flat surfaces, the suction will pull the sander into the workpiece, which is not desirable.  You could add a suction-relief opening in your shop-vac-to-27mm adapter.  This would allow some suction loss.  But sanding where the pad isn’t fully engaged means you won’t get that suction pull down.

For your rockers, I’d recommend you stick solely to Rubin.  It’s for bare wood, and it has a proven track record of not interfering with finishes.  As it is fabric backed, you won’t tear it on curves, etc.  You should definitely use the softest sanding pad.

 

[icewindblue]

Wow, I love a good forum!  Thanks very much for the pertinent information.  I'll probably go for rubin for the most part, with brilliant or granite for the higher grits.  I tend to use water based finishes alot, but probably not for this rocker.

Thanks again!

 

[Wood_Junkie]

I tend to use water based finishes alot, but probably not for this rocker.

Water:  great finishes, however they force you to resand every bit of it once the grain is raised.  Bummer for curvaceous projects.

"davee" has made some Maloof style rockers.  I got to see some pics, as we were partners in the cabinet making class, and they looked absolutely gorgeous.  Perhaps reach out and he may have some further (and informed) advice.

 

[davee]

I finished my rocker before the RO 90 was available, but I am in the sanding stages of a bench made in the same style.  Eventually, the bench and rocker will be in the same room.  I purchased my RO90 in anticipation of using it on the bench and another rocker.  It is a great sander and works well.  I use the interface pad for the curved surfaces.  Rubin as the primary sand paper.  With the vacuum fully turned up, I'm surprised at how much dust is actually collected.  Not too much makes it into the air.  The RO90 has quickly become my favorite sander for many applications.  Good luck on your rocker, they are alot of fun - they take a tremendous amount of hand sanding regardless (at least for me).

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Charles Brock uses a RAS 115 first to do the shaping using Saphir 24 grit and then switches to a RO90 for final sanding, after using rasps and scrapers to get the final shape.  I think that the RO90 would not be aggressive enough for the initial shaping, but it would work great for finishing after the RAS.  I am getting ready to make a set of the low-back chairs from his plans.

Scot