Alex said:
Biggest benefit of Festool sanders to me is still the excellent dust collection.
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Yep
Alex said:
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I have not seen any other brand come as close to dustless as Festool.
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Really?
I beg to differ. What are you comparing them to?
The red sander I have (Mafell UVA 115e) does and awesome job.
Even the $40 Bosch I picked up works like a champ when attached to a vacuum.
There are not that many things that make a sander being dust free.
There are holes in the pad, ports on the machine, and the machines exhaust.
Assuming we are not talking "a machine and a bag", but into an actual vacuum.
To say that Festool sanders are better is a bit of an overstatement these days.
It is all vacuum and almost zero sander.
It seems easier to claim that the FT's are the worst because one needs to turn down the vacuum. The Mirka screens are screens, so like a screen door the air flows through. I do not have have to turn down the vacuum with my 1/2 sheet sander to sand with it, as the air comes in the sides.
The worst sander made and connected onto a vacuum is better than any sander without a vacuum.
The worst one I have is the Festool. But that is mostly because the DX93 has such a barstard of a fitting to get the hose over, it gets most of the dust up just dandy too.
If there is some evidence based measure about how much better they are I would be interested.
But everyone claiming it is so, does not make for fact.
(And I could be wrong)
The CT vacuums (IMO) are a game changer and the whole Festool system is designed around dust collection.
However in the last few years so is everyone else's gear designed to hoover up the dust, and everyone sells a vacuum.
Maybe it is just semantics, and it is more accurate to say that "pioneered" or "have a system" than to say that "they are the best".