sanding pad on ets150 and ts75 saw wear problem

macken

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Joined
Jun 8, 2009
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6
Short and sweet. Hooks on my sanding pad gone after 65 sheets of P50 rubin sanding deck using ets 150 and ct 22 vac. No excessive pressure changed discs early when they stopped cutting material fast enough. TS 75 has worn so that I am just about to start cutting the guide rail. I also own a domino, 1400eq, multi table and 12v drill. Like tools not to happy with the two above issues. Question do these backing pads wear this fast, and other than contacting some teflon pads to the base of the saw where worn is there a different fix. thanks
 
You had the vac running and didn't apply excessive presssure, so it could be that the pad was not 100%, because they lshould last far longer than that.
As far as the TS 75 goes, is it that the saw is cutting up the splinter-guard prematurely? If so, maybe the saw is not toed properly, maybe there was a lot of "junk" on the sg's edge, catching on the blade?

Bob
 
Should I return the sanding pad to the store and hope for a replacement? The saw cut has come closer to the rail as I have used it. When looking at the bottom of the saw, the channel that the guide rail fits into has areas that the guide rail slides against these are wearing and allowing the blade to cut closer to the rail. I first noticed that after several cuts the saw would trim off more of the splinter guard and figured it would wear in and stop. However, now I have about a 32nd of the splinter guard between the blade and the rail. I read another post about similar problems that didn't seem to go anywhere. Appreciate your reply Bob, if there is a solution you would probably know.
 
macken said:
Should I return the sanding pad to the store and hope for a replacement? The saw cut has come closer to the rail as I have used it. When looking at the bottom of the saw, the channel that the guide rail fits into has areas that the guide rail slides against these are wearing and allowing the blade to cut closer to the rail. I first noticed that after several cuts the saw would trim off more of the splinter guard and figured it would wear in and stop. However, now I have about a 32nd of the splinter guard between the blade and the rail. I read another post about similar problems that didn't seem to go anywhere. Appreciate your reply Bob, if there is a solution you would probably know.

Well, I don't think you have anything to lose regarding asking your dealer about the pad.
Hmmnn,  have never heard of this issue, but there should be no wearing down like mention. Wish I had beter answers, but I would call Festool Repair 800-554-8741 tomorrow; ask for Lester or David; they are the best at what they do and will offer the best advice for a fix.

Bob
 
When the saw is placed on the guide rail, is there some side to side play?
 
No side to side play. When I first set up the saw I adjusted the green adjusters to remove any side to side play without binding allowing a nice easy motion. When I use the saw the first thing I do is check how it fits on the rail, with use I have needed to readjust to remove side to side, and this has caused the cut to come closer to the rail.
 
macken said:
When I use the saw the first thing I do is check how it fits on the rail, with use I have needed to readjust to remove side to side, and this has caused the cut to come closer to the rail.

You must have cut thousands of sheets......how many blades have you gone through/how many resharpening's have you had done to each blade?
 
macken said:
TS 75 has worn so that I am just about to start cutting the guide rail... other than contacting some teflon pads to the base of the saw where worn is there a different fix. thanks

Can you tell us what you are cutting, how old the saw is, and how much use it gets?

It sounds as though the metal "nibs" opposite the green adjusters on the baseplate have worn a lot.

Eiji Fuller had that problem on his TS75. He put up some great photos in the thread at http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=2098.0 and was able to get the base plate replaced by Festool.

As I mentioned in that thread, the baseplate on the TS55 was revised to include replacable pads, and a photo of the old and new TS55 baseplates are at http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1042.msg9642#msg9642.  At that time, Festool said there was no plans to revise the TS75 baseplate to incorporate these pads.

Forrest

 
macken said:
Short and sweet. Hooks on my sanding pad gone after 65 sheets of P50 rubin sanding deck using ets 150 and ct 22 vac. No excessive pressure changed discs early when they stopped cutting material fast enough.

Don't know what happened to your hooks, but I can tell you what I had once with an older sander of another brand. I was sanding some rough planks when a knot in the wood ripped my paper in two so that it went flying in two directions. My reaction time was a bit slow that time since I kept on sanding for 3 or 4 seconds before realising there was something wrong. I tore all the hooks off clean and easy in those couple of seconds.

That's the only time I had this. I don't believe, that if you sand in a normal way, with the paper attached firmly, that the hooks just wear.
 
i have had similar problems with the festool pads, but it was my fault, i tried using a cheaper disc which was promised by the dealer to work with festool sanders, it failed miserably, now i buy only festool discs, problem solved.

i also had problems with my atf 55 saw, i used wax on the base plate and guide rail, it worked great. i am not sure why you are having trouble with the guide rail for the ts 55.

i hope someone else can give us a definitive answer.

regards, justin.
 
You must have cut thousands of sheets......how many blades have you gone through/how many resharpening's have you had done to each blade?
[/quote]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The saw has not been used that much. I have built cabinets in my garage using 3/4 mdf and 3/4 melamine, in total less than 20 sheets. I noticed the saw recutting the splinter guard imediately and was suprised and figured it would wear in and stop. The sanding pad was not forced or abused, however I have removed two and one half ct 22 bags of old finish and bad wood from the deck so the pad has got quite a work out. As I posted earlier when the abrasive disc stopped cutting quickly I changed it, my time is worth more than a box or so of 60 cent discs. I used festool p50 rubin abrasives and find the product very reasonably priced and excellent quality.
Back to the saw issue, after reading the post with the pics I agree with mirko rubbing cast aluminum against anodized while cost effective, not the best engineering.
 
The lastest TS75 and TS50 saws have a modified base with replaceable rubbing strips to prevent the metal on metal wear.  It was introduced sometime last year apparently Festool found that in extreme  conditions (for example solid surface cutting) the abrasive action of the dust could cause the base to wear - no problem with wood working though.

I always though the interesting part about this was if you look at the earlier versions of the TS55 (do not own a TS75 but they may be the same) the base casting seems to have provisions for these rubbing strips yet they were not fitted.  Always wondered why.

If you are concerned with the wear then I'd give Festool a ring and let them sort it out.

Troll
 
macken said:
The sanding pad was not forced or abused, however I have removed two and one half ct 22 bags of old finish and bad wood from the deck so the pad has got quite a work out.

The fact that you're using P50 disks, and to remove old finish, would point to maybe overheating the pad. The velcro grips are very thin plastic (possibly nylon?) and can melt or distort if overheated. This doesn't mean I think you've abused it, because it's quite easy to do when using the sanders for this task.

There is a special high-temperature pad available, part number 491935 for the ETS150, or 493916 for the rotex.

Can't help on the saw issue, though...
 
macken said:
                                                                               The saw has not been used that much...
Back to the saw issue, after reading the post with the pics I agree with mirko rubbing cast aluminum against anodized while cost effective, not the best engineering.

So, what do the "nibs" on the baseplate of your saw look like, compared to the those in Eiji's photo?

Forrest
 
The fact that you're using P50 disks, and to remove old finish, would point to maybe overheating the pad. The velcro grips are very thin plastic (possibly nylon?) and can melt or distort if overheated. This doesn't mean I think you've abused it, because it's quite easy to do when using the sanders for this task.

There is a special high-temperature pad available, part number 491935 for the ETS150, or 493916 for the rotex.

Can't help on the saw issue, though...
[/quote]

Lets face it using a finish sander to refinish a deck isn't the wisest choice to begin with, would love to have a rotex which is the right tool for the job. But, you gotta do with what you have. On the plus side I returned the pad to Rockler here in  Beaverton Or. and Carl the sales guy called Festool and they replaced it on the spot. Carl knows Festools and has always had time to answer any questions I have had and jumped on my issue and had me out the door in fifteen minutes. Rep. from Festool said to turn the vac. to slow speed and that should help.
The nibs on my saw were almost net with the rest of the track to begin with.
Thanks for the input   
 
I've had the TS 55 since it first came out (?? 4 years)  I've cut so many sheets of ply, mdf, melamine that my back aches at the thought of it.  The nibs ARE worn, but not enough to be a problem.  I am hoping when they finally go I can retrofit a new base.  If it were a car and not a saw, I'd be tempted to suggest that the factory do a recall and offer a free replacement, but even though Festool's here in France are extortionate I don't think I can complain.  But it sounds like you SHOULD.

I've never had any trouble with Festool velcro pads (I swap from hard to soft on 150 and 125 sanders so have about 4 or 5) but I did lend a Bosch sander to someone who wrecked the pad straight away - of course replacements were not available.  I used to hang on to my old, pre-Festool tools to lend out.  Now I just say, sorry, I NEVER lend my tools.
 
Richard, "lend my tools never", used to work on harley davidsons had a sign that read lend you my tools? I'd rather lend you my dog he knows his way home, feel the same way about my Festools. I was suprised how quickly Festool resolved the backing pad issue and now am confident the saw will be taken care of. 
 
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