Starting my Festool sander collection

[beeckie]

I know there are countless treads on here about sanders but I hope you will forgive me starting a new tread.

I have a collection very old sanders I inherited from my dad. But all of them have non existing dust extraction. Seeing I have a couple of indoor sanding projects I want to invest in new sanders.
I have a Bosch GEX 125-150 AVE which I want to keep.

The first projects I have to do is sanding my stairs and doors.
I also need to refinish my butcher block counter tops in my kitchen.

What would you recommend for these tasks to complement the GEX?

Thanks
Randy

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[ear3]

For me the ETS-EC 150/5 is the best sander to get first, but since the Bosch has you covered on large pad ROS sanding for the moment, you may want to think about one of the Rotex sanders, which will allow you to do the heavy stripping involved with the stairs and sanding down the butcher block.  I've done a couple of staircases with my RO150, and thank god I had the extra power that it delivers.  You have to deal with corners on that job as well, so you either want to pair it with a smaller detail sander like the DTS, or, if you're feeling frisky, you could get the RO90 as well, which permits both small pad gear driven sanding and edge work with the triangle pad.  The dust collection on all the Rotex sanders is fantastic even in gear driven mode.

 

[AlexThePalex]

If you have a round random orbit sander and an orbital sander that can get into corners and do window/door trim, you're good for 98% of all possible jobs.

So I'd say get the DTS400.

 

[Thompmd]

I bought the RO150 and love it. I mostly work in Large rough slabs(Walnut , Ash, Maple etc) so I needed the Rotex mode and also the larger footprint. I use it with a CT36 & CT-VA-20. Works great

 

[Chris Cianci]

Hi I talk myself into the 150 and the 90 by telling myself that they are two sanders in one with the gear driven mode as well as a finish mode. The Delta pad on the RO90 .....allows me to justify....at least in my Festool obsessed mind that it counts as three sanders in one To me the stairs would take the longest time and has corners to deal w so if I was to choose only one to start I’d do the RO90 for your up coming jobs.
Best

 

[xedos]

That Bosch is a great first sander to have. 

Given the jobs you have ahead of yourself it would seem the most likely candidate is a big rotary sander like Rotex.  However.................

Since you've  already got the Bosch , I think there are benefits to staying there.  The Bosch GET 75-150 Turbo sander will do the same job as the big Festool Rotex but at less than half the cost.  Sure , rotex may be more refined and sexy ect.... but the work done to the cost associated is not twice that of the Bosch variant.

Then , there's another important factor to consider - the paper.  Festool uses a unique hole pattern and it doesn't play with other brands and vice versa. So if you have two Bosch 150mm , you can share a paper.  If you have a Bosch and a Festool , then you'll have to stock to papers.

But..... if you use net / mesh abrasives a la Abranet or Sandnet, then this is moot.  Most guys don't start out with net abrasives though.

It's been mentioned you'll need a sander to get into corners, and I agree. DTS would fit that bill, so would Rotex 90.  I'd suggest a Multitool like Fein ect.....if you're starting out.  It will sand corners with dust extraction, and while it won't be as nice to use for that it will allow you to do countless other tasks down the road in addition to sanding. DTS is kinda a one trick pony and RO90 is a fantastic sander , but will see limited use because of its small size.

If you're set on having a Festool sander, I'd suggest the ETS125 as your first.  As a small finish sander its can be used on almost any project, and it's small orbit will fit a niche not covered by your current one or by the big rotary you need.  It's a real smooth sander at not much of premimum over competitors.  Again, the paper consideration would still apply.  Being 125mm you're going to have that anyway with the other sanders being 150mm.

 

[beeckie]

Yes the DTS was the one I was looking at for getting in the corners for my stairs.
Not sure as to what to get to complement them. Didn’t think a Rotex was useful for my projects. Isn’t it to powerful to sand down the doors and wengé butcher block?

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[Gregor]

In case you want to start your collection I would suggest to get it over with quick and as painless as possible: simply order all of them.

Jokes aside, I suggest you take a trip to your local festool dealer to be shown (and test drive yourself) the sanders. Mainly the ROTEX and ETS EC (the 150 versions, as that would allow to share one type of paper with the Bosch, at least according to the commercial I just looked at). And the RO 90 for a versatile one aimed at smaller things and corners.

And no, a ROTEX 150 isn't too powerful... you can get away with one for all your sanding needs (I did for some years, till I realized that the last shirt has no pockets and opened up my wallet to get nice tools), from rough start (even flattening) to fine finish.

Though an ETS EC/3 is certainly nice(r) to get a perfect finish sanding, as of the reduces stroke. Also easier to handle as it's lighter and the electronic vibration suppression is very nice.

Also: For sanding a vacuum with adjustable suction is a good thing to have.

 

[beeckie]

Thanks for all the info so far.
The vacuum is covered. If got a CTL Midi at the moment which I like very much.

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[AlexThePalex]

Yes the DTS was the one I was looking at for getting in the corners for my stairs.
Not sure as to what to get to complement them. Didn’t think a Rotex was useful for my projects. Isn’t it to powerful to sand down the doors and wengé butcher block?

As someone who is sanding, painting en woodworking all day, every day, and just about anything else you can do to a building, I use 3 of my 8 sanders the most. The DTS400 is by far the one I use most so I got 2 of them, for about every general sanding task I can think of. Then the Rotex 150 for the tougher jobs that require power, and the ETS 125 in third place as the fine sanding specialist, mostly for doors and panels, because, as a random orbit sander it leaves a finer finish than the DTS, and also just handles nicer on a big flat surface.

With your Bosch you more or less already got the functionality of the ETS 125 and the Rotex, so beyond the DTS any other sander would just be luxury to make things easier for you instead of adding a lot of productivity. My idea would be to get a Rotex 150 then, that thing makes a lot of things a lot easier. And despite what you might think, in the fine setting it is also a very gentle sander very well suited for the finer tasks. The first two years of getting into Festool, all I had was the RO150 and a Deltex DX93, and I could do everything I wanted. Only when I added the DTS 400 my life became a lot easier and sped things up greatly. My DX93 is hardly used now, but I can't get rid of it, because sometimes it is the only sander that can do the job because of its shape.

 

[Gregor]

The reason why the DTS 400 did not make it onto my shopping list is that the paper is not symmetric, I see no point in that.

 

[leakyroof]

The reason why the DTS 400 did not make it onto my shopping list is that the paper is not symmetric, I see no point in that.

  Oh, let me help you with that one.... You sound like me before I talked to Alex about the DTS. Before I got one, I used my DX 93, or the RO 90 when I got that one. However, neither one is a joy in the stability department when sanding.  The DTS is... It's also small and light. Yes, the odd ball paper, that ONE MORE abrasive to stock was holding me back too.  Then I bought the darn thing and never looked back.  I own two of them now... [embarassed]
You can't rotate the paper like the other two sanders I already mentioned, but it's rare that I miss that when using the  DTS 400.
It's easy to 'sweep' into a corner with it compared to the straight triangle shape of the other sanders, since the base is wider, and again, more stable .  Narrow pieces aren't that hard to manage either since the actual balance of the sander is very nice and not tiring on my hands.
Last added bonus is that the newer DTS takes an edge guard, so you can sand next to something even easier than before when the DTS only had the bevel on its pad to help with that

 

[rst]

I'm with leakyroof, I also have all three (four actually since I bought the DTSEC also) and prefer the two DTS.

 

[Dusty.House]

Today I set about sanding a fence made from cedar.

I started with my Dewalt 20v orbital which does a very good job. I had it out for cleaning up the ends of cuts.

I then got out both my Festool sanders. An ETS 125 with a 150 pad and a Rotex 90. I wasn’t sure which would be best.

Turns out they both worked. The 150 cleaned up the surface in a larger area but the Rotex let me really clean up each board.

The Rotex however is more tiresome to use, it needs both hands.

Conclusion - I’m glad I have both, they complement each other, so I’m glad I followed the advice I got on here to get both

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[Alanbach]

I would be curious to know what you are doing to your doors and stairs. Are you stripping off a bunch of paint or stain back to raw wood OR are you just scuffing up the old finish to prep for a new covering finish.

If the former than I would go Rotex all the way. They are beasts that have power along with a split personality that makes them super versatile but they are two handed sanders that can be tiring to use on large projects.

If the latter and everything is flat and smooth and you just need some prep than the DTS is a great choice.

It is also worth noting that many pros that post here always talk about the positive attributes of the RO90 for stairs and windows (with its versatile triangular head in addition to the round 3.5” disc) but is small so not so great for doors.

 

[AlexThePalex]

The reason why the DTS 400 did not make it onto my shopping list is that the paper is not symmetric, I see no point in that.

Oddest. Reasoning. Ever.

 

[leakyroof]

The reason why the DTS 400 did not make it onto my shopping list is that the paper is not symmetric, I see no point in that.

Oddest. Reasoning. Ever.

  Meh, Alex, until you and I talked about the DTS 400, I was in the same boat basically since it would mean ANOTHER style paper to buy , that didn't fit any other Festool sander. I get it, I once was thinking the same thing because you could , with the DX 93 and the RO 90, rotate the Delta Paper as it got worn or clogged. But I got over that..... [wink] [wink]

 

[Gregor]

Oddest. Reasoning. Ever.

It makes perfect sense for my use cases. YMMV.

 

[Michael Kellough]

When I need the DTS it’s usually just the pointy end that does the work so that area of the abrasive wears out sooner. I use scissors to cut the other corners of the abrasive off and trim to fit the point and rotate them to the front. I put the worn abrasive back on so the pad is still protected.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Oddest. Reasoning. Ever.

It makes perfect sense for my use cases. YMMV.

No, there is no situation where judging sandpaper by its symmetry makes sense.  [wink]

Look at my hands, they're not symmetrical. Absolutely useless buggers.

BTW, DTS paper is symmetrical in one direction. Just not in all.