Surfprep 3x4 Sander

[Getmaverick]

I am looking at purchasing one of these next week. I bought the RTS 400 years ago thinking it would do what this sander claims.
The RTS has been good for edge sanding and smaller flat surfaces (face frames etc..), but not so great on profiles.
Does anyone have some real world experience with the Surfprep?
The Surfprep is VS up to 9000 rpm with a 3mm stroke.

 

[Lettusbee]

I'm curious as well.  I ordered the LS130 for a bunch of deeply detailed poplar casing that I need to prep and paint.  Then I heard about the surfprep and started wondering if I should've gone that route instead. 

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[xedos]

SP sanders seem to be the darling of high end painters. They are still a sleeper brand though.

Check in at the painting /refinishing forums and fb groups for info on them.

 

[AlexThePalex]

If the RTS 400 doesn't work for you on profiles, what reason do you have to think the Surfprep 3x4 would do better? It is the same form factor, and the Surfprep is only marginally smaller in size. I would not expect too much improvement over the RTS.

When I come into profiles I do as much as I can with my DTS, RTS and DX90 but that's only limited and I accept I have to do a lot by hand. I have not found a better way.

Only when you do lots of the same profiles over a longer period of time it is worth to invest in a Festool LS130 with a custom pad, but beyond that, hand sanding will get the best result on profiles.

 

[Getmaverick]

Alex - this is the reasoning for my question.  I have never seen a video using the RTS on molding profiles. There are no foam sanding pads for it, and the interface pad with sandpaper is only going to conform to basic profiles.
The Surfprep is designed for this and has the different thickness of pads.
I thought about buying some of their pads and just cut to fit the RTS but I will suffer from .dust collection. This is a very popular sander in the finish industry, I don't see a lot of RTS in finishing shops.

 

[AlexThePalex]

There are no foam sanding pads for it, and the interface pad with sandpaper is only going to conform to basic profiles.
The Surfprep is designed for this and has the different thickness of pads.

I see..... I looked only at the sander, and not at the available abrasives for it. When you see the foam pads in the videos they do make it look real easy, as they always do.

Well, as the guy who owned 13 Festool sanders at one point, I'm not going to advise anybody against buying a new sander. It does seem to me that the SurfPrep's sanding pads are the decisive factor, so I would first try them out on my RTS, cut them to size, perhaps even drill some holes for the DC, just to see how the foam pads themselves work. If they actually do work very good then I would consider buying the $475 SurfPrep sander. Safe way to try it out.

But you don't think the Festool interface pad would work? I never tried them. But I've read here about people who stack them multiple times.

 

[Michael Kellough]

9k rpm sounds good but it’s hard to imagine much of the 3mm stroke transferring to the friction side of a 1/2” foam pad.

 

[Getmaverick]

I thought about the interface pad with the surfprep pads. Would like to know how thick the interface pad is. I'm guessing 5mm.  I don't  see stacking interface pads helping much. As you can see with the surfprep, it's all in the flexibility of the pads.

 

[Getmaverick]

9k rpm sounds good but it’s hard to imagine much of the 3mm stroke transferring to the friction side of a 1/2” foam pad.

Without having used one, I can't neither.  I do know they have a pressure sensitive motor. It detects how much downward pressure being used and changes accordingly.

 

[Bob D.]

For anyone interested I came across this video on YT about the SurfPrep.