Using the Ras 115

[Scott Rollins]

I just received the RAS 115 last month.  I have been using it to remove some broken and cracked veneer for replacement.  It absolutley eats through the veneer!  I was testing whether flat or tilted up at an angle would work best..of course up at an angle left scallops but removed material very fast.

What is the best way to use the RAS?  like a grinder or a sander?

 

[tbellemare]

The answer is yes.

It works both ways. Just be conscious of heat build up or you might destroy the pad.

Tom

 

[leakyroof]

Truthfully, it's a mean little sander that thinks it's a grinder [wink]. I tend to get my best results with a tiny bit of tilt off a flat position. Watch your pad temp, as other have noted that prolonged use, or certain apps break down the Stickfix pads. Luckily, they're only about $22 from what I'm seeing.  Enjoy your 115 sander, it's one of Festool's hidden gems.

 

[BJM9818]

I have been thinking of buyone one of these as well.  Anybody know how is the dust collection when it's used like a grinder( entire pad not touching the work piece)?  With spring here time to get back to working on the boat restoration and I would love a dst collection option wehn grinding fiberglass.

 

[Brice Burrell]

I have been thinking of buyone one of these as well.  Anybody know how is the dust collection when it's used like a grinder( entire pad not touching the work piece)?  With spring here time to get back to working on the boat restoration and I would love a dst collection option wehn grinding fiberglass.

It's pretty darn good when you get the hang of using the sander.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I use the RAS 115 to carve out seat bottoms on chairs.  That's a lot of material to remove.  Dust collection is not perfect, but way, way better than with a grinder.  The hood can rotate to surround the area you are working on.  Takes a while to nail the technique of using the hood effectively and getting the right angle to remove material at the desired rate.

Charles Brock has a video about making Maloof style chairs and he uses an RAS115.  He comments something like he used to send up a cloud of walnut dust that would make his neighbors mad, but now its not a problem.

 

[leakyroof]

I have been thinking of buyone one of these as well.  Anybody know how is the dust collection when it's used like a grinder( entire pad not touching the work piece)?  With spring here time to get back to working on the boat restoration and I would love a dst collection option wehn grinding fiberglass.

 
If you look at those black 'brushes' at the side of the tool, they're meant to catch debris,ie large chunks and dust flying out from the sanding pad while in use. You get the ability to ROTATE the brushes via the handle at the side since there is a gear assembly built-into the tool. This allows adjustment on-the-fly while using the tool, moving the brush 'hood' to where you need it as you move the tool around. Compared to an Non-DC ported grinder, the 115E is a huge step forward in dust and mess containment. Just don't expect as good dust pick-up like any sanding tool with holes in the sandpaper and matching pad can offer.  And for fiberglass work, please work safe. [blink]

 

[tbellemare]

I would dare say that the dust collection with the RAS brush is much better than a pad with holes if you are grinding. By grinding, I mean that the pad is largely not in contact with the work piece, like edge work.

The brush can be rotated to catch virtually everything. Using a pad with holes off of the work piece, a lot gets away.

Tom

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I would dare say that the dust collection with the RAS brush is much better than a pad with holes if you are grinding. By grinding, I mean that the pad is largely not in contact with the work piece, like edge work.

The brush can be rotated to catch virtually everything. Using a pad with holes off of the work piece, a lot gets away.

Tom

Good point Tom.  Just this afternoon I was using my 150/3 to sand a U-shaped chair frame.  Only a small part of the pad touched the frame at any one time.  It wasn't pretty.  Dust collection was so bad I feared that the sander had gone bad, but it worked brilliantly on a flat piece of wood.  Maybe I should get some higher grit paper for my RAS 155 for the next time I sand a U. [embarassed] [wink]

 

[tbellemare]

Another situation I've encountered where the dust collection of the RAS beats a pad with holes is when taking something rough with big fibers down using big grit abrasives. The big fibers won't go into the holes so they get thrown around.

The specific situation I'm thinking of was old cedar fence pickets that I was cleaning up to use for a planter. They were rough so I took some P 40 Saphir and the Rotex 150 to start with. It made a lot of big fibrous "sawdust" - a lot of it was too big to go through the holes in the pad. The RAS beats the pad with holes there also.

Even with the Rotex, it was pretty good but there was a lot more crud on the table and floor than I've come to expect.

Tom

 

[Julian Tracy]

So if it's such a good "grinder" than why not make an arbored interface instead of only being able to use the very delicate velcro pads?

I'd much rather use this  with the thick resin 24 or 36grit sanding discs I now use on my grinder.

That way you'd have no issue at all with worrying about the velcro pad.  Nobody's ever accused the fastfix pads of being durable...

I actually thought the RAS did have a grinder-like pad interface, was disappointed to here it did not.  Darn shame it doesn't.

JT

 

[greg mann]

So if it's such a good "grinder" than why not make an arbored interface instead of only being able to use the very delicate velcro pads?

I'd much rather use this  with the thick resin 24 or 36grit sanding discs I now use on my grinder.

That way you'd have no issue at all with worrying about the velcro pad.  Nobody's ever accused the fastfix pads of being durable...

I actually thought the RAS did have a grinder-like pad interface, was disappointed to here it did not.  Darn shame it doesn't.

JT

Probably because it is not a good grinder. While it can do many things a grinder can do it's slower speed would cause anyone trying to use it with grinding wheels to just bear down on it. The Velcro probably is the Achilles heel of this tool,but only if you are to rigid to accept the fact you cannot use it exactly like an angle grinder but more like a sander which, of course, it is. One of the things that makes the dust control as good as it is is the fact it is not traveling at grinder speeds. That would impart too much velocity to the debris coming off the disk.

 

[tiralie]

Festool has a Fiberfix pad for the RAS Pad

Thanks Chris.
It just got added to my list.
Tim

 

[ScotF]

I use the RAS 115 to carve out seat bottoms on chairs.  That's a lot of material to remove.  Dust collection is not perfect, but way, way better than with a grinder.  The hood can rotate to surround the area you are working on.  Takes a while to nail the technique of using the hood effectively and getting the right angle to remove material at the desired rate.

Charles Brock has a video about making Maloof style chairs and he uses an RAS115.  He comments something like he used to send up a cloud of walnut dust that would make his neighbors mad, but now its not a problem.

Jesse - I am curious -- after you hog out material with the RAS115, do you then follow with a different sander or scrapers?  Charles says that he uses the new RO90 after the RAS115 and I am curious what has worked for you. 

Thanks,

Scot

 

[leakyroof]

I would dare say that the dust collection with the RAS brush is much better than a pad with holes if you are grinding. By grinding, I mean that the pad is largely not in contact with the work piece, like edge work.

The brush can be rotated to catch virtually everything. Using a pad with holes off of the work piece, a lot gets away.

Tom

True Tom, I should have amended my comments to read just that. Thanks to everyone for clarifying that not-so-fine point.

 

[leakyroof]

So if it's such a good "grinder" than why not make an arbored interface instead of only being able to use the very delicate velcro pads?

I'd much rather use this  with the thick resin 24 or 36grit sanding discs I now use on my grinder.

That way you'd have no issue at all with worrying about the velcro pad.  Nobody's ever accused the fastfix pads of being durable...

I actually thought the RAS did have a grinder-like pad interface, was disappointed to here it did not.  Darn shame it doesn't.

JT

In another 115 post here on the FOG recently, I brought up the suggestion that Festool should try floating the idea of adding some of their more aggressive abrasives in the Fiberfix config. as a trial package ,since they offer just about all of them for the StickFix but not any that I'm aware of for the Fiberfix pad.  Several posters thought it was a dumb idea since they haven't used any sanders/grinders in that type of center hole mount pad once they got their 115's with the stock StickFix pad set-up.  There seems to be several camps on what pad type would normally run with the 115 if all things were available.  This has been an interesting few days with the 115 owners out there, myself included. Learned lots[and now own a spare StickFix pad as a back-up measure when working  [embarassed]]

 

[Julian Tracy]

Well that's cool - Knowing they have an interface for standard fiber sanding discs makes it a better buy.  Now if only I could find the band file attachment for it, I'd buy it in a split second at full retail.

JT

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I use the RAS 115 to carve out seat bottoms on chairs.  That's a lot of material to remove.  Dust collection is not perfect, but way, way better than with a grinder.  The hood can rotate to surround the area you are working on.  Takes a while to nail the technique of using the hood effectively and getting the right angle to remove material at the desired rate.

Charles Brock has a video about making Maloof style chairs and he uses an RAS115.  He comments something like he used to send up a cloud of walnut dust that would make his neighbors mad, but now its not a problem.

Jesse - I am curious -- after you hog out material with the RAS115, do you then follow with a different sander or scrapers?  Charles says that he uses the new RO90 after the RAS115 and I am curious what has worked for you. 

Thanks,

Scot

Hey Scot.  Thanks for the info.  The RO90 would be great for that.  Right now I'm using the dts400, ls130, scrapers, rasps, files, hand sanding with curved blocks, etc.

 

[leakyroof]

Well that's cool - Knowing they have an interface for standard fiber sanding discs makes it a better buy.  Now if only I could find the band file attachment for it, I'd buy it in a split second at full retail.

JT

Julian, I thought someone had posted that the bandfile attachment is no longer available new, and you're lucky to find them for sale used and in decent condition. They seem to pop up in European sites from time to time, or as a gloat here... [tongue]

 

[Julian Tracy]

Yea, I know - but I'd love to find one.  With a good bandfile, I've heard you can plunge cut square holes.  It'd be great for creating square holes in steel for carriage bolts as well.

JT