What sanders for Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing

[erb3742]

I am about to make the plunge into Festool to start a project refinishing my 25 year old oak kitchen cabinets.  The cabinets have some sort of poly or varnish.  My plan is to sand with 80, 120, 150 and then spray a high build primer (to minimize the grain), sand, and spray finish coats with sanding in between.  It is a decent sized kitchen, 32 doors, 14 drawers.  Also plaining to sand and spray the inside of all the cabinets which are unfinished.

I know for sure I am getting the CT MIDI or 26 and the LS130 for sanding the raised panels portions of the cabinet doors.

Beyond that I am torn for corner work:

Option 1:
RTS 400 (same paper as LS130) but can do corners

Option 2:
DTS 400 (bite the bullet on different abrasives required)

Option 3:
DS 90 and now I have a rotex sander and delta for doing corners.

After I make this decision, for larger panels I am debating the ETS EC 125/3 or wondering if the ETS 150/5 would be nice to have something larger and more aggressive and since I am painting, not staining; the 5mm stroke will matter less.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

 

[AlexThePalex]

DTS400 + ETS125 work great on this kind of work, all options covered.

 

[Sanderxpander]

I'd read up on the Rotex 90 and the LS130 before you get them. Opinions vary greatly. Personally I only own the Rotex 90 and I'd advise against buying it as a "catch all" sander. It's just a pain to use for a long time. It's great for specialty work like stripping narrow rails and stiles, or catching the odd corner. For more extended use I'd definitely go for a brushless RO and some nice delta option like Alex suggested.

 

[ScotF]

The DTS is great for corners and the RTS might work - can use interface pads for concave and convex surfaces. I like them both. I would get the 150/5 for the panels and bigger parts. I have both ETS EC 125/3 and just got he ETS 150/5  - both are nice sanders and would work good for his project. I like the bigger pad for faster sanding. The weigh the same.

 

[canux]

When I refurb old or paint new kitchens's the RTS 400 is my go to sander. I sometimes use Mirka goldflex pads of inbetween coats.  My RTS 400 is my to go sander for all the woodwork prep I do.  I did buy my RO90 for woodwork before I bought a RTS 400.  But the RO90 was to aggressive for woodwork.

Why not just get the RTS 400 instead of the LS130?

 

[greg mann]

The data is a better corner sander than the rts, IMO. It also can do most flat work pretty much the same asr as the rts. I have both and had to give one up it would be the rts.

I agree the delta pad on the ro90 is too aggressive for this type of work and the 90mm to pad
is too small for fine flat work.

Alex nailed it. (as usual)

 

[Steven Owen]

The data is a better corner sander than the rts, IMO. It also can do most flat work pretty much the same asr as the rts. I have both and had to give one up it would be the rts.

I agree the delta pad on the ro90 is too aggressive for this type of work and the 90mm to pad
is too small for fine flat work.

Alex nailed it. (as usual)

I’d go with the RTS 400 as well for refinishing.  A lot of cabinets are a mix of hardwood plywood and hardwood.  I can’t imagine an an RO not damaging some plywood veneers. 

 

[Pnw painter]

Will your finish be pigmented or clear? This makes a huge difference because you may want to sand to raw wood if you’re going to stain and clear. But if you’re using a pigmented finish you might only need to scuff sand and then apply a bonding primer.

No matter what the finish, the RTS400 is my go to sander for cabinet projects. For larger panels I’ll use an ETS EC 150/5.

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