What sandpaper?

T

Toller

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Feb 19, 2007
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I finally broke down and bought two Festool sanders; and ETS125 EQ and a ETS EC 125/3.  Well, actually, two of my 15 year old PC333s broke and needed to be replaced.
I intend on putting 120 on the first and 80 on the second (I have a bunch of sanders and leave a different grade on each).

Do those grades make sense for the sanders?
What paper do I use?  Festool has like 10 kinds and their uses are confusing.  This is just normal woodworking.
Are there cheaper alternatives that work?
The second one has a funny dust port on it.  Do I just ignore it and use my regular hose?

Thanks.

The first is a refurb, and the second had a 20% discount on Ebay.  I have 7 Festools, and have never paid more than 80%.  Very proud of that; but it makes finding a MFT difficult.

 
You're always safe with granat, can be used for everything. When you're into cars, get Titan, and for bare wood Rubin gets (slightly) better results.

Here in Europe there are plenty of cheaper alternatives for Festool papers, but I have no clue about the USA,
 
So for me, with those two sanders it would be less about grits and more about whether you were using the sander horizontally or vertically. The ETS is tall and a bit heavier than the ETS EC and will be great when sanding down on a level surface. The ETS EC will be more comfortable to use on its edge. In my opinion, of course. The ETS has a 2mm orbit and the ETS EC has a 3mm orbit so technically the EC is a bit more aggressive although I doubt you will be able to tell the difference. I do think that you will notice the EC has a bit more perceived power because of the brushless motor so that may influence your decision if you stick with the “one gets 80 and the other gets 120 plan”.

Also if you use them with a vacuum hose the EC is more prone to tipping back until you master it so that might lead you to using it for the finer grits. Tip: A Festool employee showed me how to loop the vac hose around my arm to change the geometry and that permanently solved my problem and drastically improved my opinion of my ETS EC for the better!

As far as the sandpaper is concerned I use Granat almost exclusively on raw wood and between coats of new finishes when applicable. I find it to be a very high quality paper that lasts really well and rarely loads.

Lastly, you made a comment about a funny dust port and using your “regular” hose. Could you please give some more details about that as I’m not sure I understand. Maybe a picture?
 
One quick question is which Sander Pad is installed on the Sanders you bought. Klingspor has offered their version abrasives for Festool sanders for some time now, but I don't think they have the latest Multistream Hole spacings on their stuff yet. The older hole patterns that they have been selling will work with the newest pad that Festool is installing on their current sanders, so you have that option to try out if you don't want to buy Festool paper only.
  With grits of medium 120 and 80, are you primarily sanding just raw wood?
As for the 'Funny" dust port, it sounds like one of your Sanders has the new Dust Port style that Festool has changed over to from the old OVAL or Round Ribbed versions on their tools.
Older hoses WILL fit the new style interlocking port, and there is some complaining about the Dust Port change as a whole here on FOG, so you can research that for fun as well... [smile]
 
Also, regarding your comments about the discounts on EBay. As I understand it Festool retailers are allowed to sell previous year models and discontinued models at up to a 25% discount. They generally use their discretion on how much to discount based on how many they have and how “fast selling” they believe that the item will be. My Woodcraft currently has three Festool vacs for sale because they have received the new models. They only discounted them by 10% (I assume that is because they knew that they would sell fast). There are many Festool dealers that contribute on this site and maybe one of them will weigh in?
 
I just saw Leakyroof’s comment and that brings up another good point. Festool makes three different pads for these sanders. Let’s call them soft, medium and hard. If you do a bunch of big flat surfaces like table tops you will love the hard. If you roll over a bunch of rounded over edges you might like soft. You get the idea! The point is that might influence your decisions about the division of labor between the two sanders.

If I was you I would take both of them for a ride with the same grits for the same projects for a little while so that you can see how they stack up to each other in your hand. I think that you will quickly determine which is your favorite for different applications and different grits.
 
Hartville Tool has a sampler pack they put together to accompany the PRO5 promotion.  It's still listed as available on their website.  You get 64 pieces of 125mm/5" abrasives in various grits and styles.  At a cost of only $39 it's a nice way to try out different abrasives to see what you like best.

Mike A.
 
Yeah, the dust port must be the new one.  As long as it fits the old hose I am fine.

Sorry, these are only for barewood.  I will pick up that assortment and try them. 

The EQ was a "refurb" through Festool.  I guess it was last years model.  The 20% eBay discount was from Hartsville  on the current model.  It was 20% off everything for Fathers Day, up to $100 off.

The hole pattern on both are identical.  8 on the outside and 1 in the middle.  Is there another pattern?

The pad on the EC is thicker and pushes in more easily.  I presume that is the soft pad?

I appreciate the he
 
Toller said:
Yeah, the dust port must be the new one.  As long as it fits the old hose I am fine.

Sorry, these are only for barewood.  I will pick up that assortment and try them. 

The EQ was a "refurb" through Festool.  I guess it was last years model.  The 20% eBay discount was from Hartsville  on the current model.  It was 20% off everything for Fathers Day, up to $100 off.

The hole pattern on both are identical.  8 on the outside and 1 in the middle.  Is there another pattern?

The pad on the EC is thicker and pushes in more easily.  I presume that is the soft pad?

I appreciate the he
Click to expand...
  There are 2 versions of the Multistream Pad as Festool calls them, and the older 8 hole pattern like you've got. Much of the available abrasive discs out there for sale with using Festool Sanders will work on any of the 3 pad hole types, so no worries.
 
Toller said:
The hole pattern on both are identical.  8 on the outside and 1 in the middle.  Is there another pattern?
Click to expand...

I am not aware of different hole patterns for the 125mm sanders.  Maybe [member=10952]leakyroof[/member] is thinking of the 150mm sanders going from the Multi-Jetstream to the Multi-Jetstream 2 pads this year?

Toller said:
The pad on the EC is thicker and pushes in more easily.  I presume that is the soft pad?
Click to expand...

I think both come with the soft pad.  I would get the hard pad for whichever you plan to use with coarse grits (P80-P120), or maybe for both.

Super Soft Pad = grey backing plate
Soft Pad = black backing plate
Hard Pad = blue backing plate
 
RustE said:
Toller said:
The hole pattern on both are identical.  8 on the outside and 1 in the middle.  Is there another pattern?
Click to expand...

I am not aware of different hole patterns for the 125mm sanders.  Maybe [member=10952]leakyroof[/member] is thinking of the 150mm sanders going from the Multi-Jetstream to the Multi-Jetstream 2 pads this year?

Toller said:
The pad on the EC is thicker and pushes in more easily.  I presume that is the soft pad?
Click to expand...

I think both come with the soft pad.  I would get the hard pad for whichever you plan to use with coarse grits (P80-P120), or maybe for both.

Super Soft Pad = grey backing plate
Soft Pad = black backing plate
Hard Pad = blue backing plate
Click to expand...
Hard_zpsoqun9tik.jpg

Soft_zpsokirsdqk.jpg


These are my two pads.  Both have a black plastic disk on the top, but one looks like the hard profile (and feels hard) while the other has the soft profile (and feels soft).
Not sure what to make of that, as I have looked them up and confirm the soft one should be blue.
 
RustE said:
Toller said:
The hole pattern on both are identical.  8 on the outside and 1 in the middle.  Is there another pattern?
Click to expand...

I am not aware of different hole patterns for the 125mm sanders.  Maybe [member=10952]leakyroof[/member] is thinking of the 150mm sanders going from the Multi-Jetstream to the Multi-Jetstream 2 pads this year?

Toller said:
The pad on the EC is thicker and pushes in more easily.  I presume that is the soft pad?
Click to expand...

I think both come with the soft pad.  I would get the hard pad for whichever you plan to use with coarse grits (P80-P120), or maybe for both.

Super Soft Pad = grey backing plate
Soft Pad = black backing plate
Hard Pad = blue backing plate
Click to expand...
. Yes, I was thinking of the 150 sanders, my bad:::: [embarassed]
 
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