New Festool ETS Sander

[lesmeyer]

I think this baby is making it's debut in Australia pretty soon.

Les
ETS_EC_150.jpg

[Evanism]

I'd recon. I was just on the German site and they are banging on about it pretty hard.

Perhaps next month? I saw that Festool AU are cranking up their prices next month.

There are a heaps of ETS's for sale on eBay... might be some more over the next 3 months Always wanted a 150/5 for the finish sanding.

[nt900]

The new brushless ETS EC is pretty nice. Light, compact and some new advanced features.

It's worth noting the new ETS EC is not a replacement for the current ETS sanders. It's a complementary sander in the range at a different price point and targeted towards different (heavy usage) users.

[FenceFurniture]

Trying to work out the differences between the two (previous and new):

• New is 2/3 of the weight (very good, but how did they achieve that? Replacing steel components with plastic?)
• New is significantly lower height than previous, judging by pics (good, actually very good, particularly for sanding vertical surfaces). For one handed sanding the current is a bit top heavy.
• On button now at the front which will encourage a hand over the top of the sander (good). Is there a lock-on? It doesn't look like it but there may be a fancy function in the button. It would be a shame if there isn't because it would mean it's a little tricky to move the hand around for comfort on a long duration job.
• New has a carbide tipped brake (not sure what the previous is)
• New has a function to tell me if the DE hose is connected - ummmm, am I missing something here or is that usually pretty obvious? Sander won't work without a hose, but that setting can be overridden. Seems a little overly fancy.
• New is 400w instead of 310w good for heavier sanding - presumably to keep up the revs better under heavier load (never been an issue though, but as Anthony says it's aimed at heavier usage)
• Speed range 6000-10000 rather than 4000-10000 (No big deal, I seem to almost always run at 10,000 except for painted/lacquered etc surfaces where 4000rpm keeps the heat down)
• Is brushless new (not sure what the previous is)?

It looks as though it will be a little more back-weighted (lower height and the extension out the back) but that probably amounts to nothing or not much in handling the different balance.

Can anyone see or ascertain any other differences?

[nt900]

Have a look at this intro video by Peter Parfit, it's an excellent overview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zphGmjTlUo4

To answer some of FF specific points, here goes...

• New is 2/3 of the weight (very good, but how did they achieve that? Replacing steel components with plastic?)
  
  Not really, the EC brushless motor is just so much more efficient and smaller. The motor inside is more the size of the a cordless drill than a sander.
  
  
• On button now at the front which will encourage a hand over the top of the sander (good). Is there a lock-on? It doesn't look like it but there may be a fancy function in the button. It would be a shame if there isn't because it would mean it's a little tricky to move the hand around for comfort on a long duration job.
  
  No lock as such. The button is pressed and the sander goes on. Then pressed and the sander goes off.
  
  
• New has a carbide tipped brake (not sure what the previous is)
  
  All ETS sanders have a pad brake. Most people don't know it's there, it's the rubber ring that presses down on the sanding pad. It stops the pad free spinning and speeding up, therefore controls speed in idle and the workpiece is not "speed burned" when you put the sander to the workpiece. Over time the brake will wear out and the pad may spin too quickly. The new ETS SC brake has carbide parts embedded in it and will last much longer.
• New has a function to tell me if the DE hose is connected - ummmm, am I missing something here or is that usually pretty obvious? Sander won't work without a hose, but that setting can be overridden. Seems a little overly fancy.
  
  Peter explains this quite well. It avoids sander damage in heavy use environments, and in some cases would be switched on by the workshop owner to manager operators behavior patterns. Think about auto-finishing workshop environments where dust extraction is mandatory at all times.
• New is 400w instead of 310w good for heavier sanding - presumably to keep up the revs better under heavier load (never been an issue though, but as Anthony says it's aimed at heavier usage)
  
  It's a double wammy improvement. The EC brushless motor is more efficient and at the same wattage as the other ETS would provide more power, but they have upped the input wattage as well. Most of the time you don;t need this much power and it is not using all available, it leaves much more power capability in reserve for when required.
  
  
• Speed range 6000-10000 rather than 4000-10000 (No big deal, I seem to almost always run at 10,000 except for painted/lacquered etc surfaces where 4000rpm keeps the heat down)
• Is brushless new (not sure what the previous is)?
  
  Festool are making more brushless motor tools. Festool were the first to release a cordless drill with a brushless motor. Then (I think) the first to release a brushless motor in a mains powered tool - the CARVEX jigsaws. Since then, the cordless TS-55 saw, and hot the ETS sander. All have the same features... more power and better efficiency to weight and size.

[FenceFurniture]

Ok, thanks Anthony.

[FenceFurniture]

Yes, good video. I like the faster braking very much. Many is the time I've wished for it.

[Evanism]

I was thinking of getting a finishing sander to compliment the Rotex ETS125... The 150 is an obvious step up.

Any idea of what the intro AU prices might be? (sarcasm aside)

[nt900]

Think half as much again as the regular ETS sanders.

[lesmeyer]

In the UK they are 30% more expensive than the current ETS sanders.
So I guess that would be roughly the same here or even 50% as Anthony hinted.
Regards
Les

[Ratbag]

I'm delighted to see the pads being mounted to the spindle with an allen screw. This is a much more positive & secure means of anchoring pad to spindle, and was used on all of the previous generation of Fess-tool's rotary sanders. It still only takes a minute or so to exchange pads.

I get that the RO90DX has to have a sort of "bayonet" style click-on click-off arrangement to allow rapid changes from rotary to delta pads, but some of the heavy users over here in Tas. have had no end of trouble with the same arrangement on their RO150 FEQs. It seems that both male & female halves have trouble staying properly coupled. One fellow in frustration even tried gluing the pad in place so he could continue working! Sometimes the old ways are better.

In all fairness I haven't had any similar problems myself with my RO90, and thankfully my Rotex 150 is an older model.

[elanjacobs]

Nice to see Festool finally catching up to modern sander technology.

[T.C]

Looks like they're available now, and the Vecturo as well http://blog.festool.com.au/. 3 options for the sanders - in a cardboard box, systainer or in a set with the new hose. Might be best to hold onto your jaw before you check out the prices.

[Ratbag]

A grand for a basic ROS and funny looking jacketed hose? Do I look like a mug? Tell 'em they're dreamin'!

[FRB Design]

A grand for a basic ROS and funny looking jacketed hose? Do I look like a mug? Tell 'em they're dreamin'!

So the hundreds that will by one or two me included, well we cant all be mugs hey!



Frank.