Thread: FESTOOL query #1 – Sanders

After doing all the aforesaid research there are a few things that I need to clear up:

1. Has anyone used the hand sanders that have dust extraction? They certainly look the goods.

2. I’ve narrowed down the prospective sanders to the very flexible ROTEX 90 with a variety of accessories, an ETS 150/3, the Linear Duplex 130 with all the goodies, and the belt sander 105mm with bench mount (which is how it will be mostly used). I think it was Groggy or Lignum who said that the ETS 150 was the best ROS ever made (although may be challenging that), and there were many more glowing comments, so that’s good enough for me (the ROTEX 150 got a good shout, but some thought it too bulky and uncomfortable as it is half a kilo more).

The ROTEX 90 gets a nod for it’s great versatility (ROS, Polisher, Delta sander, Slat Sander). Opinions welcome.

The Linear Duplex would appear to be THE most versatile sander going around, and I’m thinking that I can also use it with the flat pad for coarse sanding, even though it has a 4mm stroke.

Regarding the belt sander, I’d prefer to get the CMS Linisher, but although I see it in brochures all over the place, there is no mention of it on the website, so I hazard a guess at it not being available (any more, or yet). I’d be interested to hear comments on these sanders.

3. Abrasives. My head hurts . Trawling through this lot was, uh, “enlightening”. I need abrasives for raw timber and Shellac (Ubeaut of course) and perhaps some other lacquers. From what I understand Shellac will bind up just about anything, I guess because of the heat, which is where I’m hoping the Multi-Jetstream ETS 150 may improve things (but not holding my farts in on that one). Anyway, I’ve identified Rubin obviously (but the grits stop at 180), Brilliant 2 for 240 and 400, and Platin 2 for 1000, 2000, and occasional 4000. I could use GRANAT in place of Rubin and Brilliant 2 because it goes up to 400, but I wonder how it performs on raw timber given that Rubin is designed to shed wood fibres. For that matter I wonder how Brilliant 2 performs on raw timber. I read on the USA owners group forum that one chap said he would use ANYTHING but Festool abrasives, particularly Abranet and Rhynolox. Any opinions on all this?

Thanks & Regards, Brett