Thread: Made the mistake of dropping into the Festool stand at the TWW Show

Originally Posted by scottbr

Amazing stuff. Very good staff on the stand, too.

I'm just a DIY guy and I've never had the need to buy anything more expensive than Makita.

But I'm at the age where I reckon it's time to treat myself.

I looked at the Rotex 150. If I had one of them, the time it took me to make the table tops I recently finished would have been halved. And the result would have been better.

Does anybody own one of these? Are they as good as they seem to be?

What would be the ideal dust extractor to partner it with given it's not going to be used all that often?

Scott

I have a rotex 150. If I had my time again I would not buy it for general woodwork. Others may well have a different experience . For example, a belt sander with frame is quicker, more accurate and easier to use than the Rotex and the Festool 150/3 is a delight to use and is also a better finishing sander. .

The Rotex is ideal in the automotive industry for sanding and ultimately buffing car panels. However, there are many on this forum who use the rotex all the time, so perhaps it depends upon what you will be doing .

I used a belt sander and the 150/3 for years before I bought a Rotex.

It does an excellent job between the other two.

Put on a coarse grit and it will quickly remove lots or timber or match the last grit from the belt sander and all the scratch marks disappear.

You can get a good finish with it but I fine the 150/3 is so easy to use and gives a very fine finish.

Any Shop vac will work fine.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Strange that nobody from Ideal Tools has jumped in. I can't see the value of sponsoring a forum if you don't monitor it and take the opportunity to talk up the products you are selling.

I'm keen on the fact that it appeared to be good for removing bulk stuff and for finishing.

TP1, I take your point about people in the auto industry using it. I like to do stuff with steel and timber and occasionally have a need to polish steel. So that might be good.

And Scally, I know what you mean about the 150/3 being more nimble. I had a look at it, too.

I didn't realise any shop vac could work. I guess the end of the suction hose just has to be modified to fit. I probably could do with a new vac, though.

Originally Posted by scottbr

Strange that nobody from Ideal Tools has jumped in. I can't see the value of sponsoring a forum if you don't monitor it and take the opportunity to talk up the products you are selling.

Hi Scott,

I monitor the forum all the time. But I try and not bombard it with Anthony and Ideal Tools speak all the time. Forum members would soon get bored of that. There's enough "look at me, look at me" on the internet as it is. But if someone asks I am happy to jump right in. So since you ask.

I love the ROTEX RO 150, but it's not a sander for everyone. Pure furniture woodworkers who have thicknessers, planers, hand places and scrapers might be best served with a combo of ETS sanders, the 3mm (ETS-150/3) and 5mm (ETS-150/5) stroke versions.

And as often described by Lignum and others, the belt sander BS-105 or BS-75 and ETS-150/3 is an excellent combo for woodworkers who like to build bigger projects and the BS can be used on everything from rough sawn to veneers. Then finish large and small surfaces with the ETS-150/3.

But for people who do a bit of everything, like renovation, repairs, course and fine woodworking, the ROTEX 150 can be a good bet.

My personal approach to recommending sanders and other Festool equipment to people is to ask not what sander do you need right now, but what sander combo do you eventually want to have or think will meet your needs. And sometimes that means not getting an all-rounder like the ROTEX now, but an ETS now and a BS later, or visa-versa. So you won;'t have the optimum combo immediately, but when the time is right and you get the next sander, you're a happy and productive camper indeed.

One thing to consider, there is rarely a bad way to purchase a Festool sander because even if you go for say an ETS to begin, and decide a ROETEX is preferred after some time, the ETS will probably resell quite well and the small around you loose on the ETS will most likely be most tolerable compared to the satisfaction and productivity you get from it while you do have it. Not many second hand power tools get good prices on the second hand market, but a well kept Festool usually do. So what am I saying here, I guess I am saying this.... you could forever agonise over which Festool sander/s are best for you, but in most cases assuming you have done a little research and self-assessment you will probably be happy with any of the above mentioned sanders which will do their intended range of tasks very nicely. But if worst case you were not spot on in your decision making, and decide to exchange Festool sanders at some point, or build upon your sander collection, you will probably decide no to part with the already purchased sander, or if you do, someone will probably make it worth your while. Sorry I probably go off topic there a bit.

Thanks Anthony. I reckon in a sponsored forum people will cut you some slack. If you jumped into forums you didn't sponsor to talk up your products you might cop some flack.

I've got a Makita belt sander and orbital sander, and a little Bosch detail sander - one of the triangular shaped things. They're all okay, though of course, the dust bags are a bit of a hoax.

But I think it's time to step up to something better even though it will probably sit around sometimes for months without being used i.e. it will be a bit of an indulgence.

I liked the Rotex 150, but I'm happy to be guided.

This was my latest DIY project:

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f187/i...tables-136437/

They're my first and last tables. It involved a heap of sanding mainly because I made some mistakes. But I do have timber left over for a couple of benches. So I'll glue them up and they'll need a lot of sanding and eventually maybe polishing and it would be great not having to carry them downstairs.

Those steel legs are polished. I used a grinder with fine discs and then some hand polishing. I suspect the Rotex 150 might make that exercise more pleasurable.

That space the tables are in has 8m wide oregon trusses that I wouldn't mind tidying up one day.

I'll be building a hoop pine ply kitchen up there, too. Plenty of sanding in that job.

I need to paint some the walls, too. And that means sanding back the old paint to get a good surface. Not sure if the Rotex 150 would be any good for that?

I've got an old timber kayak out the back that I want to restore. A fair bit of sanding there.

They're just the projects I can think of coming up. So it's a mixture - course and fine, small and larger.

if you are looking for near dustless sanding the rotex really really works . I made some tabletop extensions out of recylced jarrah timber which had been prieviously used as gazebo with six or seven layers of paint. the rotex stripped it very quickly without a huge mess. it does however need a wide variety of different types and grades of paper to get the best results but other than that it is certainly my go to tool for sanding

Thanks fubar.

That sounds like the sort of thing I would do.

I don't mind the thought of a range of papers - at least they'll be easy to change.

I'm anticipating the papers costing a bit and being harder to get, too.

Do you have a Festool vac? I'm wondering whether their cheapest one will do?

Anthony, feel free to jump in and talk up what you've got.

Originally Posted by scottbr

Thanks fubar.

That sounds like the sort of thing I would do.

I don't mind the thought of a range of papers - at least they'll be easy to change.

I'm anticipating the papers costing a bit and being harder to get, too.

Do you have a Festool vac? I'm wondering whether their cheapest one will do?

Anthony, feel free to jump in and talk up what you've got.

Sure...

ABRASIVES: ROTEX and ETS use the same abrasives, but the range of the ROTEX means more abrasives are applicable. Foe example, P24 Saphir abrasives will eattimber away and are great for ad-hox carving and rounding over of rustic timber projects. Also good for paint removal from rough surfaces. I have even used by ROTEX and P24 to sand down minor concrete spill from a slab prior to laying floor joists over it.

So the ROTEX will be fit for everything from P24 through to P4000. Plus polishing sponges, lambswool and soft felt pads.

By the way, the D150 sanders like the ROTEX and ETS have an optional interface pad. Which allows you to work with concave and conves shapes and it gives to the shape of the object being sander. Good for steel sanding/polishing as well as timber. Also great for table top edge round-overs.

VAC: The cheapest Festool/Protool vac (in this case the Protool VCP 170) is great for the ROTEX and other Festool sanders. But is does not have a variable suction capability, so for something like the ETS sander doing fine work, the extractor has too much power and sucks the sander to the workpiece. So you either need a variable speed extractor some of the time, or there is an adaptor the spills suction from the hose, like a home van usually has. Or the VCP 321 is a bit dearer but also good value and does have variable suction.

GRINDING AND POLISHING STEEL: Yep, the ROTEX is excellent for that. Nice for stainless as well.

PAINT REMOVAL: ROTEX is awesome, and better than using a grinder (although a little slower than that, but much more controllable, safer, and with excellent dust extraction).

KAYAK: See above about the interface pad.

gday
I found a range of papers after market a fair bit cheaper than the festool also buying from the USofA works out lot cheaper I have the ct22 (smallest available at time of purchase) with a dust deputy in front of it also works with my karcher shop vac but the ease of it turning on and off through the ct22 is very noice.

Thanks guys.

I think there would be advantages to using the Festool vac.

Anthony, you might PM me some prices for the Rotex 150 and those 2 vacs you mentioned.

You would have some sort of starter pack with a range of papers and could advise me on what else I might need given the sort of stuff I do?

I won't be buying for a month or so, but I will buy from you - even though I think you're in another state - because that's the right thing to do.

From what I understand, just having the 150/3 isnt a good idea as it takes ages and ages to do large surfaces.....thats why I got just 1 150/5, couldn't be happier

Just a thought

As a former Panel Beater spraypainter, now woodworker, i have various machines for sanding Hitachi 150 Random Orbital, Makita, 7" Disc sander, Makita Beltsander, Random orbital Air Sanders, and RO 150 FEQ

The RO 150 FEQ is excellent for large flat surfaces, i love the speed selection, and the fact that it stays at speed selected, not like some others that increase to max, so that when disc hits wood it leaves a cutting mark

The RO 150 FEQ also has the feature of removing the dust unit making lighter sanding, on edges easier, but all this said, i still use my random air sander for edges, my 7" Sander for striping large areas, beltsander for long boards followed by the RO 150 FEQ, for final finish

Ohh forgot to mention the selection of course or fine sanding is great, with them gears it rips stock off quck, be sure to hold on tight

Thanks for the replies.

Took delivery last week and I'm now waiting on some sanding discs etc from Anthony. I'm looking forward to having a play.

Anthony was very good to deal with. I could have bought in Sydney, but opted to buy from Anthony because he was so helpful

Given the amount of stuff I do, it was definitely an indulgence. I worked out that the Protex +vac cost more than all my other dozen or so power tools together. Dazza, I've got a couple of sanders if I need them.

I'll report back once I get it going.

Scott