Ok, that really sucks! ;~) No Domino???? LOL If you don't mind me asking, is this group of tools for a review? I would really be interested in your thoughts on the Circle Saw when ever you get around to it. Of course if you are doing this as a review and for hire/pay I would be interested in knowing the publication the review would be appearing in. Enjoy the tools.
I have recently learned to appreciate the ability to let my imagination become my reality on items that I cannot afford. It helps in knowing that if I study the item to death and learn all of its details that it only costs me my time. The plus side to not actually making the purchase is that I can imagine making another purchase immediately. LOL In our spare time my wife and I enjoy looking at homes that uh... are way out of our league. We can imagine what it would be like to own such a home but when the reality sets in from the point of view of payments, taxes, insurance, etc we can imagine another home with out having to sell. ;~)
With all this Festool talk I started looking at the sanders, I have a TS75, Domino & ct32. I agree worth it if you can afford it, very happy, but on the sanders there is an awful lot of sandpaper to choose from. For woodworking which ones do you use?
Yes there are a lot of sand papers to choose from. Keep in mind that Festool builds these sanders to be used in other professions also. Auto body, renovation, painting, solid surfaces, etc. Each of those types of work require different typed of abrasives. Fortunately, for regular wood working, sanding on bare wood, you can simply choose the Rubin sand paper in the grits of your choice. Rubin paper starts at 24 and goes through 180 grit. If you need a finer grit you can use the Brilliant in grits 220 through 400.
99.99% of the time I stop at 180 grit so the Rubin paper is all I need. I initially purchased 120, 150, and 180. As effective as the Rotex sander is I will probably seldom use the 120 grit. In the aggressive mode the 150 in pretty darn fast. With the smaller less aggressive ROS sanders the 120 or lower may be a better choice to start out with.Hey Leon, My paper selection is 80, 120, 240 and 320 and I stop at 240 for most of my projects but for some I will go to 320 (with either sander; Rotex RO 150 E+ or the DTS 400). I thought about bridging the gap between 120 and 240 but I don't really see the need. I also bought a small pack of 400 but this is so rarely used on wood. My other hobby is windsurfing and I have a few boards to repair from last season (epoxy outer skin over carbon fiber) so I plan to try out my sanders on them when it gets time to make the repairs. The 400 will get used at that time. Marc
SNIP
Now we are getting to the nuts and bolts. This is what I was looking for.
ron
I have only seldom used 80 and for the life of me I cannot remember why I bought that pack. It was for the old PC right angle ROS. I do recall that it works great for setting down on a 3M Scotch Brite pad to buff my TS top. ;~) The first time I used my Rotex I was sanding 1.5" wide Poplar edging attached to 3/4" thick MDF. The Poplar was a bit thicker than the MDF but the Poplar sanded down even with the MDF almost instantly using 180 grit.
Wee geez r payne. Be more specific. Most any tool can be had that is ready with dust collection, soft start, ESC and or variable speed.
Might I add the stunning black color highlighted by the green knobs and switches. ;~)
Just kidding. Really, these tools don't leave any features out that I can think of. If there is a particular tool that you want to know about it may be easier to answer your questions. Most every Festool has 1 or more unique features that stand out from the competition.
OK, now I am ordering you to take a couple of hours off and look at the array of tools that you dealer will have. It is eye candy galore and you will be saying geeeee, those are cool features. ;~)
There is one dealer in town, all other dealers would take most of a day to drive and visit. I was there for a bit just before i started this thread, but after standing in front of the display and handling the tools for maybe 20 minutes all I could say was "they have some nice features but I don't see twice the cost". And during all that time no one came over to answer any questions I may have or offer a demo. From what has been posted there may be some new innovations and new innovations always cost more. So I think I'll wait a couple of years and see what happens in the market. Although I sounds like what I would try to design if I was to build one.
ron
Interesting ... Must be something to do with the Rotex because I've never been able to get away with that big a gap when 'running through the grits'?
I've seen Leon's Rotex in action, was suitably envious, but it's sinfully rich for my poor boy blood ... at least until I get this last kid out of college, which could mean that I'll have to go back to hand sanding through all the grits:)
Thx for all the info on the paper, so I'm thinking of the 150 FEQ Dual Mode Sander, it comes with a soft pad, why would I need a hard one? Any other thoughts on other accessories I should consider with this one? Or do you prefer a different sander ? Thx for all the feedback.
It's interesting isn't it? When I first saw the Festools advertised, I thought, oh how pretty and didn't give them a second thought. I wasn't even aware of the price differential until a few guys in here started talking about them.
Other than price, I never heard a contrary word about any Festool that was under discussion. Now, they seem to be well on their way to establishing industry standards at the high-end, replacing what most people had faith in for years: DeWalt and PC.
I really don't have the cash to drop down on even one of these beauties and I don't think my skill level warrants one, but what impresses me the most is the reviews that have been on the Wreck by some craftsmen that are very hard to please; Swing, Leon, charlieb, etc. That brand is now fixed in my mind as something to attain to
What is a FEQ 150 sander? I did not see it on the Festool web site.
The soft pad is good for most all general sanding. The hard pad would be good/better for sanding narrow surfaces that are considerably smaller than the pad itself such as the edge of a board or sanding past the edge of a flat surface. The harder pad helps to prevent rounding the edges.
My late wife and I use to do the house thing also during the annual Parade of Homes and pick a Saturday and go and look at nothing but 1,000,000 dollar homes and in New Mexico that is one hell of a home. I also spend way to much time researching and admiring tools I may never be able to buy. Festool got my attention on the decibel rating of the vac alone and as soon as I find a way to sell one of the grandkids a Domino and that will adorn my poor old shop.
That bothers me. I hope it wasn't a Woodcraft store. I can assure you that wouldn't happen in the Woodcraft where I work. We've got some employees who are so sold on Festool that they get positively gleeful at the opportunity to show them off :-).
r payne wrote: ...
Amazing what some judicious upscale pretentiousness can do in a marketing campaign isn't it??? :)
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No it wasn't Woodcraft. I wish there was a Woodcraft store close enought to go to. This one is a local store owned by a fellow I've had some other dealings with and even though it is the closest thing to a woodworking tool store less than an hours drive, it wouldn't bother me if it was gone.
ron
LOL, I have a brand new Woodcraft store near me that has the full array of Festool equipment. Every time I mention Festool they direct me to the display and start showing me the Domino. I have to remind them that I have had a Domino longer than their store has been existence. And then they kinda frown.
That really isn't true with most Festool items.
Even though I think Systainers are overpriced, every Festool _tool_ I've tried really has been far above the competition. The guys who use them all day long for a living, and were nice enough to let me, a part timer try them, also learned of them on job sites where someone let them try them. There is a 30 day, no questions asked satisfaction guarantee on Festool products.
In the flying community, Bose communication headsets often draw the same comments from folks who haven't used them. Hype! Pretentious! A $1000 headset? etc... Bose also offers a 30 day guarantee. While most folks with a musical ear will agree that Bose stereo equipment is typically over-hyped and overpriced, I don't know of a pilot who's ever returned a Bose aviation headset after actually flying with it for the 30 day trial. I can say the same for Festool.
Next time you need a tool, try Festool. On the other hand, use any other brand of tool for 30 days, as you normally would, and try to return it.
The good news is that markets aren't static. Festool will seriously change the handheld power tool world, just as the cordless drill, the biscuit joiner, and the nail gun did. Mark my words!
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