Festool sander reports

**Woodduffer** · 01-15-2008, 06:27 PM

Ok guys, my wife must want a lot of work from me down the line, but "we" went down and bought a festool combo 5" sander and vac. Most of my work is smaller so I didn't think the 6" made sense. So the short version is I love the thing. The vacuum really does work very well. I'm sure there are still some fines generated by sanding but I'm amazed how well the thing keeps the dust down.(Like little to no visible dust!)The vacuum does a good job with other tools too. Used with my PC 1/4 sheet sander the dust is down by more than 50%. The Festool sander works super fast in the Rotex mode and does a very uniform and thurough job on the standard ROS mode as well. Consider this a mini tool test report. FWIW
Bill J

**Cannon Fodder** · 01-16-2008, 03:35 AM

Thanks for posting Bill. Always good to see what folks thought of a new product!

John

Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge. -- Mark Twain

**sibi1972** · 01-16-2008, 11:36 AM

Bill,

Congrats on the new tools. All of the Festool tools look amazing. I'm confident that they work as well as they advertise but for me the price is way out of range. I think that trying to actually pay for anything that said Festool on it, my hand would bend shut so badly it would never recover. It makes my tiny brain hurt just thinking about it. Cudos to you though and best wishes on your WW projects.

"Red"

**rrich** · 01-16-2008, 05:53 PM

One of the things that I've noticed about Festool is very good dust collection. The consensus out here is that they are great tools for a tradesman that will be working inside the client's premesis.

About 4-5 projects down the line, please let us know how the sander is performing.

**deepsplinter** · 01-16-2008, 06:14 PM

Did you have an old sander and vac that you wanted to upgrade, or is this the first sander/vac set-up? I'm wondering if you have something to compare your new system to.

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[font color=blue]

If you look confident you can pull off anything,

even if you have no clue what you're doing.
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**Woodduffer** · 01-17-2008, 03:11 PM

>Did you have an old sander and vac that you wanted to
>upgrade, or is this the first sander/vac set-up? I'm
>wondering if you have something to compare your new system
>to.
>
>
>
>
>

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>[font color=blue]

If you look confident you can
>pull off anything,

even if you have no clue
>what you're doing.
[/font]

I have always used a regular shop vac and reducer hose with both my PC 1/4 sheet and Bosch ROS. (a nice unit BTW) The Festool works 300% better. The rotex setting really removes the material. My wife is restoring an old dresser. This is a painted unit about 5' in length. The dresser is at least 80 years old and has been painted several times. The Festool has my wife smiling because the sander/vac combo really removes the dust and goes through multiple layers of paint in a hurry. As you may have guessed we both use the shop, which is great since she wants the new tools as much as I do! The shop is completely different after sanding with the new system. NO dust smell and very clean. No visible dust. I'd still suggest a respirator or full on DC to collect the fines. The Festool has HEPA filters and is good to .5 micron. There is probably some fine dust thrown up at the sanded surface that the vacuum system can't catch, but overall impression is very favorable to all but the wallet.
Bill