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Caught word of a deal on the new Festool ROS (ETS 125 replacement).

$99 for our US counterparts: http://www.festoolproducts.com/festool- ... ander.html
$129 for us in the north: http://festoolshop.ca/new-5-pro-random- ... order-now/

Free shipping + $50 voucher for next Festool Power Tool.

I've never used a Festool sander so I can't comment on them but they appear to be highly regarded. Note this is apparently a finishing sander.

No affiliation yadda yadda...

I've had the original for about ten years now and it's seen lots of use and never wavered one bit. Great ROS!

Thanks for the heads up!


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I've never used an ROS before either but have been thinking about it. Do you have to finish sand circular sanding marks after using one of those or is that the only tool you need? Seems like sanding in a circular motion sort of er um goes against the grain. How is it in tight waist areas of a parlor guitar?

Also what do you mean by finsih sanding model?> It comes with 80 grit paper so I assume you can use it from start to finish. Finally, can you actually use it as a buffer?

I wanted one 2 yrs ago . Too good of a deal to pass up. From what I/ve heard they make a smaller pattern than typical ROS.I would still hand finish to 320. Please note there website states that these are preorders nothing shipped til NOV 1 my birthday. For those who can afford one . they seem like a good deal . I have never owned a festool

Bingo!

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George :-)

I've used Festool sanders for a number of years now - on guitars, furniture and most recently in building some surfboards. The best thing about them for me is the ergonomics - super low vibration so your hands do not go numb, and you have much more subtle control.

With dust extraction - note that it's essential to be able to reduce suction for use with sanders to avoid swirls - these things are incredible.

But please know that it is a system - sander, dust extraction, Festool abrasives (Granat is longest-lasting that I've used yet). This is a great deal they are offering - but it's a razor and blade model. Invest is some good abrasives to go with your new sander to get the most out of it.

I think by finishing model it just means that the stroke is pretty small so it won't be really good at hogging lots of material away. That's just my guess. Others with more experience can hopefully chime in.

Charlton

What do you mean it's a razor and blade model?

Also can you just hook a vacuum up to it for dust collection? What does dust collection have to do with the sanding swirls?

I can't comment on the razor and blade model (maybe the sander is the razor and you get one blade...with the shave being dependent on the blade).

You can hook up dust collection but it's a 27mm port. If your suction is too strong, then that can actually cause swirl marks. I believe this is true of all ROS sanders.

I received an e- mail from a famous portland luthier who uses it for final finishing only ,in his words 1500, 2000 and 4000 abralon, he uses other sanders to do the grunt work using mirka papers

I've had my ETS-125 for about a decade, too, just like Hesh. Great minds It's fantastic. The only swirl marks I've gotten were with the Platin pads, which are like little sponges with an abrasive on one side. Those were more like little fish-eyes than swirls. I use the Ruben and Brilliant papers. They're just what I happen to have. I haven't done an exhaustive comparison or anything. To give you an idea, the surface from the Ruben 150 is what I can get by hand with 220 after a lot of work.

I have the MIDI vacuum, but even without the vacuum, there isn't a lot of dust left on the surface. I sand without the vacuum all the time.

$99's a great price, and the paper is a bargain compared to what I'm able to get at places like Home Depot.

I suspect that what might have been meant by the razor and blade analogy was the handle is near free and they screw you on the blades.

This is known in professional marketing circles as the Gillet model and more recently the crack model, the first rock is free and when you are addicted the price sky rockets.... Such a deal.....

More specifically I suspect that this is a reference to the proprietary hole patten on the Festool and compatible papers making big box store papers that some don't have a matching hole pattern not work as well AND the fact that Festool papers some folks in comparison believe to be expensive. I don't, the abrasives that I have purchased and this is many boxes of them from Festool are excellent abrasives and last a very long time too.

What I wanted to add about this excellent and very ergonomic ROS is that before I went back to finishing my own guitars I used two different well known professional guitar finishers. On separate occasions with without knowledge of each other's remarks both of them took me aside and specifically asked me if I was using a ROS and which one.

My routine was to do the final sanding of most of the guitar, that I could get to with my Festool ROS only taking it to 220..... Be sure to shove a rag in the sound hole with any ROS or kill your ears..... I'd deliver the instruments to the finishers and both of these two guys told me that they never had to touch up my stuff and that most of the stuff that they received back then required more sanding by them. This was said both in appreciation and because they wanted to know if I was using air driven sanders and abrasives because that's what they used.

And really lastly about ten years ago when James and I bought these ROS's I did an experiment and published it on the OLF. I placed black construction paper on all horizontal surfaces in my shop and then sanded the crap out of a block of maple with both 120 and 220 for 20 minutes. The shop door was closed and no air cleaner was on. I waited 1/2 an hour and then took macro pics of the black paper with super close-ups that would show dust and there was none, anywhere.

Like James said when I have used the sander with the included capture bag and no CT-22 it still seems to capture the vast majority of dust.

Of the three Festool products that I have and use they are likely the best tools that I have ever used right up there with Starrett stuff and hand made Link Van Cleave gifted chisels, etc. If I was still building and at this price I would be stocking up on these ROS's.

Great review Hesh. I might pull the trigger on it. I always 'finish sand' with a scraper but having a power tool to get everything close to level could be a great deal of help on my aging elbows and shoulders.

Well, what would be the odds that just yesterday, I bought a RO 90 DX combo with the CT Mini extractor. It is my first Festool purchase, and all I can say is that I'm extremely impressed with the build quality.

Thanks for the heads-up! I just made my second Festool purchase today!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Maybe you should return the combo, wait till you get the new ROS sander so then you can use the $50 voucher right away.

I'm already perusing the Lee Valley site, wondering how I'll spend that 50$! LOL... I'm thinking a nice jig-saw would be in order.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Now I see what Hesh is saying about the razor and blade and crack analogy.

With the $50 credit it was too good to pass up as one of their HEPA vacuums is on my short list for the shop.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I think I'll be jumping on this deal, too. With the $50 voucher, I'll get the ETS 150/5 EQ ROS, as well.
I've been been doing some comparison shopping for a new cabinetry sander, and these two together will get me a better surface prep, at a lower dollar total than a single tool.


Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Thanks for sharing all this guys. I just ordered mine!


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Ditto. Which one are you considering? They're little systainer collector actually seems quite interesting though I'm basically leaning towards a mini.

I'm not sure. I want one to use while I work and for shop cleanup. I would like a HEPA filter so am leaning towards the CT26. But it is awfully expensive.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I think all of their vacs come with a HEPA filter.

It looks like the Mini & Midi use the same smaller motor while all the larger ones use the same larger motor based upon the CFM & static lift specs.

Talking about razors & blades, the bags fall into that category especially if you clean up larger wood chips. They start at $8 each.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

The Festool "dust extractors" seem well built and no doubt work great. But I'd point out, that for about $60 you can upgrade a common "shop vacuum cleaner" Sho-Vac, Craftsman, etc. by adding a HEPA grade filter and an inline bleeder valve to regulate suction.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/