# Festool demo



## Ramsden Painting (Jul 17, 2011)

Just had a Festool rep come by the shop and show us and let us try some cool stuff

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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Ramsden Painting said:


> Just had a Festool rep come by the shop and show us and let us try some cool stuff
> 
> Sent from my iPad using PaintTalk


 Did he leave it all behind?


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Where da extractors?


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

Is that all the stuff you are buying?


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

I spy the linear sander I've been wanting.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

I ran over my Festool drill case with my work truck. Luckily, the drill wasn't in it. Now I have the drill stuffed in my tool bag with all the other odds and ends. Just like the painter on the run that I've always been. Damnit, I'll never get myself organized at this rate!


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## Ramsden Painting (Jul 17, 2011)

He brought on one extractor and all the sanders including the Planex. We bought two different sanders, I don't know model numbers off the top of my head and the second largest extractor. It was real nice, the rep came to out shop and the guys could try them all out. It took an hour and half out of the day and I let the guys decide what would we need. I'd love to buy it all but maybe another time.


He took everything with him

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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Ramsden Painting said:


> He took everything with him


Awww. I was hoping for a _happy_ end to the story.


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## Xmark (Apr 15, 2012)

Schmidt & Co. said:


> Awww. I was hoping for a _happy_ end to the story.


happy endings only happen in message parlors.:whistling2:


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

So a question on the Festool vacs, especially the Midi and Mini. I currently have a couple Fein vacs, older ones which don't have variable speed suction. I'd like one that has that, which both the newer Fein and Festool have, as I saw how it helped with the DTS 400 I tried at expo. So with my Fein, I can use any shop vac type bag of the appropriate sizes, which is very handy. With Festool do you just have to order enough and keep them stocked (dumb question but requires planning ahead) or do common bags fit them?


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## Brian C (Oct 8, 2011)

I have 2 Festool rotex sanders, the festool vac, a festool triangle sander and just bought a festool belt sander.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

Did you get your Festool Watch











you can get your Festool Tshirt here


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Brian C said:


> I have 2 Festool rotex sanders, the festool vac, a festool triangle sander and just bought a festool belt sander.


Brian, what's the deal with the vac bags? Are they specific (guessing) or can generic ones be used? Thanks


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## Brian C (Oct 8, 2011)

Damon, I use the disposable paper bags as I do a lot of weatherboard homes with old lead paint contamination, and we dispose of the dust safely. I think you can only use festool bags and they are pricey. .


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Damon T said:


> Brian, what's the deal with the vac bags? Are they specific (guessing) or can generic ones be used? Thanks


I'm using the Festool disposable bags, and as far as I know they are the only ones that make them.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Damon

We have 4 Fein Turbos in a couple of different sizes and have always run the paper bags in them. The paper bags cake and become bricks that tear on removal. The internal design of the bag wrapping around the perimeter of the container lends itself to that. 

On the Festool vacs, we use the cloth bags, which are disposable. They run about $6-7 each I think, depending on which size vac. They are designed not to cake dust inside, they stay soft and pliable, don't tear and have a good closing mechanism for removal. Most importantly, the bags lay in the bottom of the container, which makes more sense, and makes them easier to install and remove. Another cool feature is that the vac will stop when the bag is full, so you don't overload it. 

On our midi and 26, the bags last a good long time. The mini, which is the smallest, tends to fill up quickly. Midi is my favorite all around size for general usage in painting. 

The vac is the heart of the system, don't skimp there. The amount of cleanup time you save with controlling dust at the source, more than justifies the operating cost. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have specific questions about the vacs/bags.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> Damon
> 
> We have 4 Fein Turbos in a couple of different sizes and have always run the paper bags in them. The paper bags cake and become bricks that tear on removal. The internal design of the bag wrapping around the perimeter of the container lends itself to that.
> 
> ...


That's awesome, I was hoping you would chime in! I was gonna pm you otherwise. I will go with the midi then. Thanks again Scott! Btw do you know what's up with the cpofestool being cheaper than the other guys? Are they selling refurbs? Doesn't make sense why one outlet is cheaper than others. I'm more inclined to go to my local Rockler or other woodworking store and buy the setup there. OTOH it would be nice to save tax and $ on top of that. That sounds kinda cheesy now that I've typed it!


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Damon T said:


> That's awesome, I was hoping you would chime in! I was gonna pm you otherwise. I will go with the midi then. Thanks again Scott! Btw do you know what's up with the cpofestool being cheaper than the other guys? Are they selling refurbs? Doesn't make sense why one outlet is cheaper than others. I'm more inclined to go to my local Rockler or other woodworking store and buy the setup there. OTOH it would be nice to save tax and $ on top of that. That sounds kinda cheesy now that I've typed it!


I don't know anything about the cpo dealer deal. I would definitely recommend dealing with a local supplier at all possible. As I mentioned above, in regards to the vac bags, don't worry about a buck here or there. Get set up right and make money.


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

Its incredible how much the bags filter before the dust gets to the HEPA filter.


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## dan-o (Sep 28, 2008)

The midi is a great size for all around use.
Plenty of power, light weight etc.

My understanding is that all the vacs offer the same suction strength; the larger sizes simply hold more waste before needed to be emptied.

We run two Ro125's off our midi when prepping exteriors with excellent dust containment and reasonable time between new bags. I might get a 26 when I add another sanders/vac set-up to our arsenal.

The festool rigs are a huge improvement over the Fein sander/nilfisk set-ups we ran previously. No brainer purchase, imo.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> I don't know anything about the cpo dealer deal. I would definitely recommend dealing with a local supplier at all possible. As I mentioned above, in regards to the vac bags, don't worry about a buck here or there. Get set up right and make money.


Yup! Our local Woodcraft dealer has them in stock. Making the road trip tomorrow. Stocking up on Granat paper too!


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Picked up the DTS 400 and the Midi yesterday. Thanks for all your input! I had a chance to use it just minutes after buying it, stopping by a job that was all done except the contractor finally put in a double wood door that needed sanding in a finished space. Also had to clean up a couple of his miters. Took a little while to get the hang as it wanted to bounce around a bit, but I think that was needing to get the auction and tool speed dialed in. Even with the suction at the lowest setting it grabbed pretty good. Totally glad I got it, though I need to stock up on sandpaper. Got the Granat 80, 120 & 180. Thinking 240 and 320 would be good to round out the collection for most finish work. Any prefs out there for the grits and finish work with your festools?


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Damon T said:


> Picked up the DTS 400 and the Midi yesterday. Thanks for all your input! I had a chance to use it just minutes after buying it, stopping by a job that was all done except the contractor finally put in a double wood door that needed sanding in a finished space. Also had to clean up a couple of his miters. Took a little while to get the hang as it wanted to bounce around a bit, but I think that was needing to get the auction and tool speed dialed in. Even with the suction at the lowest setting it grabbed pretty good. Totally glad I got it, though I need to stock up on sandpaper. Got the Granat 80, 120 & 180. Thinking 240 and 320 would be good to round out the collection for most finish work. Any prefs out there for the grits and finish work with your festools?


DT

Great combo. Couple things. First, there is a little bit of a break in period. About 6 hours of run time for it to get itself smoothed out. Run it with the suction all the way down on the extractor, and speed all the way up at the sander. With too much extraction, you can chatter it up pretty good. I use that thing for everything from trim prep to cabinet grade to drywall patch sanding, and mostly in the higher grits. I would stock mostly 180, 240 and 320 and all Granat. I don't think I have ever put 80 on it, or used it on exterior. I have a video or two on youtube showing how we use the dts.


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Damon T said:


> Picked up the DTS 400 and the Midi yesterday. Thanks for all your input! I had a chance to use it just minutes after buying it, stopping by a job that was all done except the contractor finally put in a double wood door that needed sanding in a finished space. Also had to clean up a couple of his miters. Took a little while to get the hang as it wanted to bounce around a bit, but I think that was needing to get the auction and tool speed dialed in. Even with the suction at the lowest setting it grabbed pretty good. Totally glad I got it, though I need to stock up on sandpaper. Got the Granat 80, 120 & 180. Thinking 240 and 320 would be good to round out the collection for most finish work. Any prefs out there for the grits and finish work with your festools?


Great little sander Damon, I know you'll be happy with it! I actually used mine two weeks ago to sand down the window sill of a bay window that was all scratched up from the family dog. It literally only took me about 30 min to sand off the old finish and get through the scratches. I started out with 80 grit and worked my way up from there.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> DT
> 
> Great combo. Couple things. First, there is a little bit of a break in period. About 6 hours of run time for it to get itself smoothed out. Run it with the suction all the way down on the extractor, and speed all the way up at the sander. With too much extraction, you can chatter it up pretty good. I use that thing for everything from trim prep to cabinet grade to drywall patch sanding, and mostly in the higher grits. I would stock mostly 180, 240 and 320 and all Granat. I don't think I have ever put 80 on it, or used it on exterior. I have a video or two on youtube showing how we use the dts.


Thanks Scott! Yeah I only bought a 10 pack of 80 in case it seemed like a good idea. Got the 100 pack of 120 and 180, but need to get the 240 & 320. Thanks for the tip of the break in period. Also on the sander speed.


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## VanDamme (Feb 13, 2010)

Agree w/Scott on the lowest suction for the DTS 400. Anything higher and that thing will stick to a wall by itself.

The RO90 and ETS 150/5 I run w/suction on high.

The most used sander I have is the ETS 150/5 Great for doors and walls. I only use two grits w/the ETS; 100 and 320

One thing I have noticed with the Festool sanders is you don't need to work your way up in grits like you need to w/a regular sander. You usually get by w/2 to 3 grits


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## dan-o (Sep 28, 2008)

I just threw down and picked up a second kit: CT26 + two more RO125s.
Had them up sanding an exterior and making $ before the amex stopped glowing red.

Standing 15' away from the crew talking to the HO, he couldn't believe how quiet the whole operation was (2 vacs & 4 sanders). When I told him he was listening to $4k in tools he nearly passed out.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

dan-o said:


> I just threw down and picked up a second kit: CT26 + two more RO125s.
> Had them up sanding an exterior and making $ before the amex stopped glowing red.
> 
> Standing 15' away from the crew talking to the HO, he couldn't believe how quiet the whole operation was (2 vacs & 4 sanders). When I told him he was listening to $4k in tools he nearly passed out.


Feathering or stripping paint?


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## dan-o (Sep 28, 2008)

Damon T said:


> Feathering or stripping paint?


A little of both.
House was originally bleaching oil that was washed, oil primed then solid stained.
Coating failing in sheets as wood continued to weather beneath coating; backs of chips veneered with silver wood fibers.
Scraped to tight edge then sanded to bright wood/feathered edges.

This was round 2 of trying to fix the problem, about 50% of house was 'cured' by this method 3 years ago and is holding tight. What was letting go this season were areas that were sound previously. Customer didn't want to pay expense of full strip first time around.

Used 80g granat in random mode (non gear driven).

We have another job coming up that's full strip of two coats latex over unprimed, previously oil stained smooth cedar claps. It's pulling away so easily (using a business card as a scraper and pulling with my hand) that I think the festools will only be needed to open up grain prior to priming. The claps are mint and I want to avoid any sanding marks if possible.

Going to try the soft heads and experiment with grit on a barely visible gable end to determine the right system.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Was thinking the RAS 115 would be good for limited paint stripping on exteriors. Not necessarily whole house work, as that would seem to be more paint shaver or something, but spot areas. Anyone here use the RAS 115? I've used the Mikita 5" disk sanders with 7" disks attached, and the Metabo paint shaver, as well as the other paint shaver, but would like better dust control, obviously especially for lead work.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Damon T said:


> Was thinking the RAS 115 would be good for limited paint stripping on exteriors. Not necessarily whole house work, as that would seem to be more paint shaver or something, but spot areas. Anyone here use the RAS 115? I've used the Mikita 5" disk sanders with 7" disks attached, and the Metabo paint shaver, as well as the other paint shaver, but would like better dust control, obviously especially for lead work.


Dust collection is not the strong suit of the RAS. You should go into a dealer and see if you can demo a ras next to a rotex. Dust collection on the rotexes is sick (good). If you arent able to do this, let me know and I can show you in about 30 seconds of iphone vid what the strengths and weaknesses of each are.


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

vermontpainter said:


> Dust collection is not the strong suit of the RAS. You should go into a dealer and see if you can demo a ras next to a rotex. Dust collection on the rotexes is sick (good). If you arent able to do this, let me know and I can show you in about 30 seconds of iphone vid what the strengths and weaknesses of each are.


Hey Scott, I was thinking about your comments earlier encouraging me to get the Festool vac as it was the best complement to the sanding system. I'm very glad I did. I keep it in my rig all the time now, and am very happy with it. It was hard getting over the initial price tag, but the satisfaction of a quality tool outlives the pain of purchase. Actually once I decided to finally get it purchasing it was fun. The local Festool dealer even asked for my card, as they said they were going to need to paint the building soon. Nice. Maybe I'll just do it in exchange for tools (toys).


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