Test Drive

larry merlau

Member
Messages
18,741
Location
Delton, Michigan
well i got to take test drive last night,, as you folks have heard i had a death in my shop and have another on the last leg,,,:eek: it sputtering and wandering al over the work surface.. and once and awhile it coughs up some real fine black dust... on the back side of the disk... yup the pc333's are givin up the ghost... so i went tot he local woodcraft store last night and discussed witha very pleasent gentlman abotu a couple other issues i had and during the course of out discussion i he tlaked me into a test drive of a festool 125 sander,,,,, well it has absolutly no comparriosn to a pc333.. not even in the same race folks.. they had the sander and the vac going and the combined noise was less than half of what the pc have alone without the my vac noise...as for sanding job again i was impressed i generally use norton 3x or mirka paper frm klingspor i think. and this sander took a rough sawn surface to a smooth surface in way less time than my pc did when new,, and it done it with 120 grit???? so to say the least i was one very impressed guy with festools 125 sander... are there any others that have had the same observations!!! or am i just easily impressed???? or are the pc333 that bad???
 
I have the Festool 150/5 for about 2 years and it is a great machine. It is more efficient and more pleaseant to use than any other sander I have used - BUT - I have a problem with the life of the velcro backing pads. I find that they lose their "stickiness" much quicker than is my experience with my other sander, a Metabo. Basically I seem to have to replace the backing pad about once every 50-70 discs and that makes it an expensive machine to run. On that basis I have had to largely discontinued its use and now rely mainly on the Metabo SXE450. This is about 90% as good and 90% as comfortable and costs about 50% as much to buy and about 50% as much to run. Quality is all well and good but good enough is good enough in most things. I believe that the Metabo was at once stage sold in the US under the Ridgid brand. I would have no hesitation in buying it again but cannot say the same of the Festool.
 
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Well, I know you're easily impressed,;):rofl: but that not withstanding, you are right. The Festool sanders are very nice. I have the CT22 vacuum and RTS 400 sander. I also have a PC ROS and a DeWalt quarter sheet sander. My first choice anymore is the Festool for much the same reasons you found. I would next like one of the Festool ROS models.

Are the DeWalt and PC and other brands bad? No, I would'nt classify them as bad. I just think the Festool has been engineered to do the job efficiently and quickly. Before one has a chance to use a Festool tool, the price tends to make one shudder. However, once you've used a Festool tool, I think you will be duly impressed and price will become secondary.

Just my thoughts on the matter. I'm not connected to Festool in any way. I don't even know Uncle Bob.

Karl
 
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I have the Festool 150/5 for about 2 years and it is a great machine. It is more efficient and more pleaseant to use than any other sander I have used - BUT - I have a problem with the life of the velcro backing pads. I find that they lose their "stickiness" much quicker than is my experience with my other sander, a Metabo. Basically I seem to have to replace the backing pad about once every 50-70 discs and that makes it an expensive machine to run. On that basis I have had to largely discontinued its use and now rely mainly on the Metabo SXE450. This is about 90% as good and 90% as comfortable and costs about 50% as much to buy and about 50% as much to run. Quality is all well and good but good enough is good enough in most things. I believe that the Metabo was at once stage sold in the US under the Ridgid brand. I would have no hesitation in buying it again but cannot say the same of the Festool.

ian this is just what i was told ok from the sales guy:huh: he told me of a customer who similar troblesome use,,, they said he was using the festol vac with it and had the vac set to high,therefore causing the pads to melt the hooks on the pad and also caused undo wear on the sander it actually was sicking the sander to the wood to much andcausing the sander to work to hard... i can see how those vac could have t omuch suction they are very good at that as well.. just an idea,, and i think that rigid left metebo in the last yr or so but i could be wring have ben bfr ...
 
I've been using my EQ125 Festool for about five or six years now, and generally use it with my Fein vac. It's still on its original pad, and the velcro hols just fine.

I also bought the 125 mm Rotax last year, and have used it quite a bit, with no problems with the velcro (yet).

The EQ125 replaced a PC 333, and like Larry said, "What a difference!" There's hardy any comparison twixt the two.

The Rotax is, if anything, even better, but it is a bit heavier, and a bit louder.
 
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