10 years later and this video is still going strong for Festool sanders and sanding. I finally decided it is time to stop wasting money of inferior tools and buy once cry once. Thank you Looking to buy the Festool Rotex 150 and several of the other Festool sanders if I could only find one in stock.
I can't believe i stayed 26 minutes watching a sq-foot plank being sanded to death. At least i got to see what a Festool RO 150 FEQ could do. That was quit a thorough demonstration. Good job - for a moment i thought the sander was giving you the shakes. Lol Norm from Montreal, Canada
Normally I would question my sanity having spent 20 minutes watching a sanding video, but Austin this was genius. I would probably spend an hour or more to get to that point and still have TONS of swirl marks all over still with my porter cable. You're opening my eyes to the festool sanders...and probably my wallet. Thanks buddy.
I have the old CT33 and the Bosch 6" 1370 (20+ yrs). It is necessary to turn down the vac with finer grit due to the vacuum being too strong and pulling the sander down to the wood too strongly. If I were into high polish finishes the Bosch lineup is not adequate as shown from this video. I have a planer with M42 knives that leaves a surface of 600 grit quality. My sanding is to alter fit and blend joints so a Bosch late model will probably do the trick. Thanks for your time and efforts in showing us what can be done and if there is a customer wanting super fine surfaces then I will get into the Festool line of sanders and papers. Stay safe over there. Chicago
I purchased a used one as the piece is a bit pricey, but the machine ru-vid.comUgkxG6fbm3cHBd7CNTjk5D-dwYe9c9tCB9ZN has surpassed my expectations. We sand small parts by hand often, sized around 1"x1/2," and specifically look for a piece that's designed to be vertical. The motor has plenty of torque and great speed settings. The only inconvenience I had is that the disk measures 5" where we trim 6" stick-and-sand disks down easily by mounting it then cutting with a box cutter.
Festool is good with the vacuum. Their tools never leave much if any mess when you use the vacuum. My dad used their tools and nearly all of them work with a vacuum. These are VERY expensive tools but they are very well made as well and they are worth every penny if you need good tools. These are made in Germany and it shows. They are extremely high quality and once you use them you will want to sell all your Chinese tools. We used to build solid surface counter tops and that dust it makes with you cut that stuff destroys bearings in routers. It destroyed the bearings in a Porter-Cable router. We got the Festool routers because they have either double bearings or better sealed bearings that the solid surface dust won't get into and seize. That solid surface dust is a fine white power almost and it gets into everything and when you cut it you make a lot of that dust to pretty quick and it gets everywhere. The Porter-Cable routers the dust destroyed by the way were the 3.5 HP models. I don't know if any routers come more powerful than that. That is the most powerful that is sold in home depot and lowes anyhow. If you want good tools Porter-Cable is still good but Festool is even better but of course they are expensive so be prepared to hand over a lot of cash for them. They last a long time too or they could not justify the prices.
Great video. I'm about about to hit the buy button on the 125 and can't wait to use it on a coffee table project. I just watched the video for the 2nd time, skipping around a bit to try to write down all of the sandpaper grades and settings you used. It would be super helpful to list those out, including the vac level, rotex/random, and speed settings. Thanks so much for sharing!
Rockler does this demonstration at their store, though I've never seen it, I always see the board that's left behind. It takes a couple of weeks to learn to duplicate what is done here with a smoother plane, except that with a smoother plane, there is no sandpaper expense and the surface on a board like this would be brought to a polish in about two minutes. The "couple of weeks" has to do with learning to set up a smoothing plane so that there are no marks left by it, and learning to set the cap iron on it so that there is no tearout.
Yes it is as you can use all the sand paper many times and the Festool paper last a long time. Using that many save the paper also and less over all sanding. You could use about half as many as I did but you will have some build up! Good luck " it is great to get that mirror finish without putting a finish on!
I have just purchased this R/O 150. My question is what type sandpaper do you use for wood. I use a lot of pine bc I’m learning. Are use the sanding disc I believe 80 grit on a new pine table top and it has left a lot of scratches. As I go through the different grits will it come out? And can pine be polished like you were doing here in this video?
Could you screw up sander in gear mode when you move disc by hand in oposite from clockwise? I have bought it new and was curious how it works and i was unaware that it only spins clockwise in gear mode.😬
Thanks for your comment Yes you are right! At the time I did not have much time for me just my customers! Now I have a bit more time now that I have moved. I plan on making a large table just for Festool and such. I'm just putting my new shop together now and when I finish moving in I will be building one. Check out my new shop videos and you will see just where I am. I'm thinking here in about 1 or so months I will be building one and uploading a video on it.. thanks for your comment.
Good Job man, very technical and with a final pro result. Just one suggest :-) Stick to wood and never go for a medical surgery career the coffee will make disasters! ;-P
Thank you Stephen, It is the action of the sander also try finer grit paper up to 320. You must be using and random orbit sander? Try also a finish sander which is not random orbit... Hope that helps you... Please like us and share us!
If you leave the vacuum on full, you won't run the risk of leaving any "grit". If you don't leave the vacuum on high your sander will heat up and the pads will breakdown.
Hello Austin. How are you. I would like to know if we have any sanding machine which could avoid manual sanding activity. In our shop we are numerous machine for sanding but we end up doing it manually to get the smooth surface. Kindly suggest.
Hi Austin. Your video is been seen even in France! Could you tell me what kind of sand paper you've been using thoughout your video: as far as I can catch it, 40 to 220 in Rubin 2 type, 320 to 400 in Brillant 2 type and then I think I missed the 500 to 800 but later you use platin 2 from grain 1000 to 4000. Is that correct? You take good care and cheers again for the knowledge sharing!
I was a wondering at about 16 minutes why you left the vacuum on I thought it was to keep the sander cool. Well done. I made a computer table with used old jarrah. I used a carnauba wax. It has lasted about 8 months time for a re-polish. I'm not sure I used a felt but it is a bumpy one from festool. I didn't use lambswool though. Will have to try it and remember the felt. I also took it to 4,000. I don't like poly urethane.
i am using Sapele wood to make some food display racks, i couln't get the surface enough smooth to satisfy my client, would you please give me some tips.
Great videos. Do you have any experience buffing painted wood? I'm working on that myself, I got tired of having to sand and respray entire doors when I get a tiny drip or imperfection. If so, what would you suggest as a finishing grit for say a satin finish? I have the RO150/ct26 sander vac combo. Any tips are appreciated, I'm new to the buffing and polishing game.
This demonstrates just how good Festool sanders are. I love mine. But going to that length to finish a project doesn’t seem practical to me. Especially if you want to sell the products!
I did not notice that thank you! Is there a mask that you suggest for this ultra fine dust? It might be that I did the video first thing in the morning and needed something to drink. I did not have any noticeable dust on me. But the stuff you can't see is what I need to worry about. Thank you...
Great video. I see that you kept adjusting your vac, What is the advantage to doing that with your successive grits? It just seems counter intuitive in a sense. Or is it that as the dust particles get finer you don't need as much suction? Thank you. (And I am still trying to figure out the different festool sandpaper classifications on a new to me sander, so many it's confusing!)
yes you are right about the vacuum! Also the finer I go with the sand paper the more it pulls towards the board and not float as easy to make a smooth finish. That is why I adjust the vac. I do not want to leave any marks with to much down force.
Great video and I admire your dedication to perfection. Your workshop and tools are a testimony to your love of woodwork. You gave some hint about the causes of the "little circles" on the wood (05.32)---something I am plagued with!. Care to expand on what I might be doing wrong with my sander? Is it caused by leaving dust and grit on the surface - or - is it the action of the sander?
What's the point in sanding down a piece of wood like that. I just prep and spray out a coat of post-cat pig varnish that is chemical and impact resistant. It can be done is a variety of sheens. Don't get me wrong, I placed an order for the RO90 and CT36, but why would you want to polish some wood?
Because you can see and feel the difference. I don't want chemicals on my personal projects. Working with wood is an art to me and when it is done right it lasts generations. Sure that is for special peaces.. an ikea desk for 150€/$ is what it is and that is ok. It really depends what you are doing and what you are aiming for.. some like perfection.
As a woodworker its glaringly obvious that this guy hasnt done much more than perform tool demos as a salesman. 1)Dont stop your sander on the wood 2)you don't push down on the sander with your other hand. You let it(especially the rotex) do the work, mostly because NO person can maintain the exact same amt. of pressure through the entire sanding and pushing down will not give you a smooth ✈
Swedish Holmberg I kinda don't get why he's buffing bare wood, but for sanding it's important to not skip grits. There's a good video from Festool regarding sanding and the proper techniques. It's worth a watch. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rZZyypf-Qqk.html
Man honestly I was expecting a bit more from the rotex. You did a nice job though. I will say all the shaking you were doing you could have done the same job in the same time with a hand sander. 😂 I drink a lot of coffee too.
Turning the vac pressure down as the grit gets finer creates less pull and therefore less risk of leaving swirls on the wood (because the sander is closer to the wood as the grit gets finer). He removes the vac after sanding is complete to buff because there is no dust extraction.
That cough is concerning. Are you doing this a lot with no dust mask? Granted you have study collection, but at best that's taking 95% of the dust away. If you're not going to wear a mask or a dust extraction helmet(I forgot the name) then build an air cleaner. Nice wood.
Austin, thank your for the awesome video. I have a question regarding use of rotex in the polishing stages. If I have a piece of wood that had Festool Surfix applied (oil finish), can that then be taken through your polishing phases 800+ grits, felt and wool buffing? The link to the Festool Surfix application video is provided below. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-s59aNgQa_ao.html My intention was to retain the applied oils by closing the pores and keeping the deep luster that oil has provided. Thanks in advance for any advice you may share..marcel
Never go beyond 220 if you are going to put sealer and finish on because the wood simply won't suck up enough to penetrate the wood like you want it too. The higher grit may feel better on your hand initially, but the sealer simply won't absorb as well. You're not turning pens after all. Going beyond 220 will simply close that grain up TOO much. Can't believe this guy went that high on the grit if he intends to put a sealer and finish on it. What a waste. I don't see any advantage of this Rotex vs. the Bosch orbital sander I have. In fact, the Rotex vibrates like crazy. Look at his watch when he is using it. Total waste of time and I feel dumber having watched it. First, plane it, sand it to 220 or 240 and then spray with varnish. Shine will beat this technique and look more professional. Sorry, hate to be that guy but what this guy is doing to a piece of expensive stock like that is ruining it. He'll find out in a couple of years. Accidentally spill some water on this or have someone carelessly put a cold beverage with a condensation ring and you'll be sorry for wasting your time and kick yourself for this kind of stupidity. Wax finish? That's stupid on wood with as much oil as purple heart. The wax will simply flake off in a couple of years.
Only If these tools only made people smarter they seem like nice tools but only idiots use them by my account by watching youtube maybe real trades people don't make videos. I bet if he had a girlfriend he could do the same job with a 69 dollar bosch or dewalt. He should get a job at homedepot.
