Festool sanding question

[Mr Brush]

My one and only sander is a Festool 150/3 - it was bought mainly for finishing work, for which I have a range of Festool discs from 120 grit up to 800 or so. The sander works brilliantly for it's intended purpose, but from time to time I need a more aggressive sanding action with a bit more material removal. I have a "grab bag" of assorted Festool discs that came as a sample with the sander, but even the most aggressive of these (80 grit Cristal) doesn't seem to do very much.....

I appreciate that a 3mm orbit sander isn't intended for heavy material removal, but I don't do enough of this to justify buying a 150/5 as well (or any other sander, e.g. Metabo Duo).

Within the constraints of using the 150/3 only, can anyone advise what types and grits of Festool (or any other brand) discs would work best for more aggressive sanding on a 3mm orbit? I'm not up to date with all the different abrasive ranges they offer these days. Something in the 80-120 grit range that cuts faster??

Cheers

[Mr Brush]

Oops.....just noticed the dedicated Festool forum. I'll post this in there as well.

[BobL]

I have one of those sanders, it doesn't really matter what grit you use its never going to be fast at cutting.

I realise I am stepping outside your question but you don't say what you sanding and what roughness etc the surface is (bandsaw, chainsaw or ?) and my suggestion doesn't require purchasing a whole new tool.
If you want fast removal (especially paint) you should look at a stripping disc like this.
2 x 125mm 5" POLY STRIP DISC WHEEL PAINT RUST REMOVAL CLEAN METAL ANGLE GRINDER | eBay

The are VERY fast, perhaps too fast in some situations, but it stripped 7 coats of enamel off an architrave ands door way in about 10 minutes.
They fit on an angle grinder and they take a bit of practice to use but they are very quick.
They do leave marks but these can easily be removed with the Festool starting at 120grit

[ian]

Within the constraints of using the 150/3 only, can anyone advise what types and grits of Festool (or any other brand) discs would work best for more aggressive sanding on a 3mm orbit? I'm not up to date with all the different abrasive ranges they offer these days. Something in the 80-120 grit range that cuts faster??

I think the brief answer is "pick up a hand sanding block"

I have a similar issue, a finishing sander but no aggressive sander. My answer has been to do the bulk material removal with either a hand plane or sanding block.

[derekcohen]

Try the Abranet mesh. I have an older version of the 150/3, the model that preceded it when it was still a Festo As Bob noted, the sander will not become a speed demon. However I find that the speed of removal is increased when (1) the grit is more durable/stays sherper for longer, and (2) dust is removed quickly to let the grit do its job. The Abranet mesh facilitates the best dust removal, and it also outlasts every sanding disk I have ever tried! I use 80/120/240/400 for panels that require sanding.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[pedrogb]

Hi all
I have the Festool Rotex. To remove paint from old spotted gum step tread, I use Abranet 40 grit mesh. It's fast. You could try that.
Pedro

[woodPixel]

Ive a Rotex too for ultra aggressive removal, its like an angle grinder!!!

The best for stripping with a 150/3 (Ive one of those too) is Jost SuperPad 40 grit, or better, the Aluminium Zirconia Jost's as a 40 grit. These last ones are so lethal I only use the 80 grit, and for a short time!

FenceFurniture can assist with some if he's any left

[FenceFurniture]

Jöst Abrafilm 40 grit are indeed a beast of a thing. The film is ridiculously tough and the Al Zirconia grit is very very durable. A week ago I sanded all faces of 14 sleepers 2.4m x 200 x75 and 5 sleepers 3.0m x 200 x 100 with one disc which was not completely spent at the end (so that's 27.5 sq.m of rough sawn treated pine). This was done with a Festool ETS EC 150/3 sander and done in short order too.

I regularly have to pull out "splinters" (more like sticks) from the pad in doing this chore. The film is amazing - pull the stick out and continue on, where a paper disc would be ripped to shreds - even a D or E weight paper.

I do not feel the need to buy a more aggressive sander, and in the last year I have sanded about 80-100 sleepers/posts like these, so I could have justified one.

[Mr Brush]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. That was exactly what I needed to know, i.e. what are the most aggressive discs to use with the 150/3. Probably 80 grit Jost (or equivalent) would do the job for me from what you're saying; I'm not looking for paint removal, just more rapid abrasion than I can currently get with my selection of Festool papers. I suspect the Festool Cristal discs are considered a dinosaur in relation to some of the modern Al Zirconia grit formulations - their 80 grit really doesn't do much. I have some SIA discs in Al Zirconia for 240 grit and upwards, and they are indeed very long lasting.

The next question is going to be what I can actually get hold of, and where from....does Sandpaperman keep any of the discs mentioned? I need to fire in an order to him for some other stuff anyway (drum sander rolls).

Thanks again for the advice.

[pedrogb]

I bought the Abranet 40 grit at wwork show in Sydney. They have a website to buy sheet by sheet. They sell Japanese tools as well. I'm not affiliated, just love buying ww stuff.

[Mr Brush]

Thanks pedrogb - found the website you mentioned with the Mirka stuff

Big thanks also to Brett for his kind offer re. the Jöst discs.

As I said, I'm pretty well set for 240 grit and finer, but these coarse discs/abranet that have been suggested will be great for extending the capabilities of what is really intended to be a "finishing" sander ! I can't help wondering how many people own both a Festool 150/3 AND a 150/5??

Cheers

[FenceFurniture]

I was considering getting a /5 or maybe a /7 (forgotten its designation) in addition to the /3 but I don't reckon I need one now. It would be different if I was doing that kind of work all the time, but for occasional rough stuff I'm pretty happy.

Mind you, I've read that there isn't all that much difference in fine sanding between the /3 and the /5, so maybe a /5 is the one to get if you are only going to have one sander and you want to cover all the bases?

[FenceFurniture]

It's worth a quick mention of the DE holes in these Jöst pads. They are designed to fit any DE hole pattern that is produced, and look like this (each hole is ~2mm in diameter):




That's a 60g disc after 150 strokes (one stroke is up and back) on a 125mm wide board that is 900mm long, so 150 strokes is 270 lineal metres. You can see a slight build up of dust on the back of the disc, which is no worry at all. DE off the job itself is about the same as the 17 hole Festool (and other) discs.

However, using 40g discs on the H4 treated pine sleepers, which are nowhere near dry, results in these holes clogging up after a while (take the disc off, whack it twice and slap it back on - the film is super tough and doesn't crack). This is mainly due to the H4 Copper Chromium Arsenate dags that are left in abundance on these sleepers, and also due to the timber not being properly dry (so much for kiln dried timber). Those dags can be 3-5mm thick and up to 6 or 8 square inches.

It's not really an issue as I use a face mask and do this particular job outdoors. Just something to be aware of. The larger holes in the 17 hole discs would not be prone to this I wouldn't think, but I don't know if they would suck up all the dags as they come off - maybe they would.

This is the only instance where the DE holes have clogged up. Exactly the same thing would happen with Abranet - even more so because as I recall the holes are even smaller.

One of the things I really like about these discs is that there is no need to fiddle around trying to line up the 17 holes with those of the sander. Just slap it on and get on with it - doesn't even matter if it's eccentric to the pad. With the ETS EQ and the carbide INSTANT brake, I can do a grit change in about 4-5 seconds from sanding to sanding. I REALLY like that. It's kinda like an F1 pit stop

[woodPixel]

Id agree with everything FenceFurniture says. Ive a huge pile of the Jost and after day-and-day commercial work they just wont wear out.

Using the FT 150/3 I pretty much use only the 80 grit and get a very good smooth finish ready for spraying without any more work.

Its only on the fine boxes that I go finer, but rarely over 180. The finish is excellent.

[BobL]

Those discs sound pretty useful especially if you have a couple of different sanders with different hole paterns

RE:Copper Chromium Arsenate

It's not really an issue as I use a face mask and do this particular job outdoors.

What sort of a face mask are you using?
I wouldn't use anything less than a full face respirator with P2 cartridges.
The recommended exposure for the arsenic component is 0.002 mg/m^3 which is about 1000X less than that of wood dust and no elasticised face mask is going to deliver that sort of performance for sanding.