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I haven't used the Festool or the Wen but I have used a drywall sander. They aren't magic and don't fix a bad mud job, but they do make sanding drywall go much faster and more pleasant than hand or pole sanding. The best tip for using one is the less mud you put on, the less there is to take off.
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The festool one is almost a clone of the Porter Cable sander that has been available for years. I have a cheap import one and it works but it's not the one I would buy again as it isn't balanced as well as the ones that look like the porter cable one however it's still way better than hand sanding. The one I would buy now is the one that breaks down and stores in a plastic case as the other designs take up a massive amount of storage space.
Sandpaper can be hard to get for some of them but it lasts a long time. I also bought one of the mini dust deputy clones and put it on a 5 gallon bucket and it is mandatory for using a drywall sander. It was $17 shipped and compared to a friend's DD it works better but the inlet sizes are goofy.
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I rented a PC once to do the ceiling of my shop. If I was to ever do drywall again (won't happen) I would also rent the same sander. Swining the pole around got to be fairly laborious since I'm not the largest guy and had a torn rotator cuff at the time...but it was still better than any alternative. Plus, the PC vac really trapped the dust....not got out.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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I'm perpetually fixing behind the builder and changing things in my house, so I end up doing a lot more drywall than I'd like.
The single biggest thing I can tell you is that the drywall sanders aren't worth the money. The biggest issue with handheld sanders to me is the dust they generate when sanding joint compound. My Bosch has a little dust collection thing on it, and that works well enough if I'm sanding wood. If I'm sanding drywall, there is simply no way it can keep up since the joint compound falls apart far too quickly.
However, using a hose, at least on my sander, with a vacuum makes drywall sanding very clean. I use between 150 and 220 (higher is fine if you're using texture after, as it takes less material off). A long flexible hose makes a lot of sense if it fits your sander.
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(02-13-2018, 09:39 AM)FS7 Wrote: .... I use between 150 and 220 (higher is fine if you're using texture after, as it takes less material off). A long flexible hose makes a lot of sense if it fits your sander.
The coarsest I use is 120, and sand the floor before touching the wall with new paper. On one of my commercial jobs a "Pro" sanded the paper so much I had to mist the walls with sealer and use a squeegee to get it to lay flat. In the first classroom it looked like you could see every joint but it was the center of the sheets that stood out. That sander didn't save any time at all.
Sign at N.E. Vocational School Cabinetmaking Shop 1976, "Free knowledge given daily... Bring your own container"
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Rent the Porter Cable from Home Depot, don't have to store it until next time...
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Used a PC twice, but it is heavy for overhead. ....and if you are not used to it, it will remove the compound to the paper quickly!!!
Put on less compound so you only have to sand lightly!
Al
I turn, therefore I am!
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For a single job, just use an ROS. The drywall dust may be hard on the bearings. If that concerns you, such that you don't want to use your wood working ROS on drywall, pick up the HF unit for $26 ($30 less 20%).
I tried not believing. That did not work, so now I just believe
