Festool Sander
#11
I am going to spring for a Festool finish sander and would like an opinion or two. I am down to the ETS 125, or the ETS EC Brushless 125/3. Looking at the two models, it appears they are the same and have the same characteristics, except that one is brushless and one is not. Since I am a hobbyist and do not expect real heavy use, I am wondering if spending the extra money on the brushless model is worth it for me. Any comments? Thank you as always...FPT.
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#12
The two sanders do the same thing and sand and are 5" but they are significantly different than one another...the only thing they share are the Festool name and 5" disc size. If you were talking the 6", then yes, I would say they are similar is performance.

To start, the grip is different on both more upgrright for the ETS vs low profile on the EC, like air sanders.

Next, the ETS 125 has a much weaker 200 watt, 1.67amp motor vs the EC125's brushless 400 watt, 3.33 amp motor, which is the same as the bigger 6" model. This is a big deal if you are going to want efficiency and speed out of your sander.

Also, the ETS has a 2.0mm sanding stroke vs a 3.0mm on the EC. The ETS is more of a ultra fine finishing sander and can do the coarser grits but was more or less designed for higher grits.

Make sure to try them out a dealer and you will get an idea of the differences. Granted, the brushless is basically double the cost, however, there is a bigger leap here in the 5" models vs the 6" non-brushless to brushless.
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#13
I would not get the ets 125. It has much less power and to me is really only useful for sanding between finishes. If you decide to go with the ets model go with the 150. I have the 3 stroke model but if I were to do it again I'd probably get the 5.

The EC models, as mentioned, have a different and imo, a more comfortable grip. They also have a feature that automatically shuts off the sander of the vac hose is pulled off.
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#14
I have the ETS 125 and have not used it. I bought it, knowing the the stroke width was small, for use with grits of 180 and up. It seemed a nice counterpoint to my 6" Rotex. If you are going to rely on single 5" sander for all your sanding needs then you want one of the more powerful 5" models with a longer stroke.
Thanks,  Curt
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"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
      -- Soren Kierkegaard
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#15
Unless you plan on getting a dust extractor. ..Save your money. The festool sanders are only superior when paired with a decent vacuum.
RD
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"Boy could I have used those pocket screws!" ---Duncan Phyfe
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#16
Thanks all. I do plan to get the vacuum with it (the smallest one). I am a hobbyist, do woodworking in my basement and as a result try to avoid any and all dust as much as possible, cause it gets into the cold air returns, even when closed, etc. I should also mention that I HATE TO SAND, and anything I can do to hasten the process, I am willing to look into. I am decent (not great) with hand planes, spoke shaves and to a lesser extent, scraper. I don't have to remove lots of material, more finish sanding, but I still want to make it as easy as I can. I thought I would take advantage of the holiday and the generosity of LOML and others' to spring for some good equipment. Any and all comments are appreciated. Happy Holidays to all! FPT
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#17
fptahoe said:


I HATE TO SAND




I'm right there with you. It's the most boring operation, creates the finest(i.e.most harmful) dust and is the most time consuming operation in woodworking. Considering all that, it always astounds me that people spend the least amount on sanding. I went the other direction with a Ceros sander and Midi extractor. Expensive as hell, unjustifiable if you base it on cost yet I am completely happy with my decision.
RD
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"Boy could I have used those pocket screws!" ---Duncan Phyfe
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#18
I do a lot less sanding since I bought a drum sander. Eliminates planer marks and tear out, and makes the work really flat and smooth. Sanding with the ROS is quick and nearly effortless now. FWIW, I have a Bosch ROS65VSK, with both a 5" and 6" pad, and I really, really like it. It's hard to imagine how it could be better.

John
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#19
One extravagance I've treated myself to after my company relocated me back to SoCal was a Festool TS75 and CT33 dust extractor combo. My next Festool purchase was an ETS 150/5. It replaced my serviceable, but limited Bosch ROS. The difference has been day and night. With the dust extractor, there's almost nothing to clean up, the sanding disks last WAY longer, and the finish is marvelous. To me, even as a hobbyist, it's worth every penny I paid for it. Others prefer the 150/3, rationalizing the 5mm stroke is more aggressive, but I get as nice a surface as I can imagine with the /5. Every once in a while, you do need an aggressive sander, and that's where the 150/5 comes in handy. With a coarse grit disk, I'm making short work of what used to take what seemed like hours. There are other really nice ROS's out there. Mirka Ceros is one. One thing you should look at is buying your sanding disks from Klingspor. They make Festool compatible disks for a fraction of the price of Festool's. Festool makes so many kinds of disks, you almost need a dictionary to figure out which ones work best for woodworking. Even then, you have to figure out which ones are best for stripping finishes vs. sanding raw wood, etc. OTH, it's nice to have choices.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#20
I have the ets 125, its a nice little sander, very smooth. I got it brand new at half price from somebody that won it in a contest and didn't want it. That said, I don't think it is head and shoulders above some of the other sanders available from companies like Bosch or Makita, though it is a step or two above in cost.

If it is your only sander, you may want to get something a bit larger to handle the bigger jobs like table tops, etc.

As for the dust extraction, again you can go the festool route, they make great but very expensive machines. I recently replaced an old fein vac with a Nilfisk that has an outlet for a powertool and a switch to allow the tool to control the vacuum. It works very well with all my sanders and cost me around 330 IIRC when I bought it this last year. It is not variable speed as I believe the festool is, but it lets you bleed off suction near the sander if it gets too great (causes the sander to stick to the work surface too much).





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