Festool Rotex - Anyone tried it?

[Totoland Mach]

Originally Posted by Gary Sword

So Toto do you think it's worth the extra money. The cheapest I have seen it is $430.00 including shipping without the polishing plate and pads. My Dewalt rotary is so load if I use it for a couple of hours my ears ring for another couple of hours. I have some furniture I also want to refinish and was thinking about getting a new sander.

Gary: In my opinion, it's the best performing, best handling tool in the market for detailing. Also, Festool has a stellar reputation for the quality of the sander. Yep, it does cost $$$ and you should add the polishing plate ($17). Any pads that work with the Porter-Cable will work with the Festool.

The added bonus is the storage box: well built, molded for the tool and accessories.

The shop owner is so impressed, he is going to buy one for himself (he also has some furniture to sand is the excuse he gave LOL).

Toto

[Gary Sword]

Originally Posted by Totoland Mach

Gary: In my opinion, it's the best performing, best handling tool in the market for detailing. Also, Festool has a stellar reputation for the quality of the sander. Yep, it does cost $$$ and you should add the polishing plate ($17). Any pads that work with the Porter-Cable will work with the Festool.

The added bonus is the storage box: well built, molded for the tool and accessories.

The shop owner is so impressed, he is going to buy one for himself (he also has some furniture to sand is the excuse he gave LOL).

Toto

It sounds like a very nice machine. I wasn't sure if the PC pads would fit. The sander part if just a good excuse for me to tell my wife if I decide to get one. Is $430.00 a good price for the machine? Thanks Toto and keep up the good work.

[Totoland Mach]

Gary: check E-Bay for pricing. I believe there is a big distributor for Festool in the Atlanta area. They are pretty rigid on their pricing, but I got mine for $385 + $17 for the extra backing plate.

Yes, and all your pads will work!

See ya

[Surfer]

Did I see the wrong spec or does it really start at 1100 rpm and speed varies between that and 1500? From what I'm told by the pro's using rotaries, you want one with a slower starting speed like 600-700 or whatever that can be variably adjust, seems most said the rotary does its best finishing pass at the lower speeds with the higher rpm's for cutting abillity.

So you can use the Edge pads with it?

[Totoland Mach]

Originally Posted by Surfer

Did I see the wrong spec or does it really start at 1100 rpm and speed varies between that and 1500? From what I'm told by the pro's using rotaries, you want one with a slower starting speed like 600-700 or whatever that can be variably adjust, seems most said the rotary does its best finishing pass at the lower speeds with the higher rpm's for cutting abillity.

So you can use the Edge pads with it?

Surfer: The rotary mode of a Festool is not as powerful as a standard rotary (DeWalt, etc). It's hard to compare rpm of the Festool against a big rotary. It also has some random orbit to the rotary's spin.

You can use any velcro backed pad...does the edge have that?

If you have a distributor near you, they will give you a nice demo of the product, but it will be sanding. At least you can judge for yourself after that.

Toto

[Gary Sword]

Originally Posted by Totoland Mach

Gary: check E-Bay for pricing. I believe there is a big distributor for Festool in the Atlanta area. They are pretty rigid on their pricing, but I got mine for $385 + $17 for the extra backing plate.

Yes, and all your pads will work!

See ya

I checked out ebay. Someone had a used RO150 E for sale but that was the only item I found in a search for Rotex Festool. The RO150 E must be an older discontinued model. I have not seen that model on any websites I looked at.

[Totoland Mach]

Gary: here is the link for Festool USA: GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND !

Click on the Find A Dealer folder tab at the top of the page.

Toto

[nick19]

Originally Posted by SpoiledMan

Maximum speed on that rotary is 660 RPM. That's not going to do much correction. Keep the separate tools.

Yep.. you need between 1k and 1.8k RPM's from a rotary to really fix anything. The makita and festool, are like "supercharged" PC's...

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by nick19

Yep.. you need between 1k and 1.8k RPM's from a rotary to really fix anything. The makita and festool, are like "supercharged" PC's...

I thought I read it was 1100-15-- rpms for the Festool? I think I'm reading the wrong specs.

Toto - no, the Edge pads are dual sided, they have an quick release adapter in the middle that snaps to hold the pad perfectly. Look at the Edge kit and the adapater you'll see, not sure if it's compatible with the Festool?

[nick19]

Originally Posted by Surfer

I thought I read it was 1100-15-- rpms for the Festool? I think I'm reading the wrong specs.

Toto - no, the Edge pads are dual sided, they have an quick release adapter in the middle that snaps to hold the pad perfectly. Look at the Edge kit and the adapater you'll see, not sure if it's compatible with the Festool?

Festool has 3300-6800 OPM (orbits per minute) and 320-660 RPM's. PC's use OPM, while rotarty uses RPM's

Also, pads with velcro don't last very long. Even though I will wash my pads at least 4 days a week, after about the 5 wash, the velcro came apart. The worst part, you can't glue it.