OK, here's my thing...
I don't typically do larger projects. The largest "flat surface" projects I have done is a Hall Table. That said, I may well be making an entertainment center within the next year or two, some kind of a hutch, and possible a new dining room table.
I also have a whole bunch of 5" Norton 3X discs on hand that I bought on sale. Not that I am basing my purchase solely on having those discs. If the 6" is more advantages, I would choose it. However, being able to use the 6" pad on the 125/3 makes it much more tempting.
Am I making sense?
"I've cut the dang thing three times and it's STILL too darn short"
Name withheld to protect the guilty
Stew Hagerty
You can certainly do all your finishing with the 5" sander. The kind of use you are describing doesn't warrant the machine that will sand the most area in the shortest amount of time. I can't speak to using the 125/3 so I have discussed the merits of the Festool (mine, a ETS 150/3) over the big box store sander options. I don't know the $$s comparison of the two Festool options. Would encourage you to try the 125/3 - Festool has a 30 day trial period - and if it everything you need call it good! If not - try the ETS 150/3.
"... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
WQJudge
Relative to abrasives, please remember that the hole pattern is important for dust collection and that centrally located hole on Festool (or Festool compatible) abrasives is one of the keys to that. So if you have a "stash" of discs that were designed for another sander, they will work for sanding, but might not provide the best dust extraction performance. You may be able to modify them with a punch, however.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Have you been using pad protectors? If you use Abranet you need them or you will kill the pad very quickly.
The best hose is a 27mm Festool hose. It also helps if it is supported by a boom and with the cord and hose connected together to make for easy control of them. All the light weight brushless sanders need thought given to the hose. The paddle really is love it or hate it, people coming from air sanders tend to love it, when you get good with it you can feather the speed when working out to edges and into corners. BTW blue tape works quite well for the rare times I want it on all the time.
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.
That center hole is the "secret sauce"....
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
One thing to be aware of when switching to the Abranet is that with the pad adapter there is no such thing as a hard disk. You have to very careful not to round out your edges. I will be using the Festool hard pad and conventional paper up until the second coat for this reason. I just finished the first set of cabinet doors with Abranet and noticed that they are quite rounded. Not a big deal on this style doorshaker with a rounded edge, but for other things it could be.
Jim, I was just reading up on Deros, and it said they were adding a center hole. so the recipe for the secret sauce is out......
Last edited by Larry Edgerton; 02-10-2017 at 2:09 PM.
Velcro pads always have give to them, doesn't matter whose abrasive you use. I use cloth backed psa discs almost solely because of that. I'm also not using vacuum for dust collection
Well I pulled the trigger and ordered the 125/3. I'm anxious now to give it a spin. I will update with my first impression.
"I've cut the dang thing three times and it's STILL too darn short"
Name withheld to protect the guilty
Stew Hagerty
I think you will be happy. I have a 125/3, and more than how it works I like the way it picks up dust. I got a bigger job with Makore as the primary wood and the stuff ruins me. With my dynabrades even with a mask I was red eyes and sneezing in 20 minutes. So I broke down and bought the EQ and the little Festool suitcase vac which I mounted on the ceiling, and I could sand that junk all day long with no mask. I have now gotten used to the hose. Like I said before, an idiot I was.......
Martin needs a vacuum........
Well one would think so. Martin your life could change with good vac. Do you not use it because you think it compromises the quality of a sanding? Random orbits over collecting dust isn't better is it? And then there is the air quality thing. Just wondering...
Enjoy your new Festool Stew !
"... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
WQJudge
I don't like the hose. I don't really think there's much to be gained in sanding quality either, dust is ejected from the edge of the pad anyways, though as pointed out already, that fails at the center since there's no speed there.
Air quality isn't a problem. I do the bulk of my sanding on an awesome down draft table.