Sanding disks for Festool EQ 125?????

A different approach

Steve Elliott

The Festool 125 is my favorite sander. The price of Festool sanding discs isn't why.

Instead of buying the expensive Festool discs I buy PSA discs with no holes and use a dowel with a pointy end to poke holes in them after the disc is on the sander. There are eight air vents around the perimeter of the pad that show where the holes are.

The sander itself has a hook-and-loop style pad but adhesive-backed discs stick to it just fine. Be sure to get aluminum oxide discs instead of silicon carbide--I'm sure you know that but the shop manager where I work didn't and we ended up with an enormous supply of discs that wear out way too quickly.

The one disadvantage is that the discs can't be removed and remounted, but with the price lower I don't mind tossing a disc when I want to change grits.

Re: A different approach

Michael van pelt

a penny wise a dollar foolish? you will find that the Festool paper is the real bargain....very very long life

Abranet

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Barry, you will find that all your problems go away if you use Mirka Abranet mesh.

These disks are made of impregnated mesh. They are durable, last many times that of more traditional solid disks, and do not require a special hole positioning. In fact, they optimise dust removal .... which is critical for smooth sanding.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Sanding disks for Festool EQ 125?????

David Yoho

Is the replacement pad a Festool pad? I had to replace the one on my 150/3 and it was the exact same pad and hole pattern.

Re: Sanding disks for Festool EQ 125?????

Barry Irby

Yes it is a Festool pad. And I looked at the one sanding disk I got and it is printed Festool on the back.

I have a fair number of Norton disks that fit my older sander and was hoping I could use them. Would just have to punch the center hole and it matches the old sanding pad I replaced, but not the new one.

It's odd to me that the two Festool pads don't match.

It's also odd the old pad crumbled up. I am thinking of contacting Festool about that.

Re: Abranet

Barry Irby

Thanks Derek, I will check on those. Good Idea.

Re: Abranet

AZ in Colorado Springs

The dust collection with those discs is very good.

underpad for mesh sanding?

Henry (Raleigh NC)

I have read advice elsewhere (to use an underpad) and it resonated with me because my hook and loop sanding pad no longer held discs in place. This was after I had (in a 'really rare' moment of stupidity) spent a minute or two 'sanding' with what I thought was an open mesh sanding disc in place. Turns there was no such sanding mesh in place and I was testing the abrasive-ness of the Festool sanding pad - it does not accomplish much, except to likely ruin the sanding pad. There is no further need for anyone to repeat my experiment.

I thought 'my experiment' had ruined the sanding pad, but it's also possible that I may have ruined the pad by using the sander with a sanding mesh without an underpad. I used Kling-net mesh sanding pads from Klingspors, which is both an online retailer AND a local WW retailer for the lucky ones in NC. I will have to go in search of an underpad, because the $50 Festool sanding pads are too many $$ to be a consumable.

Henry

Use with Mirka Interface Pad

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

To prevent wear on the original hook-and-loop sander pad, use Abranet with a Mirka Interface Pad ...

https://www.amazon.com/Mirka-9155RP-5-Inch-Interface-sanding/dp/B001BKXWE4

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: underpad for mesh sanding?

Barry Irby

Henry, I just came back from a visit to Woodcraft's store in Richmond. I saw the Abranet stuff and one of the packages included Ten pieces of sanding mesh and the adapter for about $27. Derek above posted the online version of the adapter pad and it was $12.50. I bought a replacement pad and you are correct about the $$$. I bet you could buy the interface pad and glue it to your worn Festool pad and be back in business. I would use E6000 as glue.

I also saw some brand X sand paper on Amazon (Mytool???) that was very reasonable in price and might work on your older disk.

Thanks- Use with Mirka Interface Pad

Thanks - underpad for mesh sanding?

Re: Sanding disks for Festool EQ 125?????

David Yoho

Both of my 6" Festool sander pads did that. So did the one on my old PC 5" right angle ROS. Funny thing is the pad for the Rotex saw more use with a wool polishing pad than with sand paper. I think they just get old over time. Probably not meant to last indefinitely.

Jim, I stopped by Wood Craft today....

Barry Irby

I took the sander with me and bought some Festool disks after making sure they fit.

I also looked closely at the old pad I took off the machine and it was labeled Festo. That leads me to believe its fairly old, and it has the older hole pattern you mentioned.

I asked their Festool guy about the pad I had that crumbled like dried up cheese. He said Festool would take not responsibility for it and I should just throw it away. According to him the failure was not terribly unusual and falls in the Poop Happens category. (I have owned a number of various brands of sanders for at least twenty years and none have failed like this.)

Festool is amazing. This is a $200 tool and the pad was a fifth of that. The Festool guy said It's only money.

Re: Jim, I stopped by Wood Craft today....

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Barry, I don’t do a lot of sanding, preferring to hand plane or scrape. But I am particular about the way the sander functions when I do sand parts. I have three sanders, one of which is fairly new, although it is already an “old” model. This is a Mirka Ceros. What I like about it is the superb dust collection, lightness and control in one hand. I don’t mind that it is now an older model ... my other powered sander is a Festo ET2E, the grandfather of the current Festool ETS 150.

I purchased this 20 years ago. It is still going strong. Decent dust control, and low vibration. It is big and heavy ... hence the Ceros. In the years I have had the Festo, I have changed the pad several times. They flex and over time this creates stress cracks, and then they fall apart. They are not cheap to replace (the ETS 150 pad fits). The hole pattern I now use is the current style, and this is different from the original. Improvements to dust collection have come from re-positioning the holes and increasing their number.

I think of the replacement as general upkeep. I just do it. I am sure, however, that I found a cheaper replacement pad somewhere (of equal quality), and bought one. I will check the workshop for the make.

My other sander? This is the Mirka hand sander ... which connects to my vacuum cleaner (Festool CT26E) with a smaller, lighter Mirka hose for dustless sanding. Take note of this - there is more dust caused by hand sanding than a decent powered sander with dust extraction.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Replacement pad

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

This is a 6" replacement pad I purchased for my Festo sander (fits the Festool 150). It was a quarter the price of one from Festool and the same quality ...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/6-Inch-150mm-17-Hole-Dust-free-M8-Thread-Back-up-Sanding-Pad-for-6-Hook/32951189780.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.1.40e747054lmDqr&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10065_10130_10068_10547_319_317_10548_10696_453_10084_454_10083_10618_10307_537_536_10131_10132_10133_10059_10884_10887_321_322_10103,searchweb201603_90,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=4a3f7db9-0ee5-4805-a8a5-99cdb4e9653d-0&algo_pvid=4a3f7db9-0ee5-4805-a8a5-99cdb4e9653d

Hunt around for a similar 5", if you need that size.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Replacement pad

Barry Irby

That's pretty neat. Much better price than Festool. I poked around a bit on the site but did not see a similar 5" version. You'd think they would make both. If I live long enough to need a new pad I will check again.

I also looked at the Abranet setup, but did not pull the trigger. I am milling it over in my mind. One objection I read was that it was as abrasive on the back as it was on the front and it wore the pad out. Then later I read about the interface pad. Sounds like the fix for that problem. One of my sayings is, Every solution has it's problems.

Re: 5" Replacement pad

Henry (Raleigh NC)

Barry - isn't this what you were looking for, a 5" replacement pad?

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5-Inch-125mm-8-Hole-Back-up-Sanding-Pads-for-5-8-Holes-Hook-Loop-Sanding/4487042_32964049115.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.6.77344210D2CmDc

Henry

Re: 5" Replacement pad

Barry Irby

Henry, I am not sure that pad would fit my Festool sander. And, It never occurred to me to buy a Brand X pad. My Bad. I did not even know they existed. I thought I was getting ahead of the curve by ordering a Festool one on line.

Looking at the pad you posted, it looks like the hole pattern is the old style, with the holes closer to the center of the disk and there does not appear to be a center hole. It's a little over my head here. Not even sure what the center hole does. OTOH, I could have bought three of those for the price of one Festool pad.

There was also some really cheap sanding disk on Amazon that looked like they would fit that pad and they were about a third of the Festool stuff or less. But there is no joy in using cheap sandpaper.