The pad on my Rotex sander has finally bought the ranch, as the foam layer between the pad and the attachment plate has totally disintegrated. (To be fair, I've had this baby for at least 15 years, maybe more, and it doesn't owe me a thing at this point.)
Anyhow, the existing pad is a #328141 W-HT, and I'm thinking that they've probably improved the pads since this one was the default.
So, I have a few questions: Is there a better pad available that you know of? (I'm looking for a medium density pad.) Where does the smart (bargain-hunter) money go looking for one? Am I better off finding a dealer locally or ordering it through the mail?
Ellis, I have probably the oldest-in-use Festool sander, which is badged Festo, the 6” E2TE, a forerunner of the popular ETS 150 Festool model. It dates to around 1995.
Since the model is long gone, finding replacement pads took me to Amazon. There are a number of replacements available, and cheapish. While I do not use the sander with anything remotely like a typical user, the pads have been great. I have two, one hard and another soft. It is worth a look.
Amazon and Lee Valley both have three pads of different densities for the Rotex. I was thinking of buying it from Lee Valley, but they want two weeks to mail it to me, not that I have any urgent jobs to do in the next two weeks, but you never know. If these parts are fair traded, I guess I ought to support a local vendor.
Amazon's distribution chain is hard to beat. I don't know why I was surprised that they operate in Australia, too, although I doubt they're shipping on a $500m sailboat.
I have two ETS150s, with 3mm and 5mm orbits, and they take the same pads as your E2TE, with the single screw through the center. The pad for the Rotex, however, has a bayonet-style mount, so it's a different part number. I see your sander was from the days when they were still Festo. I had several from that era too. Kinda dates us...
Any Festool dealer who has the item will charge the same or close to the same base on my past findings. Tools For Working Wood as well as Coastaltool.com (my local guy) can get it to you quickly depending on where you are in the US.
I used to find that ordering from a New York company with regular UPS would find the box on my step next day without asking for overnight. My guess is that Lee Valley is undercommitting to you if the item is in stock.
I would go with a stock Festool part and order from whatever dealer is nearby. Don't overlook the fact that paint stores (remember those??) are also now stocking Festool. Check those out in your search. Your item is somewhat consumable, so should be available from a company like that.
I signed up for Festool and SawStop sites on Facebook. Very active sites. I think there is a Festool USA site also but I am on the world wide one. I find it interesting that they discuss lots of brands on the site and various places to buy stuff and some "hacks". I guess the moderator does not police that site much at all. I have never posted there but it might be worth a shot.
I would coat your pad's guts with CA and glue it back together, but I am cheap. Do that more than once to get me by until the new one came (sometimes a year later).
When foam gets old, it's simply done for. No saving it! I've seen that foam rubber and tupperware have definite lifespans. Not that they are related, but when you clean out your 87 year old Mother's home you see what the lifespan can be. She still have my Dad's first recliner chair from the 60's. I threw that thing on a burn pile I had going on the farm. It lit off like a barrel of diesel fuel. Then I found tupperware that was actually greasy to the touch. So I now assume that anything made from petrochemicals has a definite lifespan and it's like it wants to return to its original chemical state.
Foam rubber backed sanding pads from other major vendors disintegrate much more quickly when wet sanding with odorless mineral spirits. I'll SWAG that the same is true with Festool pads, although I haven't tried it with mine, since I have old sacrificial sanders from other vendors that I use for lugly tasks like removing rust from flat cast iron surfaces.
Updated pads from Festool have more holes (about 6x) than the original pads. If you also have newer sandpaper sheets from Festool, with matching dust collection hole patterns, then the newer pads do a better job of dust control.I don't know if the new sand "paper" from 3M is available with the new Festool hole pattern.
I don't know anything about third party pads for Festool dust collectors, but I use several other third party accessories for other Festools. So far, no complaints. They have all integrated seamlessly into the Festool system.
We should probably warn the guy selling Festool products for less than retail that if he is caught, he won't be selling Festool much longer.
I've bought Festool and Tanos (Systainer) products from Woodcraft, Lee Valley and Tools for Working Wood. I have almost always gotten amazing shipping speed from TFWW, usually overnight. The last time was a minor exception, but not Joel's problem. UPS tossed the package in the wrong basket and it went most of the way across the country and back, taking almost a week, instead of just across the Hudson and Raritan rivers. Of course, shipping time from different vendors depends on whether you are currently in BC, Canada or in FL, USA.
Does Festool control parts sales like the do tools? They don't sell tools. I've never compared pricing, so maybe they sell parts at Festool pricing and the savings are just a US warehouse so cheaper shipping.
I have the Festool PRO 5 LTD model that looks something like yours. I just use it the way everyone else does, I think. Derek, how do you use it in a way that's so different?
