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from Warrenton, OR on 3/23/2009
Comments about Festool Festool RAS 115 4-1/2" Rotary Sander:
I primarily use this grinder for cleaning up fiberglass parts, shaping foam and wood stringers & bulkheads, and prepping and shaping fiberglass for additional parts to be epoxied to. The lower rpm of the Festool grinder quiets operation and eliminates the high frequency vibrations I've lived with for years with other 4" and 4-1/2" grinders like my Dewalts and Makitas. Any of the 3 remove material just as quickly with 24 and 36 grit discs. The festool doesn't catch all the dust, but what it doesn't is the large stuff which doesn't float around the air. What's left vacuums up easily. Because it's stickfix instead of being secured with a center nut, I have shed a few abrasive pads when working sharp edges, but mainly when I've used the up side of the rotation instead of the down, so when grinding properly it hasn't been an issue. The dust brush can be moved quickly by twisting the 90deg handle grip. That makes it easy to suck the most amount of dust when working with different edges of the disc. I use it with CT22 and CT33 vacuums. The only real difference I've seen is the dust bag size. Both perform very well. In high volume areas (grinding for many hours a day) I use the CT33 to get a week or more per bag change. The CT22 is great for portable repairs, bilge crawling, and other work in mostly completed yachts. I'm sure the MIDI and MINI would do nearly as well, however I haven't used them (they're rated for slightly less suction power).
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from Cleveland, OH on 6/11/2008
Comments about Festool Festool RAS 115 4-1/2" Rotary Sander:
The RAS 115 grinds every bit as well as my 4-1/2" Makita but when used with the dust extractor (CT22 for me) it collects better than 85% of the dust. Grinding for fiberglass repair (like tabbing or hole repair) need not fill the boat with dust any more. I was really surprised at how effective the dust collection is. It's not cheap but neither is a lung transplant. After hours of use clean up is basically washing your hands. The stuff it doesn't collect tends to be larger chips not the fine dust. I would still use a proper respirator though.