# Test of new sander



## ProbeGT (Mar 23, 2011)

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130483182441

Since my porter cable died after 4 great years of reliable sanding, I decided to try a new type of sander.

I've seen the Festool Planex and FLEX vario-giraffe but I never found a way to make a retailer ship it in canada at decent price (the festool was like 3000$...)

I also saw the Rockamat Gecko on amazon but since i couldn't see it in person, and that the "flexible but locked" head kinda makes me ask some questions, I decided to not burn 2000$ on something that might just not work as I want.

So I found this Festool copy on ebay with a Porter cable vac copy and said, why not, for 440$ all included, if it's crap at least i'll have a good vac...

1st surprise was when i received the sander. I really didn't expect good quality since the price is quite low and it's a copy from china. Well, it's well built (or well copied should i say) and even when fully assembled, the handle is rock solid. The vac's bucket altough feels a little cheap, locks for the vac are also fragile so I'll be gentle on the vac. 110V plug on the vac, not tool activated but for the price, it's ok.

Forget about the included hoses for dust extraction, do yourself a favor and go buy a garage central vac hose and tape an extention cord on it. 30 feet of freedom. 1st try of the sander was horrible. It worked perfectly on the ceilings but i just couldn't make it work on the walls. It whabbled like hell, as soon ad the head was upside down it just destroyed my nails or corners. Big disapointment but I never give up that easy. So i brought it home, removed the original sanding back-up pad, scraped it and glued a norton back-up pad. The norton is a little higher so i had to rise the brush ring a little more with washers behind it. Speaking of the brush ring, it is a lot better designed than on the porter cable. it is like suspended on 8 plastic spring like strips (sry i don,t really know how to explain it) so the ring move independantly from any point of contact. it's also very easy to push it in so it always fits the walls or ceiling without any effort unlike the Porter cable that you have to push the whole head unless you use norton pad to make the sanding disk flush to the brush ring.

I wasn't very confident on these modifications since i tought the sander needed more stability wich would mean lower sanding surface and harder brush ring but yet, another surprise. It worked perfectly. Sanded 8000 feet today and it was a charm to use. Even tho it turns slower than the porter cable, it sands a lot. Maybe because of the weight of the motor on the head? Vac does a great job, loose about 40-50% of vacuum after 10-15 minutes but stays like that so it still suck 95% of the dust. The sander doesn't stick on the wall like the festool. Fully assembled, the sander is very long and a little heavy. Not that bad for ceilings, that'd surprise you but it was harder on walls. Because it's that tall, if you try to reach 10 feet walls it's hard to keep it flat on the wall and it starts wabbling. No problem on ceilings tho. 

Good product at decent price. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who never worked with an electric sander because the learning curve is higher than on the porter cable. Is it better? I wouldn't say so because i never used my porter cable with a vacuum. But it defenetly takes less effort to sand big edges with this one vs the porter cable. 

Maybe this chinese copy will wake up someone at festool and make them sell us the real Planex...

Next sanding project I'll try to take a video of it in action.


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

I went and bought a knockoff portercable. Thing works great and has way more power but 3 times the weight. Its a shoulder burner for sure. Should have spent extra money. For a vac. I just use a shop-vac with drywall filter bags. It eliminates clogging and extends life of the vac. 30 ft of hose a good idea.


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## Tim0282 (Jan 8, 2008)

ProbeGT, which one did you buy? The one that looks most like the PC or the one that is more streamlined?


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## Tim0282 (Jan 8, 2008)

Is it orbital or vibrating?


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## raven (Feb 17, 2011)

joest sanding disks work great on the power sanders,second choice would be norton pad and paper. Usg midweigt is a good mud for power sanders.


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## Tim0282 (Jan 8, 2008)

Raven, do you know if the sander he showed is orbital?


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## raven (Feb 17, 2011)

yes.


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## Tim0282 (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanks!!


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Tim0282 said:


> Thanks!!


there's a little blue button to the bottom right. you click that and it will thank someone 
feel free to thank me:whistling2::jester:


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## Tim0282 (Jan 8, 2008)

Did it!




2buckcanuck said:


> there's a little blue button to the bottom right. you click that and it will thank someone
> feel free to thank me:whistling2::jester:


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## ProbeGT (Mar 23, 2011)

Sorry if i didn't reply, yes it's orbital.

I'm having some problems tho because it produce big scratches, I think i have small rocks in mud again, the mud is not the same as usual and even when sanding by hand i get big scratches... Received a new batch of mud this week, I'll be able to try it again monday. So far it works great apart from those scratches. It gets heavy on 9' ceilings but everything that is 8' is as easy if not easier than with the porter cable.

Another problem i'm having is that the weight of the motor + the vacuum tube seems to push on the upper part of the sanding pad wich is not good and creates some swirls. I had removed my vacuum tube on the porter cable for this reason but since the mud produce scratches and is very very soft I wanna give it another few tries. vacuum should be stronger too because everything you sand that does not cover 100% of the surface will blow the dust trough. So if I still need a mask to sand, I will throw away the dust collection and get back on my good old porter cable.


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## robert seke (Feb 5, 2010)

raven said:


> joest sanding disks work great on the power sanders,second choice would be norton pad and paper. Usg midweigt is a good mud for power sanders.


Where are you guys purchasing your Joest Discs?


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## raven (Feb 17, 2011)

aLL WALL 50.00 DOLLARS FOR 25.


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## Tim0282 (Jan 8, 2008)

Or Wall Tools:

http://www.walltools.com/store/jst-useit-superpad.html#

Shipping will be less and the service is top notch! And shipping is faster!


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## walltools (Sep 15, 2009)

Tim0282 said:


> Or Wall Tools:
> 
> http://www.walltools.com/store/jst-useit-superpad.html#
> 
> Shipping will be less and the service is top notch! And shipping is faster!


Thanks Tim. I just checked the AW site and noticed that their price was actually $56.95 for one 25 pack. Wall Tools is $54.00 for a 25 pack. Wall Tools also offers a *10% discount for drywalltalk.com users*. Use coupon code *drywalltalk10* at checkout. After the coupon code the price is only *$48.60 per 25 pack*. Wall Tools is about $0.35 less per sheet (or $35 per 100 sheets.) 

We are talking to guys everyday that tell us that they are trying to save money anywhere they can because it's extremely hard to profit off the job in this economy. Competition is fierce - competitors are lowballing left and right - there is simply not enough profit left in the job. We believe that saving money on the job is making money on the job. Saving $35 is like getting paid to hang and tape 35 square without doing the work. :thumbup:

That being said, I'm still trying to get my wife and kids to turn off the lights when they leave a room.


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## TheToolDr (Nov 27, 2009)

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Buy at the same pricing as large volume contractors. Any size order, no minimum.
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## robert seke (Feb 5, 2010)

Hi Probe,

I am one of the agents for Rokamat here in Canada. Are you ever in the T.O area? I would be happy to show you the system along with Joest Abrasives.

Rob


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## finishcoat (Feb 18, 2013)

*sanding systems*

Hi Robert....what type of systems do u sell...do ship to newfoundland
thanks


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