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IM ABOUT TO DO IT!!! festool planex.

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#22 · (Edited)
I own the Planex and the CT36AC. Great sander, and vac (more on the vac latter).

If you can purchase this month do so, prices go up end of this month.

The hose that comes with the CT36AC will not fit the smaller cleaning sets.

It is very convenient that you can adjust the head speed and vac suction from the Planex. The tube of the Planex fits well in the hose port on the garage, nice for flipping the Planex over and changing the paper.

120 to 180 grit paper for raw drywall. The 100 grit is way to aggressive. I would highly recomend getting a box of the 24 and 36 grit paper this month. It slightly more than doubles in price the end of the month from $30.00 a box to $65.00 a box. The lower grits are great for faux painted walls that need to be flattened. I have all the grits, just in case I need a fine paper. The finer papers go up $5.00 a box the end of the month.

Get the blast gate, it allows you to block off the inlet port for transport. Also helps deep clean the filter.

I use the Planex to sand large areas of wood also.

If you don't fill the open top bag completely, release the bag from the inlet, close the bag entry gate, carfully roll the bag closed, seal with spring clips, save for reuse. When you install the open top bag make sure the taped "window" areas of the bag are inside the tub.

I swap out the fleece and open bag often. Order extra bags.

Until a couple of weeks ago the CT was used primarily with the fleece bag, not a lot of raw drywall sanding. Well..........I had a whole house drywall install to sand out. The first 10 minutes were fine, it went down hill from there. Every time the filter cleaned, there was a puff of dust from the motor vents. By the time I had finished sanding the house there was a solar eclipse from the dust (it is an unoccupied house). The CT went from being the quietest best vac I have ever used (I own 2 other CT's) to the noisiest most annoying vac I ever used.

Why am I telling you this, because of what happened next;

I did a visual and smoke test on the vac head. I suspected a missing seal after my inspection. Over on FOG, I asked for the ekat diagram of the CT. Shane, who was on vacation, posted the diagram within a half an hour. As I suspected a seal was missing. I posted what I had found. Shane had the service department call me, I discussed what I found with Steve. He emailed me a return shipping label, by the end of the day the vac was packed and on it way back to Festool. This all occurred on New Years eve. I bet the vac is most likely repaired and on its way back to me.

No product is perfect, it is how issues are handled that sways me the most. For all the Festools I own, this was the first issue I have ever had with the build. The service I recieved is as good as I have read it would be. Again, Shane was on vacation, and still made sure this got taken care of. As I understand it, a call to the service department whose number is on every tool produces the same results.

Any questions you have about the Planex, I will be happy to answer them.

Tom
 
#23 ·
I recently purchased the planex and 36AC package and have used it on a large project I have going on at the moment.

As far a quality of the tool, I am very impressed and it by far beats out sanding by hand. You can tell there was a lot of thought and engineering into both tools.

There is a little bit of a learning curve when you get started, but it doesn't take long to figure out what works best for you. I only have the sanding motion on like a 3 and the vacuum i think it was a 4. The suction with that thing is pretty amazing so if you turn it up to high it makes it harder to operate, IMHO. The key is to keep it moving and don't start or stop on the compound.

It is pretty efficient on dust but it is not completely dustless. If you pull the sander away from the surface there is a cloud, when the AC goes off which is pretty often the vacuum pressure stops and some dust escapes, and there other times as well. It does do a good job of keeping the dust under control and I was sanding without a mask (i know, i know) and i wasn't very congested. If I had to put a percentage on it I would say 80%+ but keep in mind I am also a rookie operator so it might get better with practice.

I don't think the planex could be operated without the the auto clean feature. I initially had the AC set pretty low, figuring I wouldn't have to hear that popping sound so often, but within a few minutes I noticed a lack of suction. The filter was completely clogged. After cleaning it out by hand, I turned the AC up and had no problems the rest of the day.

I found the planex was really nice to use on walls, but ceilings you definitely get a workout. I did 9' ceilings off a rolling scaffolding with no extensions on the tool, but I found that worked best for me. I think I would have really gouged things up if I tried sanding from the floor with the extension on and definitely would have been tired out.

I used 150 grit paper and that worked pretty well, I found I liked once the paper got worn down a bit as I was less apt to gouging the drywall. I will probably try out a higher grit on the next job.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase and after a little more practice I think I will be really impressed. For sure it saved me a ton of time on both the sanding and clean up.
 
#25 ·
There is a harness avalible for ceilings. I have not needed it yet, but I know a few who have it and find it well worth using. I'm sure I'll end up with it some day.

If your vac had a problem you would know it by the end of your first large sand out. By the end of the day, dust was streaming out of the motor vents on mine. Keep an eye on it.

Tom
 
#26 ·
No it wasnt the vac thst I can remember but the planex head had dust coming out of places. Maybe it was normal and I dont really remember exactly. Everything seemed to work fine so probably my imagination. I will pay attention next time I use it
 
Discussion starter · #27 · (Edited)
Jeez, another price increase from festool? Didnt they just have a pretty big one?

How much is the sand paper? I was told it was the cheapest for drywall sanders at 1$ a piece.

Whats with you guys and gouging the drywall with the planex. 150 was too coarse of a grit? Should i stick with 180 - 220?

I normally use 120 -220 when hand sanding.

I was going to buy 80,100,120,150,180,220 grits. Is that to many? Should i just stick with 80, 180, & 220?
 
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#29 · (Edited)
As I understand it Festool adjusts their prices once a year. The price increase you recall was a year ago. Time flies....... Some items have gone down in price.

I just looked the Brilliant2 (80-220 grit) papers are not changing in price. They are $1.00 a piece. They last a long time, so the value is there. The Brilliant2 does wear faster on a painted surface.

The gouging is just a matter of getting used to the machine. It has to do with how you tip the head into the surface. Proper technique comes with a little practice.

I've found that 180 is the best all around paper for my taping abilities. As I stated, the 100 grit was to aggressive for me on raw drywall. Having all the grits does not hurt anything, except the wallet, of course.

With my primary being remodeling, I run into a lot of faux painted walls. The 24 and 36 grit Saphir make short work of the faux finish. After the Saphir, go over with 80 grit Brilliant, prime hit with 100, re-prime, good to paint. A member of FOG stated he uses wheels in his grinding/polishing business that contain the same raw material as the Saphir discs. He stated his costs for wheels of that material has gone up 6 fold in the last 6 months. I will order a few boxes of the Saphir discs prior to the end of the month.

Remember, you do have 30 days to return the purchase. Make sure you have a job lined up to test the unit out. It would suck to have the Planex sit on a shelf only to find it did not suit you after the 30 days. I can't see you not liking the vac.

Seeing as you are in New Jersey, you have someone who is considered on FOG to be an excellent dealer in your state. The dealer I use is in Texas, his service is beyond great. Good luck with your purchase.

Tom
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
WarnerConstInc. said:
About once a year every march or so.

I am fine with it, makes my used tools worth more money. I would probably stop buying Festool's if they were always marking them down.
Click to expand...
Yea your right. Wow time flys. I remember i rushed to buy a 12 drawer sortainer for my birthday. Which is in march :laughing:
 
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Discussion starter · #31 ·
Tjbnwi (tom)- can u say who that dealer is? Im not a member of FOG

I have about 1800 sq ft of drywall so i will test it out asap.

Im probably going to go with 100 180 & 220 grits.
 
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#32 ·
It's recommended that you start and stop the Planex on the wall. That will minimize the chances of gouging, especially until you're more familiar with it. Start with a slower speed setting and a higher grit to get the feel of things at first.

Leave the AutoClean feature turned all the way up when using it with the Planex. Turn the suction to its highest setting on the CT. Use the controls on the Planex's handle to control suction. I've found that around a 3 or 4 will usually let the Planex "float" on the wall. If the suction is too high, it will actually suck it to the wall, making it more difficult to move.

Set the Planex to extract dust from the center of the pad for general drywall sanding. If you're removing popcorn, set it to extract from the perimeter of the pad (or for any time you're dealing with large particles).

The harness and/or additional lengths of handle are good if you work overhead a lot.

Any other questions, let me know. ;)

Shane
 
#33 ·
Rich D. said:
Tjbnwi (tom)- can u say who that dealer is? Im not a member of FOG

I have about 1800 sq ft of drywall so i will test it out asap.

Im probably going to go with 100 180 & 220 grits.
Click to expand...
Not knowing forum protocol, I sent you a PM with the info.

I forgot to mention, I believe Darcy uses the second dealer I mentioned, if it matters in your decision process.

Get the 150 paper also.

Tom
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
tjbnwi said:
Not knowing forum protocol, I sent you a PM with the info.

I forgot to mention, I believe Darcy uses the second dealer I mentioned, if it matters in your decision process.

Get the 150 paper also.

Tom
Click to expand...
I pm'd u back. Thanks again for the info. Yea i actually found out about it through him here.
 
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