wouldwurker Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Oh, I'm a happy boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Slap some 80 on that mofo, go after some hard maple, and let me know the pigtail factor. I'm curious. I'm getting a little frustrated with my 150/3. Can't seem to avoid those damn things no matter what I do. Fresh paper, turtle suction, slow and steady technique, no pressure, blah blah blah. Pigtails. Had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDave Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I had no idea what pigtails were so I gargled it...to borrow your term Eric... and low and behold what comes up...? Brings me right back here to help me understand it and maybe avoid it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySats Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Slap some 80 on that mofo, go after some hard maple, and let me know the pigtail factor. I'm curious. I'm getting a little frustrated with my 150/3. Can't seem to avoid those damn things no matter what I do. Fresh paper, turtle suction, slow and steady technique, no pressure, blah blah blah. Pigtails. Had it. what pad at you running on it? The hard or soft? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted December 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Stationary and inverted at a 45 degree angle, I'm gonna tear through some small boxes, taking the wood to the tool. Don't even need the flush trim saw for the keys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 what pad at you running on it? The hard or soft? Medium. When I have a brand new and fresh disc, it's fine. But after a little bit of use, and I mean a little...maybe 5-10 minutes, I start getting pigtails and can't seem to avoid it by doing anything but changing the disc again...which, obviously, is not cheap when using Festool. I've tried every level of suction and changed a million variables in my technique, etc...same results. The harder the wood, the worse the problem. I just finished a project with cherry and maple...the cherry was fine, the maple gave me fits. I'm at a loss. I've read all the tips and tricks, tried everything, never seems to improve unless I blow through a dozen discs on a single project. That $ucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Couple of random comments… On reading this thread, I’m sensing expectations that might not be met... 150/3 and pigtails?? Medium Pad?? The 150/3 is a fine-stroke finish sander (150g and above), extra soft pad… RS2/e and 40g? The 2/e is a medium to fine-stroke flattener (an OS not an RoS), so won’t work well as construction sander (i.e. <= 80g). They do sell the lower grits for course tabletop tlattening, but there are better tools for the job -- remember, even with 40g, it's going to remove stock very slowely and you'll probably get a scratchy surface... The 2/e is a controlled remover of stock -- slow, even, steady... That's what it's designed to do and is very good at it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 The only conclusion I can reach is that the "slurry" that builds up on the disc is what causes the pigtails, since it doesn't happen when the disc is new. So the logical move is to crank up the suction so the disc doesn't get clogged so quickly, but then the additional suction causes pigtails, so I'm no better off. I've wondered if there's actually something wrong with the sander and I just don't know the difference, since no one else seems to struggle with pigtails as much as I do, and once they follow the sanding rules - of which I'm well aware - they have no more problems. I do tend to work with very hard woods pretty often...I never have trouble with species like walnut or anything softer...always on the very dense woods like maple and exotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Couple of random comments… On reading this thread, I’m sensing expectations that might not be met... 150/3 and pigtails?? Medium Pad?? The 150/3 is a fine-stroke finish sander (150g and above), extra soft pad… RS2/e and 40g? The 2/e is a medium to fine-stroke flattener (an OS not an RoS), so won’t work well as construction sander (i.e. <= 80g). They do sell the lower grits for course tabletop tlattening, but there are better tools for the job -- remember, even with 40g, it's going to remove stock very slowely and you'll probably get a scratchy surface... 150/3...I use the pad that came with it...I assumed it was "medium" since it's not hard and it's not that soft...maybe it is the soft. Any ideas on my pigtail issues, Trip? What sander do you use for removing mill marks and up to 150? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I had no idea what pigtails were so I gargled it...to borrow your term Eric... and low and behold what comes up...? Brings me right back here to help me understand it and maybe avoid it. Vinn, Good on ya! Congrats Question... I went to the link above provided by Dave... I want to know what happened to the second poster...iSawitFirst? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted December 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I thought the exact same thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted December 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Checked the gender...I take that back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 That's really weird Eric. I've got the 150/3. I've used it on cherry, walnut, sycamore, oak and bloodwood. I have never had any pigtails other than one stupid mistake where I was changing a song on my phone and wasn't paying attention and I rolled up on the edge of the pad. Other than an error on my part I haven't had any issues. I've gone through the following progressions out of my drum sander since I had some 80 grit on there 80 -> 100 -> 120 -> 150 -> 180 -> 220 -> 320 -> 400. The 80 paper was Granat, 100 is rubin, 120 is Mirka abranet, 150 is White Rhyno, 180 -> 400 is Mirka Abranet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 FT makes a medium and medium/soft -- unfortunately, both are black. You can tell by the thickness, but it's not obvious... The ultra-soft is gray... I only used that on the 150/3 and never less than 150g. I had two 150/5s -- one for leveling with the hard pad (60, 80, 100) and one with the medium pad (100, 120, 150) Pigtails – I’ve used a 150/3 for years and believe it's the best sander FT makes... I rairly encountered pigtails... What are you sanding? Wood, film finish, what? FT has separate abrasives for each application (mostly friability, but some of it is the ‘sharpness’ of the abrasive itself) – and yes, it makes a difference… In general, I used Rubin on wood with very low vac. I never used the 150/3 with less than 150/180g… Lower grits benefit from a larger stroke, say 5mm or 8mm if you’re in a hurry… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Checked the gender...I take that back... Oh crap, That just ain't right Back to the original kind of pigtails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 FT makes a medium and medium/soft -- unfortunately, both are black. You can tell by the thickness, but it's not obvious... The ultra-soft is gray... I only used that on the 150/3 and never less than 150g. I had two 150/5s -- one for leveling with the hard pad (60, 80, 100) and one with the medium pad (100, 120, 150) Pigtails – I’ve used a 150/3 for years and believe it's the best sander FT makes... I rairly encountered pigtails... What are you sanding? Wood, film finish, what? FT has separate abrasives for each application (mostly friability, but some of it is the ‘sharpness’ of the abrasive itself) – and yes, it makes a difference… In general, I used Rubin on wood with very low vac. I never used the 150/3 with less than 150/180g… Lower grits benefit from a larger stroke, say 5mm or 8mm if you’re in a hurry… The pad on my 150/3 is white. Sanding wood only. Denser woods give me trouble. Walnut and softer, no issues. Using Rubin 2 discs. Start at 80 after drum sander, up to 180 or 220. Low vac. Very low. Probably turned up about 1/5th of the way at most. Maybe I should get a 150/5 with a hard pad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 The pad on my 150/3 is white. Sanding wood only. Denser woods give me trouble. Walnut and softer, no issues. Using Rubin 2 discs. Start at 80 after drum sander, up to 180 or 220. Low vac. Very low. Probably turned up about 1/5th of the way at most. Maybe I should get a 150/5 with a hard pad... Are you using the 80 to remove ALL tool marks then moving up to the next grit until finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Yes. All that's left behind are the pigtails. Then I'll put on another brand new pad of the same grit and get rid of the pigtails, then go to the next grit. But I can't seem to avoid them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Sander dropped on the floor once too often? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Never. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Yes. All that's left behind are the pigtails. Then I'll put on another brand new pad of the same grit and get rid of the pigtails, then go to the next grit. But I can't seem to avoid them. Go 80 sand the whole piece of wood. Just go over it once at a normal pace. Then go 100 do the same. Then go 120. If you still have tool marks do it all again. Try to refrain from getting ever little defect with you 80 on the first try just sand the board and move on. It may take three tries but you will get it faster in the long run and use less abrasives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 ==>Never You're a better man than I... Stuff hits the floor every single day around here -- yesterday was a 24" Starrett blade for the combo square -- and the combo square itself about an hour later... Today, who knows -- the day is still young... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Go 80 sand the whole piece of wood. Just go over it once at a normal pace. Then go 100 do the same. Then go 120. If you still have tool marks do it all again. Try to refrain from getting ever little defect with you 80 on the first try just sand the board and move on. It may take three tries but you will get it faster in the long run and use less abrasives. Seems time consuming. There has to be something I'm doing wrong...but for the life of me I don't know what it is. I'd rather buy more and better sanders than spend more time sanding. And I don't have problems removing the mill marks. The 80 grit does an okay job of that in a reasonable amount of time, even on the 150/3. Longer than I'd like, but reasonable. The pigtails are my only issue, and again...it's only on dense woods. Walnut sands clean and smooth without any problems. 24" Starrett blade for the combo square -- and the combo square itself about an hour later... Ouch. That ain't good. So you said you HAD a pair of 150/5's...what's your current sanding schedule post-milling? Which sanders? Sorry for the total thread-jack, Vinny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Yes. All that's left behind are the pigtails. Then I'll put on another brand new pad of the same grit and get rid of the pigtails, then go to the next grit. But I can't seem to avoid them. Is it possible the edges of your paper are wearing and exposing a couple of the hooks from the H&L on the pad. Maybe the pad is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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