Sanding disc hack

[bob vaughan]

I bought a Festool 125 sander. I like it, but I wasn’t impressed with the sandpaper. I really like the Norton Pro Sand 5” discs because they last so long and cut so well. They have a hole pattern that supposedly works on any sander. Yeah, right.

So I made a marking template out of ¼” plywood. I used a hole punch and punched holes on the marked circles. It worked. I tried taping three discs together and punched them. It worked. The discs need to be laid on a hard wood surface and the mallet strike needs to be strong. In this case I used a scrap of ash that worked well enough. Cut-offs and drops are perfect for this use before they go in the burn bin.

Festool’s hole pattern is a 90mm circle with eight 9mm holes. That’s easy enough to lay out.

This was a make-do experiment that I will probably use a great deal in the future.

 

[tvrgeek]

Your punch will dull pretty quickly. I had to make holes for my first mouse sander. Might I suggest trying the 3M or even Diablo mesh disks?

 

[bbrown]

Here's how I convert discs. The conversion process takes a few seconds.
I came up with this about 10 years ago.

 

[Martin Roper]

It seems like one of these would work with a template. Pretty reasonable at under $5

 

[bob vaughan]

Your punch will dull pretty quickly.

Wow! Ya think?

There's a secret. Know how to sharpen tools.

The punch is an Osborne cylindrical so an easy sharpen if it does get dull.

Bill Brown's idea is a good one. All that's needed is a hole and the edges of the hole aren't likely to close up again;

 

[MarkE]

Klingspor has plenty of 5" discs with the Festool 9-hole pattern. Their Greentec brand is about the longest lasting sanding discs I have ever used.
Beats the heck out of trying to modify other discs to fit the Festool 'standard'.

 

[bob vaughan]

If I were close to Klingspoor's store, that's where I'd shop. Having a woodworking store nearby is a great asset and I don't mind paying their price because I want that store there when I need it.

If I ever run across a 9-hole 5" Festool disk sander, that Greentec brand sounds like one I should try.

 

[Michael Mathews]

I do the same thing that Bob did but I chuck up my hole punch on my drill press and cut through about 5 to 10 discs at once. I sandwich them between two platens bolted together tightly so the discs don't move. One has the template holes that guide the punch and the bottom disc is flat with no holes. Works great! I use a tapered stone in a hand drill to sharpen the punch.

 

[MarkE]

If I were close to Klingspoor's store, that's where I'd shop. Having a woodworking store nearby is a great asset and I don't mind paying their price because I want that store there when I need it.

If I ever run across a 9-hole 5" Festool disk sander, that Greentec brand sounds like one I should try.

View attachment 212258

They have the Greentec discs in sizes and hole patterns to fit most current sanders.