Sometimes visiting the letterbox can be a pretty amazing experience!
A certain benefactor of Stu’s Shed decided (as quite an amazing gesture) to give me a Festool RAS115. He wishes to remain anonymous, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be stoked even so!
The RAS115 is dubbed “The Termite” by Festool. It is not a sander (although it does use hook & loop abrasive (aluminium oxide)), but a material removal tool. It is more like the Arbortech than a sander for its stock removal. It is an orbital sander, not a random orbital sander. It is designed to use 36 grit sandpaper, not 600! It even came in a systainer, so I finally have a second one to join up with my Cooltainer 
Festool Systainer
RAS115
Classic Festool packaging, keeping everything needed for the tool all in one place. Must admit though – the manual leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps the translation from Deutsch missed out a bit…..
The Termite
No fancy casing, colour schemes, addons, or lasers. This is a tool designed for one thing. Doing the job you bought it for.
Speaking of which…..
Quick bit of shaping
I haven’t had any real time to give it a good workout, but it sure cut through the timber without any trouble. If you’ve ever used a belt sander and seen how quickly it can mistakenly mill into the surface, imagine a tool that gives you that stock removal capabilty with a significant sense of control.
Of course, there will never be RAS115 races….
This is a common event at the US Wood Shows, particularly the AWFS in Las Vegas. Guess they don’t have the same strict regs (and doomsayers) as downunder. Sadly, I was actually offered a Press Pass to the AWFS this year, but can’t afford to fund my own trip. Oh well, one day perhaps.
Back to the Festool:
Innovations
I’m not up on all the innovative features built into this tool – there are certainly a few! One that was interesting is this geared handle that rotates the chip collection system to optimise where the collection occurs from.
A second handle can be added (handle supplied) to provide even more control.
So an interesting tool, an amazing price, and a much appreciated addition to the shed.
Filed under: Tools Tagged: | Cooltainer, Festool, RAS115, Sander, Stock Removal, Systainer
