wingless’ Festool ETS EC150/3 EQ-Plus Sander

Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Festool). This thread is read-only.

winglessMember since Nov 2017Jul 16, 2026 10:57 AM CT

The remodeling projects on my gorgeous 33-year-old new-to-me home include updating my bathrooms. All three bathrooms have extensive usage of synthetic marble. As an example, I’m working on the hall bathroom and it has matching synthetic marble, off-white base w/ a light rose color swirl, for the: vanity w/ dual sinks; tub w/ panels to ceiling on all three walls and panel to floor on face; the large two-level soap holder and on the windowsill. I’ve selected the Sherwin Williams SW 6288 Rosebud color for the walls, to coordinate w/ the marble swirl color w/ white painted trim, doors and molding.

As would be expected, the synthetic marble has surface usage marks from 33 usage years. The most obvious was the vanity w/ integrated sinks, but also apparent on the tub and walls.

My solution was to sand and polish the synthetic marble w/ my Festool RO150FEQ vacuum sander and their Granat abrasives. I already “completed” that effort in the Master Bathroom and was generally satisfied w/ the results.

Now that I’m again into this aspect of the project on my hallway bathroom I decided to attain an even better result, so I experimented w/ different initial (coarse) abrasive grits and different wet sanding methods. IMO, a big part of the difficulties impeding me attaining the desired results was from the initial starting condition. It appears to me that the manufacturer used some type of chemical polishing, such as exposing it to a specific solvent vapor, to cause the surface to “melt” to a gloss surface. The issue I had w/ that starting condition was as-expected it had an initial orange peel texture, plus usage water spots and usage blemishes. Removal of the blemishes results in non-uniformity wrt the initial gloss, so that initial gloss had to go.

After LOTS of experimentation what I found was initial dry sanding w/ Granat P240 w/ changes to fresh abrasive sheets at a much greater frequency than usual for me resulted in the desired / required uniform removal of starting blemishes and old, initial gloss. I found I could get about 3 square feet of acceptable results on a fresh sheet. Additional usage on that “old” sheet would never attain the desired / required results, regardless of time and effort. My plan is to sand / polish from P240 to P1500 w/ Granat. I’m probably also going to S4000 “grit” w/ Platin.

Sooo, the process I’m settled upon is to initially hand sand the inside corners w/ the same grit that will be used to sand the remainder of the surface. This is after hand scraping ALL the old caulk from all the edges and all the edge cavities. When I’m done a matching off-white grout will be forced into all the edges and edge cavities, instead of caulk.

This sanding / polishing is also after removing: the soap holder, inset into the tub / shower wall; the faucet valves and the drains.

The process was started w/ my 25 year old Festool RO150FEQ vacuum sander. That sander has their 5mm random orbital throw. That larger throw is great for rapid removal. For this project I decided I wanted the finer surface finish that would be attained by usage of their shorter 3mm throw sander. I also wanted / needed to remain w/ the 6″ / 150mm diameter discs that I already have those abrasive discs in abundance, so I selected the Festool ETS EC150/3 EQ sander.

One GREAT BIG miss was Festool GREATLY overtightened the screw retaining the user-replaceable sanding pad. There was NO WAY to remove that pad using the included long 5mm Allen wrench. It took an extended time w/ my impact driver set on high for the screw to loosen.

The other miss was the Instruction Manual doesn’t define what grease should be used on the interface between the sanding pad and the rubber sleeve, to replicate the grease initially used when the tool was built.

This is a very nice tool. The biggest deficiency is the high cost, that I think is appropriate, especially when I consider my previous long-life experience w/ their similar tool.

This tool is lightweight and it is powerful. It is very well built. It is easy to use w/ a handy push on / push off switch. The 6,000 to 10,000 rpm speed control knob is positioned well. The tool speed is ROCK SOLID, regardless of variable loads from abrasives or hand pressure.

LONG ago I discovered that vacuum sanding is THE WAY TO GO, both for the obvious benefit of keeping things clean, but also and IMO more important, for GREATLY extending the useful abrasive life. The vacuum extraction on this tool could not be better. The tool has their standard 27mm vacuum extraction port for easy push on / pull off connection to their vacuum hose, remaining securely attached during usage. The tool also has their standard Plug-It detachable power cord, w/ a twist lock to the tool, a polarized two-prong NEMA 1-15 plug, provided w/ a 4m cord length, other lengths are available. This power cord length is great for me, as it also matches their vacuum hose length on my dust extractor.

The tool includes: their standard Systainer 3 SYS3 M187 7.36″ tall tool box, w/ internal custom-shaped tool box tray and permanently affixed custom ETS EC150 spare parts reference placard; 6″ / 150mm soft backing pad, P/N ST-STF D150/MJ2-M8 SW, already attached to tool; long 5mm x 163mm Allen wrench; twelve sheet Granat abrasive assortment and a full set of printed instruction and warranty documents. The tool warranty is extended to 3 years after the completed registration is submitted.

I’m already VERY satisfied w/ the tool and the results on this initial project. I have ZERO hesitation recommending this tool to others.

[External image (live.staticflickr.com), not copied]

Eric – TIAMember since Jan 2010Jul 16, 2026 4:12 PM CT

Very cool. I like Festool. I haven’t tried a lot of their tools but the ones I have, I like. It’s crazy that they cranked it down so tight.