Festool DTS 400 EQ Orbital Sander
Hidden Gem in Festool's Sander Line
By: James Maichel
For the last couple months I have used Festool’s DTS 400 EQ Orbital Finish Sander in my shop. Thank you, Festool USA for sending the DTS 400 along with several boxes of Rubin and Granat Abrasives for review.
Up until this point, the ETS 150 handled all of my sanding tasks. I love this sander, and if I could only have one the ETS-150 would be it. Fortunately we live in a society where owning more than one sander is perfectly acceptable. When I first bought the ETS 150 I came very close to buying an RO 90 at the same time. I decided to hold off and wait until I had a better idea of what the ETS 150 was capable of and what my future sanding needs would be. After using the ETS 150 for almost a year, it became clear that I needed a sander geared more toward detail work. A sander that would work well on frame and panels, smaller components, and be able to fit into tight corners.
For a lot of woodworkers who are Festool users, the RO 90 is most likely the easy choice. Everyone I know that has an RO 90 really likes it. I just did not feel like I needed the aggressiveness that the RO 90 was capable of. Then I remembered watching a video that Paul Marcel did on the Half Inch Shy Blog where he talked about usefulness and versatility of the DTS 400. Intrigued by his video and wanting to find out more about the DTS 400, I headed over to the Festool USA website and the Festool Owner Group Forum (FOG) to read up a little more about the DTS 400. I found the DTS 400 was well revered by many but had recently started play second fiddle after the release of the RO 90. I considered all the reviews on both the DTS 400 and the RO 90 and concluded that the DTS 400 was the right choice for my workshop.