Prostheta

Great call! I'm sure people will find this useful.

It's reasonably solid. When using a spindle sander, you don't apply a high level of lateral pressure. The sandpaper should do the work for you. For something as thick as a guitar body, it is better at smoothing edges rather than shaping them. Surface finishing, not stock removal.

I'd say yes. It's worth it for the money, but falls short of what you'd expect for a light trade rated machine.

I've not installed one myself, however I believe that Peter (@SwedishLuthier) has more experience and feedback. Since this was written I believe that the knife edges have been upgraded or altered.

Definitely. It might be light duty and made to a price rather than a standard, but it fits the bill for jobs such as those. Thickenessing headstocks would be easier if the cast top had more flat areas under the skirt. Clamps just need a bit more support there. 

You're welcome. Pictures of a workpiece are a little irrelevant since a sander should leave no trace once the correct grits have been worked through. At the most, a comparison of time spent working a piece might be useful but that point is rarely a buying point on people's minds.

My new workplace uses a lot of Festool machines, purely because it's a high-throughput production shop. Exactly the kind of home that Festool tools work best within, and maybe less than a home gamer or small boutique maker. I've spent a good amount of time with the larger Rotex rotary sanders (more like an angle grinder than a sander in many ways) sanding Teak for cruise liner element installs. Hardly ergonomic, and you've really got to learn your own way to manage holding the thing....gloves help.

This Festool ETS felt more at home methodically working large flat panels, so I agree that guiding simple long paths rather than more detailed sanding seems to be it's forté. In comparison, my go-to Mirka DEROS is found in paintshops as much as wood shops; workplaces that are far more reliant on machines that handle flat, convex and mildly-concave surfaces better.

Festool eh? Their machines always seem to be focused on doing one task very very well. Jack of one trade!

It depends on what the jig provides as a return. If you're making a living producing guitars, jigs like this are a quick-fire solution. Even though it is simple enough for an experienced woodworker to produce themselves, buying a ready-made jig is usually quicker and cheaper than making it yourself. A home gamer or weekend enthusiast wouldn't see the financial return, making it look like an overly-expensive jig to buy.

Thirty dollars is a bit of a stretch of the imagination Nicholas; 3/4" plywood doesn't come cheaply. I could maybe build this for about that by using scrap plywood from my workplace, however most people would have to buy a part sheet which immediately hits that budget. I hope this helps illustrate the value a bit better, and when it might or might not be a good purchase for different people.

These? We have four of these Festool extractors at work....

Surprisingly the MINI (right) has the same flow rate as the CTL SYS (3000l/min) whereas the MIDI is about 4000l/min. It all about capacity and space taken up with those two. The MIDI is obviously larger, but that extra grunt makes more of a difference.

I was genuinely considering it myself, however it would just chew up a little too much space. That's the crucial point where I think the CTL SYS wins out. The MIDI is the same as the MIDI with higher flow and capacity The CTL 36 is also 4000l/min. The larger-diameter hose is less liable to clog as well....

The one I have is great for that. You have unimpeded space around the volute. For cutaways and heels where there may be less space, modellers or half-round might be better profiles. Length, I'd say that for the first example where you've got space, length helps to make longer strokes. I use this rasp a lot (still!) for establishing rear contours at the heel and behind 1st. A shorter rasp would be more nimble, but less useful for real roughing work. For mass removal like tummy cuts and forearm contours, I'd even say "go coarser" (#6-7). That would restrict the broader range of uses for that coarse rasp for neck work however. This #9 is maybe a little slow on huge work like that, but it gets there no problem.

Noel and myself discussed the end use of this rasp way back when, and his advice really did help spec up a great all-round rasp. If I were making the same order today, it would be for the same spec. I've been thinking of adding a finer sage leaf, maybe #11 as it happens....

I'm unsure on direct comparisons of the stitching,  #10 is what I'd call coarse and perhaps that is similar to StewMac's. For "fine" I'd go #12-13. Anything finer is less useful for shaping, which is why you'd use a rasp anyway. What do you want to add into the collection in terms of size and end usage?

Glad to hear of it Andrew! It'll be a workhorse in that new workshop you're setting up. My only addition that I neglected to add to the initial review is the use of a shim between the template and the walls of the slotting box. Being wider, the templates are no longer the same width as the internal wall-to-wall gap in the box, so it's isn't held in place. The extension base that I wrote up in the accompanying tutorial is another solution, especially since that allows the box to be held in a vise on a bench.

Perhaps a Roubo-like bench with a leg vise needs a home in your workshop....?