Sanding, lots and lots of sanding.

As far as sanding goes, that detail sander is good for - - detail! but rubbish for larger areas. You need at least a 1/3 sheet sander like this

http://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-bo3710-sheet-sander-240v/6330j

If you have already removed the paint and just need a finishing sand the sheet sander will be fine, but will still be slow going if there is any paint to remove, in which case a belt sander is better for larger areas.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb290sdr-3-belt-sander-230v/51603

With all sanders start with a coarse grit 40-60 and work down to a finer grit 120-180

As far as vacuum goes, the festool will be no better than the henry (which are decent small vacs). It's a small class L vac designed to work with festool tools. The problem with sanding is the fine dust will blind the filter of any vac quickly so the bigger the vac and bigger the filter, the more chance you have of keeping that filter clear for longer. The so called "filter shaker" on the festool is unlikely to keep that filter clear of fine dust for long. Perhaps...

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb431vac-1400w-40ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/39587

If you have loads and loads of sanding and cutting to do it can help to make a cyclone interceptor which will collect a good portion of the dust before it gets to the vac. Here's mine.

You can buy vacuum hose in many different places online in various lengths and its easy enough to cobble up connections. Making an interceptor is probably overkill for your job!

 

Makita BO3710 excellent sander,highly recommended, had mine years.

 

Use arbanet mesh sheets in the sander not paper. You can buy packs near enough the size and shape off net but I cut them 10mm bigger with scissors as I buy boxes of the large sheets and on a roll. Velcro ready. They sand really well and last 4 times as long than paper plus 95% dust gets sucked up to vacuum. No need to punch holes in. You can buy on rolls to and cut to size. 180 and 120 grades will work for you.
Mirka Abranet Abrasive Sheets

 

Got a Bosch GOP 250 multi tool, so many use, better than the Dewalt I reckon (never been a fan of Dewalt) you can find Bosch in various kits.

 

That's the name I couldn't remember, they last considerably longer than ordinary paper.

And you can get Mirka Abranet Hand Dust Extraction sanding blocks, various sizes & will connect to a dust extractor.
Got a few of them including the useful Roundy one, takes a folded circular disc.

 

I'd still be using a sheet sander on door stiles, rails and frames, finishing off with a detail sander for all the nooks and crannies. (or even by hand - I often find hand sanding is easier for small areas, particularly for round and curved sections) Trying to sand a whole door with a detail sander is not recommended! - not least because with sharp corners and edges you are likely to make scars in the flat surfaces. Yes, adapt the henry if you can. They are a decent vac, but the fairly small filter will blind up quite quickly with fine dust. The drum vacs have bigger filters.

 

+1 ^^ mine's done some work too. - much better than the "green" bosch I had before it.

 

Have a Makita VC2012 class L dust extractor,can't fault it,other than cost of fleece bags, but the Alto Fisk ones fit & are much cheaper, also use mine with a cyclone interceptor (Separation Dust Collector) which came off Ebay.

 

You can make adaptors up to fit vacuum out of sink waste pipe and heat up to mould. Also universal vacuum adaptors on eBay for a couple of pounds. 32mm fits Henry and you will want the black small tube that came with Henry accessory pack. I bought more tubes and used small screws and duck tape up to secure. Also use wet and dry... Wet...... For fine work if you want dust free with a pair of rubber gloves

 

Best electric sander. Dustless, is Festool RTS 400... You will need the velcro adapter to use arbanet sheets or they won't stick....Mirka DEOS is the competition. I can't make my mind up which to buy.

 

Doz,

For the fine detail work have a look at the Festool R090. It can go between a fairly aggressive sand to a silky smooth finish with one tool. It has the unique ability to go from an orbital sander to a "delta" sander for corners and small spaces. Hook it up to a good extraction system and 99% of the dust will be removed. There are quite a few videos on YouTube showing its capabilities. I sold off a huge number of sanders a while ago and just use two Festool ones now

Have a look on line the prices do vary and our hosts are having their tool fair at the end of September where you will get 10% off all products - plus the potential for some more discounts.

I found that even my wife is impressed with the Festool sanders and cleaners and has no qualms helping out these days with sanding

 

Hmm. Festool RTS400 ~£250 Many other sanders ~£50 Much as I like Festool kit it's difficult to see added value to wiggle a bit of abrasive about. All this "dustless" is OK for professionals using kit continuously. For anybody else making a bit of dust and cleaning up afterwards is no big deal and the way we all did it for years and years before the latest fashion for everything to be "dustless". Wear a £2 face mask if you're bothered about dust!

sometimes it's just easier to clean up afterwards than have the vac keep blocking up every 2 minutes.....

 

It could be a decent buy if it works OK - no reason why it shouldn't. Mine was a tenner for the cyclone from 'bay and a 40litre drum that had been used for lime pickle from same place same price, but then you have the hassle of making it.

Seriously, why don't you just do the sanding with a mask on, use a dustpan and brush to sweep up the bulk of the mess and hoover up afterwards. Maybe this is all getting a bit over-thunk? And IMHO there is very very little difference in any sanders performance - they all just wiggle abrasive. If its just this one job or occasional DIY buy a couple of budget machines - the Titan kit is usually perfectly serviceable and reliable (or at least the stuff I have is) if a little rough and ready. I only buy expensive tools when I know I am going to use them loads or need a particular level of performance.

 

That changes everything - disregard my last post.

In this case I think possibly another option is to hire a site vac e.g. https://www.hss.com/hire/p/site-vacuum and use sanders with decent dust extraction take-off. However, even then you are going to be very hard pressed to completely contain dust when doing a lot of sanding because dust collection is never 100% and sanding is probably one of the jobs with a lot of "spill". Is there any possibility of moving mother out for a couple of days and blitzing the sanding and then having a good clean up? I think it is particularly over optimistic to think that vac attachments will collect all the dust when you are sanding e.g. bannisters and hand rails.

 

Would be better to hire a M or H class dust extractor.