I have not cut any Dibond at all, but have used my Festool to cut aluminum and Plexiglass, as well as plywood and some hardwoods, with no issues at all. The saw, combined with my Midi, makes for a nearly dust-free experience and nice cuts. I disagree that a tablesaw is a must have. Plenty of fine woodworkers get by without one and other options, such as a router table, CMS or bandsaw. Using a track saw to cut down sheets of Plexi or Dibond seems to make sense to me. Cool thing is, you can buy one, test it out, and if it doesn't do what you need, you can return it.
A little advice for a new guy
- Thread starter jplemons
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I can read fine, thank you. And I still disagree that a table saw is a must-have for building furniture. I didn't mean to turn this into a debate; I simply disagree that it's a necessity. Is it the best tool for certain jobs? Probably. Can furniture be built efficiently and effectively without one? Of course.
Holmz
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jplemons said:
^That^ is kind of as much a blanket statement as "they are required".
It depends a lot on what the furniture is whether a track saw, table saw or bandsaw is needed.
In some sense a track saw is a table saw as a jig saw is to a band saw as a knife is in a gunfight.
While they would all work, they are not generally considered optimal.
Yes, but mine is a reasoned "grey" blanket and not a hardline, matter-of-fact statement. I'm simply saying that telling someone that a table saw is a must-have is not true, which it isn't.
No need to get violent with all your guns and knives and stuff.
No need to get violent with all your guns and knives and stuff.
jplemons said:
I agree.
Altho i do not build much furniture, I lived next door to an old Scotish craftsman when i was growing up in high school years and for a few years after. He and I fought a lot all the time I knew him. Not knives and brass knuckles type, just good healthy arguments. When he retired and went into "the carpenters home" he gave me a table he had made as his journeyman project. It was made completely with hand tools, many of which he had made for the purpose of doing the project. I have looked that table over very closely and I can see no sign that it was done by hand. Every scollop and every groove is perfectly done. that table is probably over 100 years old and, i am sad to say, buried deep in my attic. The table is just to big to fit in anywhere in our small house, or i could add a few pics showing the craftsmanship. He told me he used only hand tools to make that table. I believed him. (He and i had many arguments. He never lied to me and I never lied to him. Maybe that's why we argued :
)My dad was a very fine craftsman. He did many fine projects with out use of a table saw. He did use a bandsaw. The table saw did not come into use for him during the early years of his business.
Altho i do not make "fine" furniture, I got rid of my table saw when I discovered Festoy. Everything i could do with a table saw, I can do with my TS 55. Sometimes, it takes a little longer for setting up, but once set up, i have much better control than I ever had with my table saw. I can work in a much smaller space than ever could when i had a table saw. I don't miss that at all. I do find myself using the bandsaw more that i had expected when i first purchased. I am sorry i did not get a better one of those.
Tinker
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