Hello folks,
Long time reader, first time poster. Couple months ago, I got the itch to build something for my garage to organize things. It was my first venture to actually building something myself from scratch. I've fixed my cars, motorcycle, etc. All that is easy, but I've never built something from scratch.
I ended up buying a Makita SP6000 track saw (please, hold your tomatoes [crying] ) because it fit my budget a bit better, but went with the Festool 55" guide rail with drilling guide holes for the future. I compared left and right and read review after review and ended up with the Makita, which works extremely well! I haven't used the TS 55 REQ, but from my experience so far with the Makita, I'm liking it.
Originally, this is what I designed in Sketchup
However, this is what I ended up making...
No special joints at all, just end to face with pocket screws. Yes, I know I'm missing a shelf on the left, and also some frame frame rails at the top, will talk about that in a second.
Again, this was my very first time designing, cutting, and assembling something from a sheet of wood. I had numerous mistakes and also problems with making perfectly square cuts because I was cutting on the floor of my garage on a 1.5" thick styrofoam insulation.
I had numerous mistakes like the following
But some parts came out decently nice
After pretty much watching every review possible of the Festool MFT/3 and reading almost every thread about the MFT/3 here on FOG, I felt that buying the MFT/3 will help me get more accurate cuts as I was off by 1mm to 2mm on a lot of pieces and my working area just sucked. Yeah, some people say it's the skills, not the tools that make you a better craftsman, but I feel like I need the MFT/3 as it's another "tool" that will assist me to get the results I'm looking for. Am I wrong for thinking this way?
I learned A TON from my first adventure. Many of you will look at the photos and see the thing I made wasn't very impressive at the slightest, however, this whole thing stemmed from the fact that I wanted to learn and I used it as a learning experience, even though I spent almost $1000 in various tools, wood, etc (didn't even own a real drill previous to this, bought a Makita LXT 18v Li Ion). I am happy with the cabinet I made above because it's a perfect fit for what I wanted in there. The second I built one went together much nicer because I learned from all the previous mistakes, however, a couple areas could use improvement. The experience I gained was priceless.
Maybe it was the Makita saw that sucked? No...it was me. [sad]
So today, I bit the bullet and bought the MFT/3 in hopes that I can make more accurate cuts and also have a better surface to cut on rather than the foam on the floor of my garage. Hopefully I can finally cut that shelf and also the frame rails. I'm just a DIY guy, but I appreciate having nice tools that work well and are well made.
Long story short, like most people, I was [eek] when I saw the price of Festool but was [drooling] over it. However, Festool is similar to my Rupes LHR21es polisher that I use to detail cars. The Rupes was a $400 Dual Action polisher, but my first polisher, a Porter Cable DA polisher, was $120 bucks. The Rupes at more than 3x the price (Festool is kinda 3x the price of everything else on the market too...hmm), is a joy to use. It cuts paint fast to bring out the clarity and shine, it's buttery smooth to use and doesn't leave your arms numb after using it for 6 hours (actually, you don't really use it for 6 hours because it does the job 2x faster than the Porter Cable DA), and it's a joy to use of course.
Hopefully, I'll be able to improve my skills and gain more experience. Before years end, I want to get a Rotax 90 sander and CT MIDI. Then I'll splurge and get a Kapex next year. I have that cheap Ryboi chop saw (with a Diablo 60T blade, and it cuts nice because I just do straight cuts and 45 degree cuts) that I use right now to make canvas frames and the dust collection on it, like most miter saws, is non-existent. Having nice tools, even though expensive, just make using them and working with them so much more enjoyable.
Thanks for reading. Hope to learn more from you guys.
Long time reader, first time poster. Couple months ago, I got the itch to build something for my garage to organize things. It was my first venture to actually building something myself from scratch. I've fixed my cars, motorcycle, etc. All that is easy, but I've never built something from scratch.
I ended up buying a Makita SP6000 track saw (please, hold your tomatoes [crying] ) because it fit my budget a bit better, but went with the Festool 55" guide rail with drilling guide holes for the future. I compared left and right and read review after review and ended up with the Makita, which works extremely well! I haven't used the TS 55 REQ, but from my experience so far with the Makita, I'm liking it.
Originally, this is what I designed in Sketchup
However, this is what I ended up making...
No special joints at all, just end to face with pocket screws. Yes, I know I'm missing a shelf on the left, and also some frame frame rails at the top, will talk about that in a second.
Again, this was my very first time designing, cutting, and assembling something from a sheet of wood. I had numerous mistakes and also problems with making perfectly square cuts because I was cutting on the floor of my garage on a 1.5" thick styrofoam insulation.
I had numerous mistakes like the following
But some parts came out decently nice
After pretty much watching every review possible of the Festool MFT/3 and reading almost every thread about the MFT/3 here on FOG, I felt that buying the MFT/3 will help me get more accurate cuts as I was off by 1mm to 2mm on a lot of pieces and my working area just sucked. Yeah, some people say it's the skills, not the tools that make you a better craftsman, but I feel like I need the MFT/3 as it's another "tool" that will assist me to get the results I'm looking for. Am I wrong for thinking this way?
I learned A TON from my first adventure. Many of you will look at the photos and see the thing I made wasn't very impressive at the slightest, however, this whole thing stemmed from the fact that I wanted to learn and I used it as a learning experience, even though I spent almost $1000 in various tools, wood, etc (didn't even own a real drill previous to this, bought a Makita LXT 18v Li Ion). I am happy with the cabinet I made above because it's a perfect fit for what I wanted in there. The second I built one went together much nicer because I learned from all the previous mistakes, however, a couple areas could use improvement. The experience I gained was priceless.
Maybe it was the Makita saw that sucked? No...it was me. [sad]
So today, I bit the bullet and bought the MFT/3 in hopes that I can make more accurate cuts and also have a better surface to cut on rather than the foam on the floor of my garage. Hopefully I can finally cut that shelf and also the frame rails. I'm just a DIY guy, but I appreciate having nice tools that work well and are well made.
Long story short, like most people, I was [eek] when I saw the price of Festool but was [drooling] over it. However, Festool is similar to my Rupes LHR21es polisher that I use to detail cars. The Rupes was a $400 Dual Action polisher, but my first polisher, a Porter Cable DA polisher, was $120 bucks. The Rupes at more than 3x the price (Festool is kinda 3x the price of everything else on the market too...hmm), is a joy to use. It cuts paint fast to bring out the clarity and shine, it's buttery smooth to use and doesn't leave your arms numb after using it for 6 hours (actually, you don't really use it for 6 hours because it does the job 2x faster than the Porter Cable DA), and it's a joy to use of course.
Hopefully, I'll be able to improve my skills and gain more experience. Before years end, I want to get a Rotax 90 sander and CT MIDI. Then I'll splurge and get a Kapex next year. I have that cheap Ryboi chop saw (with a Diablo 60T blade, and it cuts nice because I just do straight cuts and 45 degree cuts) that I use right now to make canvas frames and the dust collection on it, like most miter saws, is non-existent. Having nice tools, even though expensive, just make using them and working with them so much more enjoyable.
Thanks for reading. Hope to learn more from you guys.
