Drinking the Koolaid New Festool Owner

[Craftsman71]

For several years I have been watching videos on Youtube of various folks using there Festool equipment and providing positive feedback.  I just found this forum and have been reading it for about a month now.  I truly see how much love y' all have for Festool tools and I have learned a great deal from y'all.

This past year I have built a few pieces of furniture and for the most part my Bosch tools have been working very well. However, the saw dust has been killing my nose for several years and causing me to rethink the investment into a dust collection system.  Now I have a small 19x18 garage that I use for my tool storage and wood working projects around the house, space has been limited as I pick up more tools, and my lovely wife will not allow me to build a woodworking shop in the back yard (that is for our labs) really Labs need more space than the guy who pays the mortgage!  So I sat down over the holidays (2 weeks vacation) and planned out what I consider a solid plan.

So on to the good stuff..... Last night after work when I got home I had the pleasure to open up a few boxes.  A brand new CT 36 HEPA and the Tradesman Tool Systainer.  I will be picking up the Boom Arm and Long Lasting Bag when I get my next allowance from my wife. 

One of the main reasons I decided to join the club was to keep the saw dust out of my nose and because that domino jointer is amazing.  Now it will not be my next tool purchase but I will have it in a month or two.

I do have few questions I was hoping the group my help me decide.

1. The TS 75 EQ is what I am thinking will be the next tool for my addiction.  I will eventually pick up the TS 55 EQ but right now I am designing and rebuilding my fence and will be using 2x6's for the project.  The TS 55 will cut through I know but I still would like to have the ability to cut into a thicker stock when needed. Is this the right choice?

2. The DS 700 XL will provide the level of dominos I will need for my fence job but the DS 500 will be better for my shop benches and cabinets I plan on building this year.  I think I will need some help from y'all on this one.  Again I will most likely pick up both but which one first?

3. Routers....  1010 for cutting holes with for cabinets .... 1400 for the 1/4 and 1/2 /8mm or should I just go for the 2020.  This is the hardest one for me please help!  [crying]

4.  Of course Sanders right now I believe my Bosch sanders will be okay and I believe they use the 27mm but towards the end of the year I plan on the RO 90 and the ETS 150 to start.. What are your thoughts?

Thanks again for all your help now and in the future as I run down this rabbit hole!

 

[mike_aa]

WELCOME to the FOG!

I'm only into Festool for about a year.  When I started researching, I read about Festool sanders and they seemed to be so much better in comparison to my Bosch and Makita sanders that were spewing out copious amounts of dust and didn't seem to be as useful.  My first purchase was the ETS 150 and a Midi.  I soon followed up with a used RO 150, and RTS 400.  The dust collection was so good, I could sand in our great room and virtually have no dust anywhere.  I found that I even used DC outside since it allowed me to see the work as I was sanding and kept the paper cooler making it last longer.

Many people start with purchasing a TS first and you may want to go that route, but I say take a good look at what the sanders have to offer.  Even if you keep the Bosch, you might be able to augment them with Festool.

Mike A.

 

[Gary in Texas]

First,  [welcome] to the FOG!

You've been reading here for a while, so you should have a good grasp on tools and what to get.

I would first offer you should get the tool(s) primarily in order of need.  No need to buy a tool and not use it, as opposed to buying one you can immediately put to work...

Ref #1: TS 75 will work great for this application.  If only cross cutting, I would think a miter saw would be more applicable.  For an outside fence, if you don't have a miter saw, there are many relatively cheap models that can do the job.  More long term, well, Kapex 10% sale was announced today..... 

#2: As above, buy the one you need now, pick up the other later.  You can always buy the larger domino, and pick up the Seneca adapter and smaller bit.  I prefer having both, and use the 500 a lot with the domiplate.

#3:  I have the 1010 and 1400, a good combo.  I do however have two custom made router tables that house larger routers.....non Festool.  The larger Festool router is more readily useable as a router table mounted router.  A little large for hand held routing, but others here might disagree on this....  The 1400, if you are only buying one router, is the best all around router to have....

#4: If you are concerned with dust, you should perhaps reconsider getting a couple of sanders now rather than later.  No comparison on dust collection between Festtol and Bosch sanders.

Good luck with you decisions, and your allowance!!!

Gary

 

[Staniam]

First off, welcome to the FOG. You're the first person I've seen to say "ya'll" so that's cool. But anyways, onto the good stuff...

In general I would say that if you are deciding between two different sizes of the same tool then you should probably get the larger as it will cover your bigger projects as well as your smaller ones (even if its not as comfortable at first). You can probably hold out long enough until you get the smaller version. Obviously this doesn't work for every tool type and really does depend on your average project size but in your case, trying to decide between which TS and Domino, in my opinion you'd be better off with the 75 and 700. I don't have a Domino (yet) so I can't speak to this tool and which size first hand but I can speak to the TS 55 REQ as I have that one.

In the short time I've had the 55 I've tried it out on as much different kinds of lumber and sheet goods as I could to see how I can use it and where it works best. I've used it to cut 2x material both on and off the track and I'm even working on a box jig to use it as a mini stationary miter saw. The point is it does great in my experience on 2x lumber and that's including cutting 3 year old 2x8 that have been sitting in my backyard exposed to the elements. Just make sure you get the right blade for what you're cutting.

As far as routers go it will does depend on your normal projects. There was a recent thread on which to get, the 1010 or the 1400 and here is the link...
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/1010-or-1400-router/msg209244/#msg209244
I'm also in the same boat as which router to purchase between the two. It seems that for my needs the 1010 will  cover everything coupled with my Bosch Colt plunge kit. Others will have to speak more to the routers though but it seems that a lot suggest the 1400 router if you're looking for a single all around router.

I recently purchased the RO 125 and love it. Its super powerful and fits great in my bigger than average but not huge hands. I made a thread myself about which sander to get and a lot of people say the 150 is the cream of the crop, which I don't doubt, I went with the 125 because it seemed like the perfect fit for me. I don't do use jobs or projects, mainly cabinet and furniture builds and the occasional handy man job. For me the 150 is simply too big and unnecessary. The good thing is that you plan on grabbing two of the RO's as opposed to me only wanting one and I will be grabbing the ETS 125 to pair with it. That being said in your case pairing the 150 and 90 seems to be an awesome coupling judging from what I've seen guys on here say. Best thing about those sanders (and most of the Festool units) is that there is virtually no dust to worry about.

 

[GPowers]

Get a bigger credit card and buy them all... [big grin]

 

[Craftsman71]

WELCOME to the FOG!

I'm only into Festool for about a year.  When I started researching, I read about Festool sanders and they seemed to be so much better in comparison to my Bosch and Makita sanders that were spewing out copious amounts of dust and didn't seem to be as useful.  My first purchase was the ETS 150 and a Midi.  I soon followed up with a used RO 150, and RTS 400.  The dust collection was so good, I could sand in our great room and virtually have no dust anywhere.  I found that I even used DC outside since it allowed me to see the work as I was sanding and kept the paper cooler making it last longer.

Many people start with purchasing a TS first and you may want to go that route, but I say take a good look at what the sanders have to offer.  Even if you keep the Bosch, you might be able to augment them with Festool.

Mike A.

Good point I may sell my two Bosch on Craigslist and pick up the 125 or 150 now.  Like guns I hate to sell tools but I think this is a pretty good trade-up based off the reviews I have seen on there sanders and DC combo.

 

[Staniam]

Just a side point, if you don't find any luck on Craigs list you can try out the Classifieds section on this forum. Great place to sell/buy/trade.

 

[Craftsman71]

First,  [welcome] to the FOG!

You've been reading here for a while, so you should have a good grasp on tools and what to get.

I would first offer you should get the tool(s) primarily in order of need.  No need to buy a tool and not use it, as opposed to buying one you can immediately put to work...

Ref #1: TS 75 will work great for this application.  If only cross cutting, I would think a miter saw would be more applicable.  For an outside fence, if you don't have a miter saw, there are many relatively cheap models that can do the job.  More long term, well, Kapex 10% sale was announced today..... 

#2: As above, buy the one you need now, pick up the other later.  You can always buy the larger domino, and pick up the Seneca adapter and smaller bit.  I prefer having both, and use the 500 a lot with the domiplate.

#3:  I have the 1010 and 1400, a good combo.  I do however have two custom made router tables that house larger routers.....non Festool.  The larger Festool router is more readily useable as a router table mounted router.  A little large for hand held routing, but others here might disagree on this....  The 1400, if you are only buying one router, is the best all around router to have....

#4: If you are concerned with dust, you should perhaps reconsider getting a couple of sanders now rather than later.  No comparison on dust collection between Festtol and Bosch sanders.

Good luck with you decisions, and your allowance!!!

Gary

Thanks for your feedback Gary!  I do have the Bosch GCM12SD and love it.  I don't think I will be picking up the Kapex for some time.... What I will be using the TS 75 for is to put the first edge on the 2x's and use my table saw for the opposite edge as I do not have a joiner.  I will then run them through the planner to square them all up.  Thanks for the router info, I too was thinking the 1010 and 1400 but wanted to see what others thought.  I also have the Bosch Colt but have not picked up the plunge kit for it yet.  I also have the Bosch Combo 1617 very good router but once again I am trying to keep the dust down so I will most likely convert this to a router table later on and pick up the Festool routers.

 

[Craftsman71]

Get a bigger credit card and buy them all... [big grin]

HAHA I told you my labs have a bigger space than I do... If I do that I may be living in my Jeep because I already got kicked out to the  garage (nothing wrong with that as long as I have beer and a few cigars)

A bit of background.  I put myself through collage with the help of my GI bill by doing interior finishing work for a friend of the family.  My grandfather (who mostly raised me) was a custom cabinet builder in Silsbee Texas so I learned the trade, or was forced to learn it growing up.  My grandfather was very picky on tools which I believe I somehow adopted and kept his equipment in very good condition.  He would quote "your tools is only as good as you treat them"  So about three years ago I converted all my porter cable tools which was just basic over to Bosch because I really liked the quality of them and realized I really missed working and creating stuff out of wood.  So I bought a lot of tools  [big grin] call it my midlife crises at 40.  Hey at least I did not buy a sports car!

 

[#Tee]

if youre planning to buy a tool return your dust extractor now and wait til you buy a tool with it for the discount. youre wasting a 10% discount if the vac is just sitting there with no tool since youre planning to buy a tool for sure soon.

 

[Craftsman71]

if youre planning to buy a tool return your dust extractor now and wait til you buy a tool with it for the discount. youre wasting a 10% discount if the vac is just sitting there with no tool since youre planning to buy a tool for sure soon.

UGGG I knew I should have waited I guess I got excited after the holidays.  I picked this from an online retailer so I would save on taxes.  Texas has an 8.25% sales tax and I pay too much in taxes as it is so I decided to use my reward points and pick it up online.  10% back is a good 75 bucks in savings.  I do not know how much a return shipping cost would be so I may have to suck this dumb move up and drive on.

 

[Gary in Texas]

HAHA I told you my labs have a bigger space than I do... If I do that I may be living in my Jeep because I already got kicked out to the  garage (nothing wrong with that as long as I have beer and a few cigars)

My grandfather was very picky on tools which I believe I somehow adopted and kept his equipment in very good condition.  He would quote "your tools is only as good as you treat them"  So about three years ago I converted all my porter cable tools which was just basic over to Bosch because I really liked the quality of them and realized I really missed working and creating stuff out of wood.  So I bought a lot of tools  [big grin] call it my midlife crises at 40.  Hey at least I did not buy a sports car!

And what's wrong with buying a sports car, mid life crisis or not????  [eek]

As a matter of fact, I recently decided to sale the Z4 and keep my Harley, figured no need to have both.... Got the Z4 detailed yesterday, ready to put it up for sale, the wife walked by it last evening and started boohooing.  Seems she fell in love with it the past few months driving it around!  It is quite fun zipping around in it, takes a lot of discipline for me to drive it like a normal, rational person would drive and not get a speeding ticket, again....

So I guess I will look into selling her car and handing her the keys to the Zed.......

EDIT> fixed quote box

 

[#Tee]

ya it kinda sucks to have the vac alone as your first festool cause its basically just a fancy vacuum at this point. theres a 30 day trial for festool but it sounds like a hassle at the moment to ship and return.

about the ts55 vs 75, is all up to your future builds. long as you know what stock size youll be working with so it varies with end user. i got the 55 myself and have no use for the heavier 75.

Anyways since you already have the vac with the expensive bag...might as well invest in the much needed dust separator by clearvue or oneida dust deputy. search yt on this topic as its a no brainer to have [big grin]

 

[Craftsman71]

HAHA I told you my labs have a bigger space than I do... If I do that I may be living in my Jeep because I already got kicked out to the  garage (nothing wrong with that as long as I have beer and a few cigars)

My grandfather was very picky on tools which I believe I somehow adopted and kept his equipment in very good condition.  He would quote "your tools is only as good as you treat them"  So about three years ago I converted all my porter cable tools which was just basic over to Bosch because I really liked the quality of them and realized I really missed working and creating stuff out of wood.  So I bought a lot of tools  [big grin] call it my midlife crises at 40.  Hey at least I did not buy a sports car!

And what's wrong with buying a sports car, mid life crisis or not????  [eek]

As a matter of fact, I recently decided to sale the Z4 and keep my Harley, figured no need to have both.... Got the Z4 detailed yesterday, ready to put it up for sale, the wife walked by it last evening and started boohooing.  Seems she fell in love with it the past few months driving it around!  It is quite fun zipping around in it, takes a lot of discipline for me to drive it like a normal, rational person would drive and not get a speeding ticket, again....

So I guess I will look into selling her car and handing her the keys to the Zed.......

Not meaning to offend anyone ... wish I had more toys haha...  I want to build a 55 chevy pickup one day but my wife likes her expensive car so it will be a want mostly likely.

Glad your giving her the car sounds like you may be able to keep both and gaining lots of points in the meantime (more toys right?)

EDIT> fixed quote box

 

[semenza]

Craftsman71,

  Welcome to the forum!  [smile] Glad you are finding it informative.

      Your planned process for the 2 x6 s ..... are those going to be construction lumber?  If so you may find that doesn't go well due to the twists and bows.

Seth

 

[GPowers]

Sports car and buying lots of tool, it's all good. Sadly it all started at 50... should have been earlier [embarassed]

 

[Craftsman71]

Craftsman71,

  Welcome to the forum!  [smile] Glad you are finding it informative.

      Your planned process for the 2 x6 s ..... are those going to be construction lumber?  If so you may find that doesn't go well due to the twists and bows.

Seth

Rough Cut Western Red Cedar from the big box store.  I hand pick each one and had really good luck on the first panel I built.  There is some knots but give the fence a nice look.  I do spend some time at the store hitting the knots and making sure they are not going to pop out.

 

[mike_aa]

if youre planning to buy a tool return your dust extractor now and wait til you buy a tool with it for the discount. youre wasting a 10% discount if the vac is just sitting there with no tool since youre planning to buy a tool for sure soon.

UGGG I knew I should have waited I guess I got excited after the holidays.  I picked this from an online retailer so I would save on taxes.  Texas has an 8.25% sales tax and I pay too much in taxes as it is so I decided to use my reward points and pick it up online.  10% back is a good 75 bucks in savings.  I do not know how much a return shipping cost would be so I may have to suck this dumb move up and drive on.

Craftsman71,
You might try to call the dealer where you bought your dust extractor first to see if there is a way to add a tool and still get the discount. 

I see you are in Texas.  If you are considering getting some sanders you might want to contact FOG member and dealer Tom Bellemare of Tool Home, based in Austin.  He is great at putting together small quantity assortments of sandpaper to get you started.  He is also very helpful and offers some great advice about paper selection.  Some sizes/papers are only available in larger quantity boxes.  Tom will split them up and make up a custom assortment saving you the expensive of buying multiple boxes of 50-100 sheets if you don't need that many.

Mike A.

 

[jbasen]

I bought my sports cars when I was young (1974 TVR, 1963 Lotus Super 7, 1961 1275S Mini Cooper) so I could move on to Festools for my mid life crisis  ;D

I'm also a homeowner and hobbyist, not a professional so I'm in the same boat trying to optimize my purchases as none of them are tax deductible business investments.

I also purchased the TS-75 when I needed to cut some butcher block counter tops as I wanted one saw that could do anything.  As I wasn't going to be using the saw all day/every day, the extra weight wasn't an issue for me.  My only issues are that there isn't a dust cover for the TS-75 and that the splinter guard doesn't function properly when cutting thinner stock.  I suggest looking at half-inch-shy's splinter guard modification.  Also, when you buy a saw, remember to ask for the "holey" rail so if you decide to get the LR-32 system in the future you are all set.

Similarly I own the Domino 700 XL and use the Seneca adapter with Seneca adapter plates for thinner stock. This combination works great for me. 

My one Festool router is a 1400.  I find this is a great router with plenty of power.  I also have an old porter cable router dedicated to my router table and a Dewalt DWP611 router for smaller work. 

I also have dust allergies and the Festool sanders are awesome.  My shop is on the second floor of my house in a bonus room over the garage.  Other than cutting sheet goods with the TS-75 in the garage all my other work takes place in my shop.  My wife never complains about the dust. 

Welcome to the FOG!

 

[Gary in Texas]

Sports car and buying lots of tool, it's all good. Sadly it all started at 50... should have been earlier [embarassed]

I had the sports cars (muscle) young also ('75 Trans Am, '76 442, '77 Vette) but with the kids out of school, just wanted something with pep and convertible and the Zed fit the bill....

Craftsman71, I will echo mike_aa's comment about Tom at Tool-Home.  I live in Texas, Tom is a great guy to deal with, and he can set up with a sand paper assortment for any size sander, in a systainer!!!  Although I have to pay taxes on my purchases, I prefer to deal with Tom; he is always available, courteous, will talk you through any decision, and outstanding customer service.  Best of all, I usually have my tools within two days, shipped by FedEx.  If you live close to Austin, Tom will demo the tools for you.  I'm not implying anything negative about the other fine dealers here on the FOG, I just prefer to deal with someone close, and getting my goodies in a timely fashion!!!

Gary