Expanding the Death Penalty for the VS 600

[DavidCBaker]

Whoever wrote that d@mn manual should pay. I think I've figured it out, after reading all the OTHER tutorials out there and wasting about 4,589 board feet. I would be in favor of expanding the death penalty for anyone who writes a manual like that. [big grin]

 

[harry_]

Wait. You mean you actually got _some_ instruction out of a Festool manual? Must have been a mistake. [poke] [popcorn]

 

[Sean7a]

Whoever wrote that d@mn manual should pay. I think I've figured it out, after reading all the OTHER tutorials out there and wasting about 4,589 board feet. I would be in favor of expanding the death penalty for anyone who writes a manual like that. [big grin]

You just made my day.  I know, personally, more than 12+ people that would whole heartedly agree with ya.

 

[greg mann]

Just in case you haven't got it all figured out yet you might go to [www.jerrywork.com] and check out his manual on the VS600.

 

[DavidCBaker]

I did, and that helped a bunch. I plan to document the setup a little bit more, too, to help the poor souls who try this some day.

 

[justinmcf]

hi david.

i am sorry to hear you are having trouble understanding the festool manual for the dovetail jig.

2 years ago when i was looking to purchase a dovetail jig, i came very close to buying the festool jig.
but, i realised that the learning curve would be quite steep and i would need all the help that i could get from the manual.
having bought a few festools over the last 10 years, experience has taught me that the manuals are useless.
that was the main reason why i decided not to buy the festool jig.

i decided to buy the leigh d4r jig because not only is the manual fantastic but you also get a dvd which explains the set up process too.

dont get me wrong, i love my festools, but this is one part of their business that they fail miserably at.

justin.

 

[DavidCBaker]

I agree with you. Some of the tutorials on this board are very better than the manuals. And what would it take? Just one gifted writer/photographer to do a bang-up job and match the high quality of the tools!

 

[Hoover]

Festool should simply look at some of the best posters here and on other boards and have them write something then use a professional writer to organize it and put the final version together.  They don't have good manuals because they do not try to correct the issue.

I was going to buy a leigh jig anyway, I liked the leigh better, so the festool wasn't even considered.  But like another said, their manual is excellent and the video is a step by step guide to each type of dovetail and how to make adjustments for fit, etc.

 

[DavidCBaker]

For any of you interested, I just posted a write-up of the project with the VS 600, complete with 20+ pictures:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/first-attempt-at-dovetailing/

 

[RONWEN]

If you add a Leigh jig to your shop you will find day & night difference.  Of course then you will start cutting your dovetails by hand...  [smile]

 

[DavidCBaker]

That sounds very time consuming. It's already taking me long enough!

 

[gsgaloot]

I am a new Festool user.  I have found that most of the "instruction manuals" are not well done.  I just found out about the Festool VS 600 and until I found this thread, was thinking about a purchase.  Perhaps the crew at Festool has updated the instructions?

 

[Jerry Sitton]

I love my Festools as well but I couldn't bring myself to the 600, if I understood could do single pass half blind. I know, I'm lazy.  For variable half blind and through dovetails the D4R is really nice. I've got the newest version that supports single pass half blind and it's ok, but the  PC Omnijig is way better for single pass half blind. I wish I hadn't sold that thing. both of these are pretty easy to learn. One nice thing about Leigh is the videos they have on their website.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

From what I was told, how I understand it is, if you are going out and spending this kind of money on tools, they figure we already know how to use them.

I see the reasoning in some of that but, sometimes less is not always more.

 

[peter halle]

I am a new Festool user.  I have found that most of the "instruction manuals" are not well done.  I just found out about the Festool VS 600 and until I found this thread, was thinking about a purchase.  Perhaps the crew at Festool has updated the instructions?

Hey GSG...

From a Richmond (VA) guy to another,  [welcome] to the FOG.  Many have offered their opinions about the manuals here.  We are lucky on this side of the Atlantic to have detailed supplemental manuals for some tools and accessories - but not all.  Maybe someone will find a link for you!

 

[Corwin]

I am a new Festool user.  I have found that most of the "instruction manuals" are not well done.  I just found out about the Festool VS 600 and until I found this thread, was thinking about a purchase.  Perhaps the crew at Festool has updated the instructions?

You will find links to the supplemental manual written by Jerry Work along with a review and some videos in the Consolidated List of Festool Links thread -- scroll down to the end of the Routing section.  

 

[NVA_WW]

I agree with the others regarding Leigh.  They are the poster child of manual writers.  They are awesome.

I was reading the manual for the T15 and I even caught a couple of misspellings.