Festool on the job and at home demonstration

[mopowers]

Here is my entry into the demonstration contest. I am a professional carpenter, i generally build one house a year. The rest of the year is spent on smaller jobs doing just about everything a carpenter would be asked to do. My current project is a new home.  I was excited to demonstrate my technique for using the TS 75, MFT and a home made jig to fit treads and risers.  Unfortunately the timing is not going to work out. We will not be finishing the interior before Dec 7th. So instead i will detail my typical arsenal i keep in the work van, when the festool first comes out on the job and a small home project plus a related past project. I am busy with lots of work and a new dad so there is not a lot of time for me to play on the FOG. Expect a whirl wind demonstration, Here we go.

I recently "upgraded" from a Chevy Silverado truck to a Chevy Express van. I was definitely inspired by all the European FOG members and pictures of their work vans. I am extremely happy with the transition, a van is much more functional for what i do. These are the Festools i typically keep in the van at all times. Most tools that are not Festool are still kept in systainers.  

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TS 75, Trion and RO90
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Hand tools
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More hand tools
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Just thought i would show off these Starrett stair gauges. These things are far superior to your standard gauge. Hard to find but way worth it.  
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The Festool reserve back at home. OF 1400, RO150, LR 32, Domino, LS 130
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This is the point when the Festool first comes out on the job. The TS 75 is set up to rip AC ply for soffit and the Kapex to cut the trim.
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Even the Kapex has its day in the rain.
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Unfortunately this is all i have to show off so far for this particular job. I will move on to my next post detailing projects with the Domino.  

 

[mopowers]

Here is a project i did on Thanksgiving day. This is a harp my mother-in-law made many years ago. Apparently she dropped it and broke the neck off. She brought it over and asked me to fix it. It was a great excuse to work in the shop rather than help with dinner and cleanup.

Harp made by my mother-in-law
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First step is to clean up the breaks. Due to the size and shape there was no good way to support this piece on the Kapex. Easy solution with the Festool system, just roll the Kapex up to the MFT. With the UG stand the Kapex and MFT are identical work heights.
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This end would be very difficult to cut with the Kapex. A few swipes with the block plane cleaned up the break nicely.
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I added tape to each piece to draw my reference lines for the Domino.
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This piece was fairly easy to mortice with the Domino.
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The body was much more difficult to mortice. Due to the body having no flat edges to reference the Domino fence on i pretty much had to do it by eye. I did place some shims under the fence to help level and support the Domino.  
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The Big Glue up. I chose epoxy to glue this together. I dont have a lot of experience with epoxy but it seemed like a good way to go due to the leverage of the neck on the body.
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This project is a Kitchen island extension i did about a year ago. The client is a furniture dealer and had access to a large amount of cherry. We decided to make the whole thing out of solid cherry with no plywood and no fastners. This is the job i bought the Domino for and my first Domino project.

This is a photo of all the pieces being morticed with the domino along their edge to glue up  the panels. The Domino is absolutely amazing for this task. The dominos are not needed for strength but align the boards perfectly on the same plain, hardly any sanding when they come out of the clamps.
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Skipping ahead several steps here are the panels ready for assembly. This was also my first project to use the LR 32 system. The sapwood is oriented toward the inside of the cabinet.
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Here is the face frame after being test fit to the cabinet.
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Cabinet ready for the face frame.
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Glue up of face frame to cabinet.
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Install
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Finished cabinet installed. Next step was to add a soap stone top. I cant seem to find any pics of it completely finished. I was very happy with how it came out. The Domino has forever changed my cabinet construction.
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