festool planer and the rustic head

[honeydoman]

was going to do a chunky ceder fireplace mantel and was thinking of using the planer with the rustic head on it.  of course I will have to buy the planer and the rustic head.

those of you who have it and have used it how is it to work with and which rustic head is the best for the look?

 

[bigbadpig]

Have the planer, but haven't tried that head.  personally, I think I'd rather use a #40 stanley scrub plane to create a rustic finish.  Seems to me it would be hard to make a consistently random pattern without either lots and lots of practice or patience..... too easy to ruin a piece.

 

[Mirko]

I have the planer, but not the head.
You would think that the thickness could be adjusted while you make passes over the work by way of the front handle, because it adjusts depth when its turned, like a motor bike throttle.
maybe you could rev the throttle a bit, and really tear $hit up... that pretty random.

Mirko

 

[johne]

Heres a link. The PDF is in german but it might give you an idea
http://www.festool.de/download/awb107.pdf

It says that if you use the "Hobelkopf HK 82 RW" it is important to set the depth to 0 since the head protrudes by 1.5mm.
When  using it it is important to put the planer on the wood lift it up etc, so do not plane by moving the planer in a straight line.

 

[chrisrosenb]

I have the planer, but not the head.
You would think that the thickness could be adjusted while you make passes over the work by way of the front handle, because it adjusts depth when its turned, like a motor bike throttle.
maybe you could rev the throttle a bit, and really tear $hit up... that pretty random.

Mirko

I have the planer & an undulating head. You cannot adjust the depth with the 3 accessory heads. The depth is set at 0 when using these heads. The blades extend to far past the head & will hit the front table if the table is raised. For me it took some practice to get a good patttern with the head. But it does a nice job.

 

[Anthony]

I have only tried them briefly and it wasn't that hard, but I was only playing. I could experiment a bit more and let you know what I discover. My problem though is I am not that familiar with what a real hand-hewn look is to know If I am simulating it that well. I've never owned or used an adze or similar you see.

 

[honeydoman]

thanks for the replys so far, they have been helpful.  I will be in Long Beach, CA thur and friday at the journal of light construction trade show, and festool will have a strong presence their and hopefully they will have one of the planers with the specials heads to put on them for demos, if not  I will make them pick one up thursday night and bring it back on Friday!

I will also keep you updated and will await some more responses.

 

[Dan Clark]

Kreg,

I have the planer.  It's a great planer.    I don't have the head, but...

About two years ago at a woodworking show, I asked the local Festool rep Reiner (I think that's his name) to demo the  HK82RW undulating  head for me.  He used it in a kind of swooping motion to gouge out the wood.  The demo only lasted about 15 seconds, but the results looked pretty good. 

Part of it depends on how much you'll use it and what's you'll use it for.  For lots of rough-hewn beams, it would probably be worth it.  For a single mantle, I'm not so sure.  I agree with David W, a nice scrub plane (Veritas?) would do a better job and give you more control.   

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

thanks for the replys so far, they have been helpful.  I will be in Long Beach, CA thur and friday at the journal of light construction trade show, and festool will have a strong presence their and hopefully they will have one of the planers with the specials heads to put on them for demos, if not  I will make them pick one up thursday night and bring it back on Friday!

I will also keep you updated and will await some more responses.

Kreg, ask for Allen Kensley at the show.  I had someone contact him to make sure that an HL 850 with rustic heads is present at the show.  Enjoy.

 

[Jerry Work]

Hi all,

I have experience with all three heads to achieve different kinds of results.  The two groove heads are great if you want an early 20th century beaded beam look.  For example, I used the wider of these heads on the posts when adding period authentic porches and a portico onto our building in Kerby.  The posts were made by ripping 3.5 x 15" glue lam beams into 3.5 x 7.5" posts.  The beams holding up the porches and portico are made from the full sized glue lams.  I wanted the posts to take on more of a "hand made" look than the glue lams alone would haver produced.  Aesthetically, they also needed to be visually lighter than just a 6 x 6 post.  The wider of the two groove heads produced the correct look for this project.  I did all the work by hand so the grooves would not be overly straight and would overlap in places.  The side guide really helped keep the edges in tact as the plane really wants to wander along the edge as it his hard and soft parts of these glue lams.  I did not do the beams as I thought that might be a bit much and they are more than 10' in the air.

For those of you who are near the Bay Area, my son is a contractor in Santa Cruz.  He recently did a renovation of a near downtown 1920s Spanish style home on a bluff near the old Mission Santa Cruz site.  In addition to the interior redo,  addition of new spaces, movement of windows and doors and some architectural updates, the owners also wanted a deck off of the second floor of the city view side with an outdoor entertainment space on a new patio below.  They wanted the new stuff to look old and mimic the post and beam structures on the remaining parts of the old Mission which is a short walk away.  My son used the undulating head on all the posts and beams.  While those new items cannot look exactly like the old Mission components, they certainly look more like they could have been part of the original house than something just erected from new materials.  He practiced a while on scrap to get the look he was after.  He found the process of moving and rocking the sole of the plane worked best on this project.

There does not appear to be any one "right" way to do this any more than there is a "right" way to do a skip trowel finish on dry wall.  Just keep trying different movements until you get the look you want.  BTW, the straight blade produces a nearly polished finish and is really useful for all kinds of finish work.  I like it on really hard woods like bloodwood as there is less tendency to tear than even with the Tersa head on my stationary J/P.

Hope this helps.

Jerry

 

[honeydoman]

shane, thank you,  spoke to allen yesterday at the show and he showed me the planer using the unde.... head and it worked great!

when I get back to North Carolina on the 27th I am going to buy the planer and the unde head.  it worked great on the ceder piece that we used for the sample.

I will post pictures in several weeks when the fire place mantel is done.

thanks for all your help

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Glad that you had the opportunity to see it first hand.  Good luck with your project!  Can't wait to see some photos when you're done

 

[Corwin]

Anyone have a pics of the results?  I'll be building new house and shop this summer and am looking for that rustic look.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Anyone have a pics of the results?  I'll be building new house and shop this summer and am looking for that rustic look.

Here's a stock photo showing the results. 

Others may have examples they can share of practical applications.

 

[Corwin]

Thanks is in order!   ;D

The one in the back is just what I am after.  And here I though I wouldn't be getting this little green machine.  Oh that slope...    

So, thank you for the pictures!  Let's see, how did that go?  'A picture will sell a thousand tools.'  No, that's not right.  But these pictures just sold me on one.

Corwin

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Thanks is in order!   ;D

The one in the back is just what I am after.  And here I though I wouldn't be getting this little green machine.  Oh that slope...    

So, thank you for the pictures!  Let's see, how did that go?  'A picture will sell a thousand tools.'  No, that's not right.  But these pictures just sold me on one.

Corwin

Glad to help, Corwin.  (And to give you a little nudge further down the slope)  ;D