I am working on a high end home remodel building a staircase that incorporates some cabinetry. The lead carpenter on the site is currently installing Ipe decking overhead on the balcony ceilings. He is an experienced craftsman and I have been very impressed with his work. He had to wrap a large beam about 8' long with Ipe and asked if I could joint some of the decking to get the required widths to make up a mitred box to slip around it on three sides.
No problem! I had my TS55 with 2700 rail and an assortment of shorter ones, a Domino, some 5X30 Sipo tenons, Gorilla glue and lots of clamps. I picked up a 28T universal blade and it ripped the 4/4 Ipe like butter. The edge was perfect and ready to join. Having seen Bob Marino's post on jointing with the TS55 ( I can't find it, so please add a link to this post if you can) I placed the two new straight edges together and placed the rail so that the kerf of the blade cut right down the center of the joint, taking a little off each board. If your blade isn't quite at 90 degrees it doesn't matter. What one side giveth the other takes away! The joints were perfection. You have to attach the board that isn't under the rail to your assembly table. I did this by screwing a block to the end of my table and using pocket screws on the block, I screwed up into the underside of the Ipe at one end.
It was fantastic to get such good results on the job site without a jointer or table saw. The craftsman I admire looked on and I could see the cogs turning. He had never seen Festool but like any experienced woodworker he immediately understood its utility. A long conversation ensued as I demonstrated the Domino and ended with me giving him my 2009 catalogue.
The next day, having read it overnight, he asked me to just build the box with my Festools. He now knew how the Dominoes would fortify and align the miter joint. The box had to have a slight taper to it to fit perfectly. Just 1/4" over eight feet, just mark and place the rail where you want to cut - Easy. I put a 5 degree bevel on the top edge to ensure a snug fit to the ceiling.
Precise, perfect, fast and with unique capability, the system added to my billable hours and my currency on the job site. Oh, and no dust!
Thanks to Bob Marino for showing us the jointing technique on this site and many others who have accelerated my learning curve on the Domino.
Note the sipo tenons revealed when the boards were cut to length and the 1' foam for doing all the cuts on top of the table.
