Is it sacrilegious to use Festool for construction work?

[Dan Clark]

..."Happiness is just packing your tools up in Systainers at the end of the day and not spending an hour cleaning up sawdust and shavings out of stud cavities and berber carpet at the end of each working day".  ;D

Not to mention your back left molar!

Dan.

 

[Bluenose]

OK, it appears that the Bosch 18 volt cordless circular saw just wasn't up to the task of finishing the new shop. So I felt compelled to break out the TS 55. Oh my god! Just how did they get the pyramids built without these tools? I felt like I was using power tools for the first time. This sloop isn't slippery, it's vertical.

 

[Per Swenson]

Hi all,

I keep all my Festools polished to a high gloss, displayed on the shelf

just below a darling little Matisse I couldn't resist at Sotheby's.

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Per

 

[wotan]

The last three days I have been using my ETS 125 EQ with 36 grit Saphir to sand and scuff 30 year old paint on a interior poured cement basement ceiling, mostly just feathering the cracked and chipped edges. My CT22 has been doing a great job sucking up all that lead dust and yes I am wearing an Lead approved NOSH respirator, goggles and the whole kit. It's bloody hot but it works great.  Festool is up for the challenge!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I couldn't help to chime in here. Very interesting question!

It looks like Festool has a different image here in the US than it has in Europe.

........

Christian

It is amazing how these things differ Christian!  Like many other Americans, the first time I went to Europe and saw Mercedes and Volvo garbage trucks my jaw fell open.

And Merrcedes-Benz cars as the most common taxiis and BMW cars and motorcylces for police use.

Dave R.

 

[micke]

Hi (first time post from a long time lurker 8))

To my experience the Festools are doing a great job when it comes to construction
work with maybe one exception - Dry wall!

I've been taking down walls using my TRION equipped with a l-o-n-g blade and it
works perfectly nice BUT connecting my CT Mini make this poor vacuum cleaner to
completely choke due to the dust from drywall. The, otherwise so helpful, suction
device quite rapidly looses its ability to suck efficiently despite that the the dust
container bag is not even filled to one third.

The plaster dust seems to clog the micro filter structure of the dust collection bag
and hence render it useless.

So anyone experienced the same thing  (or similar)
or rather - any good tips what to do about it ???

(The two immediate solutions that comes to my mind is maybe to use any of these
tornado magic devices to pre filter out the micro dust OR
simply stop using this poor hoover for collecting plaster dust!)

So to sum up - when it comes to drywall dust the CT does really suck! ...or not... ;D

/M

 

[Per Swenson]

Hi and welcome,

All the vacs clog quickly due to the efficiency of the filters.

I do one of two things.

Connect to a shop Vac with one of thos 30 dollar filters you can bang against a dumpster,

or when applicable work in the clouds sans vac.

Per

 

[Eli]

Connect to a shop Vac with one of those 30 dollar filters you can bang against a dumpster

If you have two you can vac off the one you switch out!

 

[Per Swenson]

Eli,

You are talking to a guy with 5 shop vacs and 2 ct 22's.

There was a time and these aren't them, I would complain

about not having 3 jobs going.

Today I am grateful to rake the neighbors lawn. ;D

Per

 

[Tinker]

Hey Per,
I make a pretty good bunch of $$$'s raking neighbors' lawns.  of course the rake i am using is a big vac with a 29 hp engine.  It cuts the grass, chops the leaves, produces a ton of vacuum and a whole lot of noise, >>>>> AAANNNNDD >>>>> I ride on it.  oh, such a lot of fun and that fun does support my Festool habit very nicely, thankyou ;D ;D ;D
Tinker

 

[Steveo48]

    I was wondering how many Festooligans were in the field.  For the last year I've been working in comercial, a Walmart of all places.  Nobody on my site has seen such an array of tools.  I know that if I did not have Festool my job would be much more difficult.   Chris

Thats probably the closest a Festool ever gets to a WalMart!

I guess for rough sloppy work I'd reach for my older (cheaper) tools. Not that the Festools can't do the work, but you wouldn't use the Cadillac Escalade to pull a mule out of a mud hole, would you? 

Hey Fred, I miss the shiner!  Did we ever get a story on that?

Steve

 

[Toolpig]

Festools are bomb-proof and designed with job sites in mind.  Go nuts!

TP

I just got my new TS 55 & CT 22 from Bob and they are sitting in the living room until I can enclose my shop. My building job today is cutting & hanging 1/4 inch plywood. Is it wrong to think of using the new stuff?

It "almost" seems to nice too slog through construction grade plywood. Bill

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hey Fred, I miss the shiner!  Did we ever get a story on that?

Steve

Steve the story on the  shiner, he got it from his wife when she found out he pre ordered all of the new tools. Fred you're going to have to get another shiner and pose with it in the Junkie Tee for the next avatar.

 

[Fred West]

Steveo48, I received that shiner during a hockey game where I took a puck in the eye. two blow out fractures of the suborbital, nose broken in two places and bones jammed into the maxillary sinus cavity. Back on the ice and playing in three weeks. ;D 8)

Brice, I am always upfront with my wives and tell them exactly what I am getting and then show them the door if they object.  : 8) Okay maybe not, actually between wives right now and though gf lives with me she has no say n my finances. ;D Fred

 

[Texastutt]

I just got my new TS 55 & CT 22 from Bob and they are sitting in the living room until I can enclose my shop. My building job today is cutting & hanging 1/4 inch plywood. Is it wrong to think of using the new stuff?

It "almost" seems to nice too slog through construction grade plywood. Bill

beat the heck out of them, they will last... my DeWhat? sits in the trailer... I have bought several blades for my TS55 and use it all the time... 100 year old flooring with nails, Soffit, and cabinets... make them earn their keep... mine has a mark from a steel beam falling on it.

 

[Texastutt]

....... Now I'm looking for a shirt that says something like "Happiness is just packing your tools up in Systainers at the end of the day  ;D

Timmy C. Are you listening??

I want one too.  ;D

 

[nickao]

Timmy I will put  the shirt with the rest of my collection from you! And I will actually pay for it this time!

Nickao

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Hey Everyone,
I meant to reply to this thread way earlier...

Not only is it not sacrilegious, but in my case it's become a necessity to use Festool tools for construction work!

There was a time when I used my Festool tools about 80% for furniture building and 20% construction work.  But I own an old house in need of many repairs.  Over the past couple of years my woodworking has shifted to about 80% home improvement and 20% furniture building.  I've used my Festool tools for every project.  I've documented some of these in the "Tool Reviews" section, and some of them I still need to photograph and post.

But here's a quick summary of some of the most recent jobs, and the Festool tool(s) I used:

• Removing old paint from the windowsills and trim (RAS 115)
• Refinishing fir flooring (Rotex RO 150, Delta DX 93)
• Converting back porch into a kitchen extension: building/installing a cabinet, floor-to-ceiling shelves, new walls, and large exterior window; re-building framing for exterior door and installing a new door (TS 55, ETS 150/5, TDK 15.6 Drill)
• Constructing columns for front porch (TS 55)
• Building a new kitchen peninsula and butcher-block counter top (TS 55, Rotex RO 150, ETS 150/5)
• Rebuilding bathroom vanity (TS 55, Trion Jig Saw, Rotex RO 150, ETS 150/5)
• Extending bedroom closet with new shelving (TS 55, TDK 15.6 Drill)

In all of the above projects, I used various Guide Rails (up to 8' in length), a CT 22 Dust Extractor, and an MFT 1080.

Oh, and I was often wearing a Festool T-shirt!

Matthew

 

[James Watriss]

I think part of this is the new "fancy" tool mentality. Problem is, fancy tools should work better, and not need to be babied. Good tools work hard. Maybe we're just not as used to good tools over here, having had to choose between cheap and cheaper for so long.

I still remember buying Lie-Nielsen chisels, and feeling initially bad about pounding them into the wood.

Duh, it's a chisel. That's what it's for, and you buy a better one because it will hold up a lot better to the pounding. You pay more for better steel because it will take a good edge, and hold up while it's being hammered into the work. Yes, it's fancy... meaning more expensive. Fancy in the tool world means (among other things) a lot harder working. But the non-intuitive argument is that because I paid more for that chisel, I really had to pound it into the wood, more often, and harder... that's the only justification for buying the damned thing. Otherwise, you're paying for a feature that you'll never use.

If by construction work, you mean thoughtfully going about the process of cutting wood and building something, it's sacrilege to pay a lot of money for a good tool that you don't think you're actually supposed to use.

If by construction work, you mean going out, having a few beers, and chucking the tool off the ladder when you're done using it, and trying to bring it back to Home depot at the end of the week to explain how it's defective because it's not working anymore, well, yeah. That's sacrilege. 

 

[jonny round boy]

I used my Kapex the other day to do some decking - no problem, except the timber had been left outside, uncovered, and it had been raining for a good few hours. The timber was wet through!

Felt awful about using the saw on it, but I just had to get it done...