Long past time I said "THANKS!!"

[bhendrix]

I just realized that it has been almost a year since I joined the FOG and began learning from all you woodworking wizards; and way past time to say thank you.

So,

THANK YOU!!!!

I have enjoyed tools and woodworking for many years, having worked with my Dad and Grandfather on house projects and remodeling.  Until a few months ago, my tools consisted of Porter Cable, Bosch, and Delta.  Having discovered Festool, learning from all y'all (that's plural), and receiving the green blood transfusion, I have given all my other power tools to my son.  I just did a big kitchen remodel with new cabinets and accomplished things that I never could have done without Festool.  My son now thinks he got a bad deal with all the Porter Cable and Bosch.  Hey, you get what you pay for . . .

The Bosch 5412L on gravity-rise stand was replaced with the Kapex on MFT/kapex with extension sets and all the accessories.  What an improvement over the 5412!!

The PC and Bosch Sanders were replaced with RO150, ETS150/3, and RTS400.  Again, what an improvement.  Festool is smoother and no dust.  Even with the PC vac there was some dust with the PC and Bosch sanders.

PC Biscuit cutter was replaced with Domino.  At first, I didn't think I would use the Domino very much, but I was reaching for it every time I turned around on the kitchen cabinet build.

The Delta table saw and PC 743 circular saw were replaced with the TS75 and a bunch of rails and guide.  In the past, the table saw was the center of the workshop.  Now it was the TS75.

The PC routers sat on the shelf while the OF1400 and MFK 700 did all the routing . . .with minimal dust!  What a treat!!

The PC and Bosch jig saws were replaced by the PSB 300.  The Bosch is good.  The PSB 300 is much better . . . . plus . . . . no dust.

All of this work was done with these tools and two of my new favorites - two MFTs and two CT22s.  I connected a Dust Deputy to the CT22 and captured all the sawdust in a bucket instead of the 22.

I have 5 Sysports to store and protect all these new instruments.  The tools are now much easier to access and move around the work area with the Sysports.

FESTOOL has brought a new level of satisfaction to my woodworking experience.  Many thanks to all of you who have faithfully shared your experiences, pictures and videos.  I'm certain there are many others, like me, who are reading the posts, learning, and beginning their journey to the best tools.

 

[nclemmons]

Bill -

First welcome to the FOG and thanks for posting.  You're most welcome here including sharing projects with all your Festools.

With five sysports, you definitely have the bug.

Hope you have a great new year, and can share some of your work and tips.

neil

 

[peter halle]

Bill,

I'll second Neil's welcome.  With a year's worth of experiences you have got to have some stories and tips.  I hope you'll share.

Peter

 

[Frank Pellow]

Bill, welcome to the ranks of folks who have posted to the Festool Owners Group.  I hope that you will make it a habit.  With all your recently acquired Festool tools, you probably have a lot of experiences to share with us.

 

[bhendrix]

Thanks, Neil, Peter and Frank.

The most recent tip I can share relates to Sysports.  Buy them.  They are great.

I carefully organized my Sysports putting the tool systainers in the same port with the related supplies systainers.  Bad decision.  You can't have two systainers open at the same time in one port.

Today, I am rearranging the ports so I have the tools systainer in one port and their corresponding supplies systainers in the adjacent port.

Tool Port      -   Supplies Port

Domino Sys   -  dominoes and cutters sys

Sanders sys  -  sandpaper sys

Routers sys  -  router bits sys and LR32 sys

etc.

 

[peter halle]

Bill,

Cabinet building is always one of those projects that comes up when people talk about can Festool replace a table saw or...  What tools did you use in your project?

Peter

 

[Frank Pellow]

Bill, I agree that the sysports are great.  I did buy one and I use it. 

But, they are also very expensive.  So, I made another one with the same dimensions as the one from Festool for about on quarter of the cost.  It's great too.

 

[bhendrix]

Peter, I used every Festool I own, which is everything except the cordless drills and planers.  (There were several times I was wishing for an offset chuck.)

The TS75 with a 2700 guide rail and parallel guide set were used to breakdown plywood sheets for cabinets.  CT22 with a 36mm hose was used for dust extraction.  (The 36mm hose on the TS75 worked much better than the 27mm hose.  Same on Kapex.)

The MFT/3 was used to cut plywood panels to length.  MFT Basic served as support table.

PSB300 with guide rail was used to cut toe kicks in bulkheads with perfect cuts.  No splinter with zero clearance inserts.

Face frame stiles and rails were ripped with SawStop, thickness-planed with DeWalt lunchbox planer, jointed with a PC 7518 router mounted under a Bench Dog cast iron table with BD fence attached to the table of the SawStop, cut to length with Kapex, assembled with Kreg pocket screws, attached to cabinets with dominoes, and sanded with ETS150/3 and RTS400.

Cabinet shelf holes were drilled with OF1400 and LF32 thanks to new video from Festool.

Doors and drawers were made by a friend with a cabinet shop who owed me some money.

I also used my Cadex 23g pinner and Nikle 18g finish nailer here and there with air supplied by a Thomas T-635HD dandy little compressor.

Fein MultiMaster was used to cut through rim joist and siding to install exhaust fan duct.

ETC . . . .

My next quest is a HEPA cyclone dust collector to replace my Delta with the 1 micron bag.