Marvelous Cabinet Class in Henderson, NV 15-16 November '14

[ccarrolladams]

A million thanks to Festool USA, Steve Bace and Minnie Gleb for doing all the hard work facilitating and coordinating which made this experience so grand!

The goal of cabinet construction class is to learn the principles of building cabinets using Festools without the need for large fixed machines. It is far more important that those attending the class get answers to their questions than that the cabinets we are building be completed. During the class we are divided into teams of two.

For this class I was teamed with an experienced painting contractor who owns a Festool sander, wants to buy more Festools and who attended a Festools Essentials in Henderson last year. This worked out great for me because all my life I have avoided painting but I have decades of cabinet building experience and over 8 years using Festools.

As always Steve guided and coached each of us as we felt necessary.

Most of us were staying at Sunset Station which offers a discounted rate when Festool makes the reservations. I drove up to Henderson Tuesday morning because I needed to meet with a few clients that afternoon. Tuesday evening I had dinner with long-time friends at Sonoma Cellar Steak House within Sunset Station. It is very nice. I also had breakfast Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the coffee shop there. Thursday after class I had dinner at The Feast Buffet with my class partner who had to catch an airport shuttle at 7:30 P.M. That is one of the better hotel buffets in the Las Vegas area.

Steve picked us up at 7:30 A.M. in the new to me Festool van for the short drive to the Training Center, which also had been slightly re-arranged since my last previous class in May 2012. After class on Wednesday Steve took us to a fairly new restaurant close to Sunset Station. The wives of three class members joined us for dinner.

Each day Steve provided us with a light breakfast and a nice lunch, with non-alcoholic beverages to keep us well hydrated.

I sincerely encourage everyone to participate in Festool End User Training Classes at any available location. In the past Brian "The Sedge" Sedgeley from the Lebanon, IN Center has trained me. I have not met the Trainer from North Carolina but he has been doing this a long time and receives excellent reviews.

 

[webfarmer]

Agree that any class from Steve Bace is as good as it gets.  A true craftsman and a gifted, unselfish teacher who loves what he does.

If anyone gets the opportunity to attend, by all means go.  You will have a great experience.  [big grin]

Brett

 

[sancho57]

Carroll,

You must hold the record for taking end user classes. But ya know, i have already taken the cabinet class and I want to take it again, the same with the Essentials class.

As you know Steve begins each class with the average person only uses about 50% of a tools potential. Steve is right. Each class I take I learn new things and new approaches and with the tradesmen like yourself attending these classes Steve learns new approches from folks in the industry and passes them on to us.

Its a awesome opportunity to attend these classes. i look fwd to attending another one sometime in the future.

 

[ccarrolladams]

Jobworth,

Because I took the very first Solid Surface Fabrication Class in early 2011, for awhile I had attended every class available. However, recently new classes have been made available which I have not attended, such as Farm Table.

I have attended dealer demo days during which Steve Bace and Allen Kensley have shown how to build those tables. Furniture making is slightly outside my interest. Besides others really want that class. By the way, the Henderson Training Center now has many of the farm tables which are used beyond the lecture area. We used those while eating lunch.

My experience is that Steve Bace and Brian "The Sedge" Sedgeley learn as much, or more, from the non-professional woodworkers in classes. Everyone comes to class with a lifetime of experience.

Prior to 2011 End User Classes had 8 trainees, in 4 groups of 2. Back then Steve would fly to Lebanon to assist Brian and Brian would fly to Henderson to assist Steve. I consider myself very lucky to have had coaching from both Steve and Brian.

 

[rljatl]

I definitely want to take the cabinet making class.  Is the essentials class worthwhile if you already have and use several Festools? 

Even though I am within easy driving distance of the N.C. location, it might be fun to fly to Nevada for one of the classes.  ;D

 

[ccarrolladams]

I definitely want to take the cabinet making class.  Is the essentials class worthwhile if you already have and use several Festools? 

Even though I am within easy driving distance of the N.C. location, it might be fun to fly to Nevada for one of the classes.  ;D

I had attended other End User Classes and had own and used daily many Festools before I was able to take the "Essentials" class. That covered several tools I use all the time but which had not been covered by the other classes. Yes, I have learned a lot about using Festools more efficiently.

For sure I recommend that every Festool owner take the Essentials Class. As for flying to Las Vegas or class, that is a personal choice. Traditionally the hotel giving Festool a special deal has been Sunset Station, which has an impressive casino. This time Steve Bace told us they also have a good deal with a motel which does not have a casino because some Festool fans do not want to stay at a casino.

You might also enjoy taking a class at Festool USA HQ in Lebanon, IN where Brian "The Sedge" Sedgeley is the trainer. He is a hoot and a half and an excellent instructor.

 

[ccarrolladams]

To increase the benefits of this Cabinet Construction Class, when I got back to my shop in Burbank after driving from Henderson that morning, I put together, set up and calibrated a full MFT. I admit that although I own some MFT, I personally seldom use them. I did not want to forget what I learned in class.

Next I rough-cut some sustainable new-growth soft maple which would become the face frame of the base cabinet made during class. I left the rough-cut over night to release tension.

Sunday morning a few of the cabinet makers were working, so I was not alone. I ran the rough cut maple on a jointer and planer until it was straight and 18mm x 50mm. That I cut to length from the class instructions using a Kapex with manual stops, as we did in class. I dry fit the face frame using two joined MFT Basic, as we did it class. Satisfied with the fit I marked the pieces and Dominoed them as in class using 6mm x 40mm Dominoes. Then I glued the Dominoes and joints and put the face frame in cabinet makers clamps to dry.

After a light lunch I had one of the guys help me put a 4' x 8' sheet of 18mm shop-grade Birch plywood on two of the basic MFT. I used a parallel guide and 3000mm rail with a TS55R to rip the sheet.

In class I had measured the length of the upper cabinet sides using a trusted tape measure. Because those sides will be drilled for hinge and shelf pin holes, they must be an exact multiple of 32mm. The tape measure I used resulted in those sides being a tad long, so before I could drill them I needed to trim them.

This time I set up a 55" Holy rail with the end stops. I used a Woodpecker storey pole to fit between the stops on the Holy rail. I used that storey pole to set the stops on the MFT. It worked like a charm, the pieces were an exact LR32 fit!

Another thing I did differently than in class was that I used an OF1010 instead of a MFK700 to route the dadoes for the cabinet backs. I keep an OF1010 with the appropriate 6mm bit with an edge guide. I did use the MFK700 to trim the edge banding on the frameless upper cabinet. I laughed as I used an old steam iron to apply the banding because I was doing so next to our automatic edge banding machine. For a DIY, the iron works well, as will the new Festool Edge Banding machine.

For me the investment in an inexpensive sheet of plywood and some decent hardwood, plus a couple of handfuls of Dominoes was worth it, to reinforce the lessons during class.

 

[sancho57]

I definitely want to take the cabinet making class.  Is the essentials class worthwhile if you already have and use several Festools? 

Even though I am within easy driving distance of the N.C. location, it might be fun to fly to Nevada for one of the classes.  ;D

To answer your question about the  Essentials class.....

Oh Heck YEA its worth it!

I took it when it was thought of a basics class. Not expecting much,

It is far beyond basics. Beware, when you leave that class You will be buying more festools. Though I told Steve and my classmates through Dinner I saw no reason to buy a domino I didnt need one etc,(Dinner is at the end of the first day of class). By the end of the second day of class I was in love with the domino , when I got home I had one with in the week along with the systainer wit the dominos.

So be afraid, be very afraid.

I bet Steve tells that story in class. Carroll would know.

Hey Phill... Hint hint of the end user classes buddy :>D

 

[ccarrolladams]

Jobsworth,

The first Festool USA End User Classes started in 2009, but I could not fit one into my schedule until early 2010. That was in Henderson, but at a training center Steve Bace had built. It featured a cork floor. Later when Festool USA leased a former hardware and tool store on Gibson Avenue, Steve relocated his cork floor piece by piece. I was lucky enough to attend a Cabinet Class on a Monday and Tuesday then an Advance Router Class on Thursday and Friday of the same week late in 2010 in the current training center. That was the first End User Class there, but Steve had trained some dealers.

By the time I attended the class in early 2010 I had bought the first building for my current cabinet shop and was awaiting building permits to construct the modifications and install a whole new industrial 480v 3 ph service. By then I owned at leat one of most Festools.

The first time I ordered a Festool new to me was during the Solid Surface Class in February 2011. Steve let us try the pre-delivery RO 90DX. Before lunch that first day I stepped outside to phone Eagle Tool to pre-order 3 of those with accessory hard pads. Subsequently as the supply increased, I bought 4 more RO 90DX.

Later in 2011 I attended a demo day at In-Touch Tools in Palm Desert. The CSX had not been released. Business was way ahead of cash-flow projection at my shop. I decided to give each of my master cabinet makers their own CSX and the Installer Set. Of course I also ordered one each for me. I split those orders between Eagle Tool and In-Touch.

This time before we actually started building our cabinets, Steve let us handle the new Festool saw. It looks like great kit. The plunge feature is marvelous. I do own a Brand "F" Super Cut which I hardly ever use, mostly because I no longer do installation. However I have pre-ordered two of the Festool version, but I had done so when they were first announced, so I cannot blame the class for the influence.

 

[sancho57]

You're a stronger man then I am Carroll. [not worthy]

Every class I went to cost me a fortune, I always bout some Festools when I completed one. [censored] [censored]

 

[ccarrolladams]

Jobsworth,

I'm not stronger than anyone else.

By the time Festool started holding End User Classes I already owned at least one each of most Festools/

What did me in and dipped me in the Green Stuff were demo days, and smooth-talking dealers. In the end I have made good money using my Festools. I do not regret buying any Festool!

 

[sancho57]

Me either Carroll, I dont regret buying any of them. That is after I attended my first end user class which answered all the questions I had about them and solved the issues that were causing me grief  [big grin]

 

[davewho]

Hello Festool fans,
I just finished the Essentials class in Las Vegas last Friday, capably thought by Steve. Many ah-ha moments were had by all. All 6 of us were enthusiastic non-professional woodworkers. I'm scheduled for cabinets/doors/drawers in December. I suppose there will be some pros at that one.
I bought the gateway-drug-track-saw and some rails about 6 years ago to breakdown sheet goods. It's been all down hill from there.
Take the classes if you get the chance. Steve's teaching style is great.

 

[sancho57]

Good on ya Dave,

I wish they had end user training here. Ive been to a few of them in LV.

So tell me, how many festools did ya buy after ya got home from the class  [thumbs up]

 

[wow]

Hello Festool fans,
I just finished the Essentials class in Las Vegas last Friday, capably thought by Steve. Many ah-ha moments were had by all. All 6 of us were enthusiastic non-professional woodworkers. I'm scheduled for cabinets/doors/drawers in December. I suppose there will be some pros at that one.
I bought the gateway-drug-track-saw and some rails about 6 years ago to breakdown sheet goods. It's been all down hill from there.
Take the classes if you get the chance. Steve's teaching style is great.

AGREED!

I recently met Steve at a dealer demo day here at Acme Tools. Although time and exposure were limited, I quickly realized that he is an excellent instructor and I like his style. I told him (And Mrs WOW) that I would be out to attend a class the next time they were available and my schedule allowed for it.

 

[Phil Beckley]

Good on ya Dave,

I wish they had end user training here. Ive been to a few of them in LV.

So tell me, how many festools did ya buy after ya got home from the class  [thumbs up]

Hey Jobsworth....youre killing me with the hints [scared]

 

[sancho57]

Well Phil

You know it would be nice if ......................