Need Help with First Festool Purchase

Edward A Reno III said:
Good question.  I use my Festool routers just as much as my Domino, so it would be a difficult choice.  One part of me says the Domino, since there is really nothing else like it on the market.  There are some cost effective dowelers starting to come to the market in the US, like the Triton, but never having used one, I can't say how it compares to the Domino:
http://bistritontools.com/tdj600-tr...E4WZ0b4GibABLmiRPpeyGBA3J6LzKFvJB4aAoC38P8HAQ

For the router, there are just as good if not better brands for building out your routing capabilities.  You will definitely want a router table at some point, in which case you would go for a heavy duty model like a PC 3.5HP motor, or, what is my choice given its above the table adjustment capabilities, the Triton 3.25HP TRA001.  The OF2200 is an amazing router, but it only works as a table router in the CMS (unless you want to get into building your lift mechanism, which I assume you do not), and in the United States, one is not allowed to actually use it in the table (not that you can't, but should something go wrong you've voided the warranty by doing so, plus, the CMS is priced at what they charge for a kidney in Iran these days).

You will want a decent powered hand-held router as well, but you may be able to get by for the moment with a relatively inexpensive trim or compact router.  You will just have to live with crappy dust collection.

Thanks for your reply.  One thing that is at the top of my list is Dust extraction.  This is because I have allergies and would like to keep dust to a minimum.  So any selections I make will have that in mind.

In terms of router tables, when are the times when one would prefer using a router mounted to a table vs hand held?

Thanks
 
All sorts of reasons. Sometimes the bit is so large (like a door panel bit) that it can only be safely used in a table. Or when your routing a narrow piece that you can't really balance a router on hand held. Or if you're batching out items so you can just turn on and go, not having to make any changes to the fence or depth in between cuts. Or when you're using a paired set to do something like rail and stiles, which require a fixed ratio between the bit heights.

Since you are getting the mft you will probably want one of the Festool routers, or at the very least rig up an accessory that would allow you to use another router on the guide rail. Rail guided routing allows you to do a lot of operations that can be a challenge on the table or hand held such as stopped dadoes.

EDIT: Almost forgot -- for pattern/template routing the table is also a must.

And finally, a brilliant place for shop cats to hang out in.
 

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Edward A Reno III said:
Since you are getting the mft you will probably want one of the Festool routers, or at the very least rig up an accessory that would allow you to use another router on the guide rail. Rail guided routing allows you to do a lot of operations that can be a challenge on the table or hand held such as stopped dadoes.

Prior to my Festool plunge, I bought a DeWalt 618 router package on sale. It has the fixed and plunge bases. Then I found a Freud router table on CL and it came with a Freud router. Someone was selling off tools of his Dad who had passed away a year or two before. I have the Freud router permanently mounted in the table. I bought the DeWalt, thinking that I could use it in a table and a salesman told me that the OF 1400 wasn't good for tables.

Then I took the plunge and bought the MFT and have been wondering how much value there would be to getting the OF 1400. Would I get that much more versatility from the OF 1400 versus the DW 618, or should I stick with what I have?

I am just a hobbyist, still stuck making mostly plywood cabinets and such, but hope to move on to more. First I need to build more cabinets for the garage and to put stuff on or in, in my small basement shop.
 
[member=49497]oakhilltop[/member] I suppose it depends on how much routing you do and what your applications will be.  Can't comment on the Dewalt since I've never used one.  It's wattage rates it as slightly more powerful than the OF1400.  The OF1400, however,like the other Festool routers, has electronic speed control over the motor that helps deliver constant speed under load, so that the cuts come out really smooth even when you're hogging out materialt.  What makes it exceptionally brilliant IMHO is the dust collection.  You can use the router indoors and not worry about spewing dust all over the place. 

It is not a cheap machine, though.  Once you factor in all the accessories, like the edge guide and guide stop, you're looking at $700 at a minimum.

You might want to check to see if the guide rail adapter for the Dewalt router/rails works on the Festool guide rails.  That way you could test out rail guided routing on the MFT before splurging on a Festool router.

oakhilltop said:
Edward A Reno III said:
Since you are getting the mft you will probably want one of the Festool routers, or at the very least rig up an accessory that would allow you to use another router on the guide rail. Rail guided routing allows you to do a lot of operations that can be a challenge on the table or hand held such as stopped dadoes.

Prior to my Festool plunge, I bought a DeWalt 618 router package on sale. It has the fixed and plunge bases. Then I found a Freud router table on CL and it came with a Freud router. Someone was selling off tools of his Dad who had passed away a year or two before. I have the Freud router permanently mounted in the table. I bought the DeWalt, thinking that I could use it in a table and a salesman told me that the OF 1400 wasn't good for tables.

Then I took the plunge and bought the MFT and have been wondering how much value there would be to getting the OF 1400. Would I get that much more versatility from the OF 1400 versus the DW 618, or should I stick with what I have?

I am just a hobbyist, still stuck making mostly plywood cabinets and such, but hope to move on to more. First I need to build more cabinets for the garage and to put stuff on or in, in my small basement shop.
 
Well, I just returned from taking the "Festool Essentials" class which is taught by Festool employees/trainers.  We learned how to operate many different Festool tools.  It was a great class and I plan to take another Festool class when one is offered that works with my schedule.  I also decided that I am going to proceed with purchasing the Domino machine.  That will be very useful for the projects I have planned.

The other thing that came to mind is I am considering swapping out my EC125 sander for an EC150 (I haven't used it yet.)  It seems that the extra surface area will speed up sanding.  However I wanted to ask others here who use the 150 if you have any problems sanding smaller items like face frames or small furniture pieces with the 150?  Meaning, will I eventually want both a 5" and a 6" sander?  If so then I will just keep the 125 and decide later on a larger sander.  I am planning to make some cabinetry, front porch bench and small furniture pieces.  Maybe also a jewelry box.

Thanks!
 
I can't offer my opinion on the EC 150 but with my ETS 150 I use the hard pad to sand face frames and narrower work with no issues.  If you look at the equations of the rectangle versus the circle you actually have a larger footprint of the pad on the work with the larger pad.  I am basing this on area versus percentages of the circular pad.

Where percentage of the pad comes into play is with dust collection.  The higher the percentage of the pad on the work the better the dust extraction.

Peter
 
It's great that you have that resource.  I think that's a good call on the Domino -- it will allow you to start doing complex joinery right off the bat.

As far as the 150 vs. 125 goes -- I've never owned a 125 sander, but I do have the 150s.  I think you end up gaining more than you lose by going with the 150.  It's only an inch more in pad diameter, but that actually translates to almost 50% more surface area (19.6" vs. 28.3").  The ETS-EC 150/5 is a very rapid sander, and is my go to machine.  Although I have other sanders for narrow stock/face frames (the RTS400), in a pinch I would feel comfortable sanding things as narrow as 2" with the ETS-EC 150/5.  But the ETS-EC is balanced enough that you could run it on narrower stock if you're careful.

But your thinking is probably correct, that eventually you will have multiple sanders, so it's best to think strategically about which ones cover most bases.  In this respect you could eventually pair it with something like the RTS400 or DTS400 for narrow stock, board edges and corners (the RO90 will also work for the corners, and would give you a powerful Rotex sander to boot).  The advantage of the orbital sanders over the RO ones is that the lack of pad rotation means there's less off a chance of rounding over the edges of your work. 

Patrick Cox said:
Well, I just returned from taking the "Festool Essentials" class which is taught by Festool employees/trainers.  We learned how to operate many different Festool tools.  It was a great class and I plan to take another Festool class when one is offered that works with my schedule.  I also decided that I am going to proceed with purchasing the Domino machine.  That will be very useful for the projects I have planned.

The other thing that came to mind is I am considering swapping out my EC125 sander for an EC150 (I haven't used it yet.)  It seems that the extra surface area will speed up sanding.  However I wanted to ask others here who use the 150 if you have any problems sanding smaller items like face frames or small furniture pieces with the 150?  Meaning, will I eventually want both a 5" and a 6" sander?  If so then I will just keep the 125 and decide later on a larger sander.  I am planning to make some cabinetry, front porch bench and small furniture pieces.  Maybe also a jewelry box.

Thanks!
 
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