New to Festool, A little advice please

[travisj]

I have put more thought and research into this first Festool purchase than almost anything else I have ever purchased.  Today I became tired of my own indecision and went and placed my order:

CT36
TS55REQ
MFT/3
ETS 150/3

They had the CT in stock so that is looking pretty in my garage.  It will be a week for the other three items.  In the end, I have enough routers for now.  Possibly when one finally kicks the bucket or I own the entire catalog, I will add another.  I do not have a 6" sander and I am really intrigued about having a sander with functional dust collection.

I appreciate everyone's input and am eager to use these tools.

 

[teocaf]

i was going to say, if you have routers already, you can easily mask off an area to mitigate the dust pollution for just that one countertop chamfer job.

welcome to the fog and enjoy your new tools.  looks like you have some good stuff coming your way--years ago, i started with about the same setup as you, except i went with the larger saw and the rotex 150.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Good choices.  Your lungs will thank you!

And if any of it doesn't delight you, use the 30 day return window.

BTW, I was sanding with the 150/3 today and was amazed at how little dust and noise there was.

Don't hesitate to ask questions.  Festoon is a system with many facets and it is never clear how everything relates.  After ten years, I still have "Oh wow!" moments.

 

[Kev]

I have put more thought and research into this first Festool purchase than almost anything else I have ever purchased.  Today I became tired of my own indecision and went and placed my order:

CT36
TS55REQ
MFT/3
ETS 150/3

They had the CT in stock so that is looking pretty in my garage.  It will be a week for the other three items.  In the end, I have enough routers for now.  Possibly when one finally kicks the bucket or I own the entire catalog, I will add another.  I do not have a 6" sander and I am really intrigued about having a sander with functional dust collection.

I appreciate everyone's input and am eager to use these tools.

Before you take delivery, see if you can swap out the rail that comes with you TS55 for the LR32 variant. Many look back and wish they had [wink]

 

[Cheese]

I go along with what [member=13058]Kev[/member] said.

If you purchased from Betterley, talk to Tom and I'm sure he'll swap rails out for you.

 

[travisj]

I did work with Tom and Ron at Betterley.  One of the first questions I asked (after poking around online) was if I was tied to the regular 1400 rail when I purchased the TS55REQ.  Tom told me I could get whatever rail I wanted and pay the difference.  I had planned on getting the 1400 LR32 rail with the saw and add a 1900 rail.  We had discussed whether it was better to join two rails or use a long rail.  While a long rail may be in my future, for now I am going to get one of their straightline connectors and see how it goes.  My main impetus for this venture was to break down sheet goods more accurately and with less hassle than my old circ saw with a straightedge.  I can rip sheets on my table saw so the ripping isn't as big of a concern as the crosscutting.  Full sheets are a PIA to crosscut on a table saw (for me at least).

I am intrigued with the LR32 system.  It seems quicker and more accurate than my shelf drilling jig.  I may attempt to make my own version for either one of my Porter Cable routers or my little DeWalt compact router.  Had I looked into Festool a year ago, I probably would've been more invested and bought the LR32 system and built custom cabinets instead of purchasing stock cabinets for my wife's craft room.

 

[Cheese]

[member=53578]travisj[/member] ...I think I remember seeing/reading something about the LR 32 system router plate being adaptable to a Porter Cable router. I'm sure someone on FOG knows if that is correct or not.