Obligatory first post introduction...

[TulsaWood]

Hi there,

Thanks to this group for being such a great source of information.  I'm am completely new to woodworking.  With the help of my Dad I've built a deck, repaired some cabinets and a few other small projects.  But recently we bought a fixer upper, and I've been enjoying working on the new place.  This is a brand new hobby, but I aspire to build some pieces like the ones I see here on the forum.  I have a LOT to learn but I'm really excited to start the journey. 

Tomorrow I will receive my first Festool purchase, the MFT/3.  I needed to share that with some folks who would understand my excitement.  Can.  NOT.  WAIT!!

EJ

 

[peter halle]

Welcome EJ to the FOG!  Speaking for the group, we can't wait to accompany you on your woodworking journal.  I will bet that you will be adding to that MFT in very short order. 

Peter

 

[SoonerFan]

EJ,
Welcome to FOG!  We are certainly glad you are here.  Sick around and you will learn a lot about your new hobby and how these terrific tools will help.  All that said, your wallet is not happy with your new Festool leanings (soon to be expensive addiction).

Good luck with the fixer upper.

 

[roblg3]

[welcome]
just ask if you need help!! It will come.

 

[adugas]

[welcome] [welcome] [welcome]

 

[NERemodeling]

Welcome to fog!  Congratulations on your mft!    others have already said, please ask away with any and all questions about your new home ( congrats on that as well), woodworking, tools or whatever else pops into your mind!!  We're all here to learn from and help each other.
Jihn

 

[dltflt]

Welcome to the Fog!!  You can definitely learn from the wonderful people on this forum.

 

[wow]

As everyone has said, [welcome] to the FOG!

Please be sure to post pictures of your projects. We *LOVE* pictures!

 

[tiralie]

Great (first) post! Your excitement comes through loud and clear.
Tim

 

[semenza]

Welcome to the forum, EJ ! [smile]

What other tools do you have to work with?

Seth

 

[Skillman]

Welcome I'm new member at the FOG to .

 

[jbasen]

Welcome both Peter and Skillman

 

[TulsaWood]

Whoa!  Nice to virtually meet you all, and thanks for the warm welcome. 

Welcome to the forum, EJ ! [smile]

What other tools do you have to work with?

Seth

 

Well, my "shop" (corner of the garage) is pretty sparse.  Here is the list off the top of my head:

• Older 10" chop saw
• Dewalt 10" Portable table saw
• Bostich 18-gauge brad nailer, 16-gauge finish nailer, 3/8” crown stapler kit
• Dewalt Cordless Drill / Driver
• Old orbital sander
• Handheld circular saw.  (My dads old one, which I'm pretty sure is older than me  [smile])
• A kreg pocket jig
• 2 10" clamps

Along with the MFT/3 I also picked up a couple quick clamps and the clamping elements 2 pack.  What would you recommend I add to the collection next?  We're on a budget so new additions are likely to come slower than I'd like. The wish list is already pretty long, especially when I watch some of you on youtube with floor to ceiling stacks of green and white boxes behind you!

EJ

 

[roblg3]

My suggestion would be a TS rr or 75 depending on what you like to build. The weight isn't all that important since the saw is guided by the rails.  You can get %10 off the dust extractor if you buy it with another tool.  The track saw is very good and makes a huge difference in cut quality than you can imagine!  Festool is expensive, but i've found it to be worth the money for sure!

 

[Just F Me]

Whoa!  Nice to virtually meet you all, and thanks for the warm welcome. 

Welcome to the forum, EJ ! [smile]

What other tools do you have to work with?

Seth

 

Well, my "shop" (corner of the garage) is pretty sparse.  Here is the list off the top of my head:

• Older 10" chop saw
• Dewalt 10" Portable table saw
• Bostich 18-gauge brad nailer, 16-gauge finish nailer, 3/8” crown stapler kit
• Dewalt Cordless Drill / Driver
• Old orbital sander
• Handheld circular saw.  (My dads old one, which I'm pretty sure is older than me  [smile])
• A kreg pocket jig
• 2 10" clamps

Along with the MFT/3 I also picked up a couple quick clamps and the clamping elements 2 pack.  What would you recommend I add to the collection next?  We're on a budget so new additions are likely to come slower than I'd like. The wish list is already pretty long, especially when I watch some of you on youtube with floor to ceiling stacks of green and white boxes behind you!

EJ

Welcome! I'm new to all this stuff to and everyone here has been super helpful and positive in their responses.  I would tell your wife that the wish list must become a need to purchase list.  You need about $7000 (At least that's what my Amazon shopping cart says) for all the Festool goodies  [big grin]

Since you bought a fixer upper, there's a thread by a member that goes by sakurama that has pretty much renovated his "Mid-Century Moto Mecca" [Makeover].  It's a very inspirational thread and just flat out awesome.  He's also a member of the FOG and owns a lot of Festool.

Check it out...I sat down and read almost the entire thread.  Granted it took me 2.5 hours, but it was a really good read.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185104

 

[Kev]

[welcome]

A fixer upper? You need a ROTEX !!!

 

[Mickfb]

Welcome to the money pit that is Festool  [cool]

 

[andy5405]

Well, my "shop" (corner of the garage) is pretty sparse.  Here is the list off the top of my head:

• Older 10" chop saw
• Dewalt 10" Portable table saw
• Bostich 18-gauge brad nailer, 16-gauge finish nailer, 3/8” crown stapler kit
• Dewalt Cordless Drill / Driver
• Old orbital sander
• Handheld circular saw.  (My dads old one, which I'm pretty sure is older than me  [smile])
• A kreg pocket jig
• 2 10" clamps

Along with the MFT/3 I also picked up a couple quick clamps and the clamping elements 2 pack.  What would you recommend I add to the collection next?  We're on a budget so new additions are likely to come slower than I'd like. The wish list is already pretty long, especially when I watch some of you on youtube with floor to ceiling stacks of green and white boxes behind you!

EJ

We would need to have more of an idea what you intend to do to advise you and even then different members will give different advice. However if you have an MFT then a TS55 would be an obvious choice for your next purchase. Almost everyone would also recommend a dust extractor and the Midi would be a safe bet for that. You can use a TS without dust extraction if you're on a tight budget but I wouldn't recommend it.

A sander would be really handy too and if you were to pick one  the Rotex 150 is arguably Festool's most versatile sander. It could also be argued that the Rotex 90 is extremely versatile as well depending on what you're doing. If you get into the sanders you will definitely want dust extraction.

The list could go on and on and it often does for a lot of the members on here. It's an expensive addiction and I have spent more than I ever imagined I would on Festool gear. I can justify Festool purchases as I earn my living from the tools but if you are a hobbyist and have lots of time on your hands and very little spare cash then I would recommend going with cheaper brands for certain tools and compensating by throwing more time at a project. 

Be careful not to get over excited by the Festool thing, they are just tools, albeit some of the best you will ever buy. The most important thing is you and your skills, motivation and patience. Festool is not a magic bullet, they're great but only when put in the hands of someone who wants to produce quality work. Always bear in mind that people all over the world are producing astounding work with what many on here would consider to be rubbish tools.

Also some of the guys on here would buy what comes out of the back end of a dog and rave about how wonderful it is provided it had a Festool logo! Sorry that was a bit unfair and not particularly eloquent but I guess everyone can see the point I was trying to make.

 

[semenza]

Whoa!  Nice to virtually meet you all, and thanks for the warm welcome. 

Welcome to the forum, EJ ! [smile]

What other tools do you have to work with?

Seth

 

Well, my "shop" (corner of the garage) is pretty sparse.  Here is the list off the top of my head:

• Older 10" chop saw
• Dewalt 10" Portable table saw
• Bostich 18-gauge brad nailer, 16-gauge finish nailer, 3/8” crown stapler kit
• Dewalt Cordless Drill / Driver
• Old orbital sander
• Handheld circular saw.  (My dads old one, which I'm pretty sure is older than me  [smile])
• A kreg pocket jig
• 2 10" clamps

Along with the MFT/3 I also picked up a couple quick clamps and the clamping elements 2 pack.  What would you recommend I add to the collection next?  We're on a budget so new additions are likely to come slower than I'd like. The wish list is already pretty long, especially when I watch some of you on youtube with floor to ceiling stacks of green and white boxes behind you!

EJ

  What to add next will depend on what job / project you will be doing. But, other than a vacuum, the tool that seems to be completely missing from a general list is a router.

Seth

 

[TulsaWood]

Since you bought a fixer upper, there's a thread by a member that goes by sakurama that has pretty much renovated his "Mid-Century Moto Mecca" [Makeover].  It's a very inspirational thread and just flat out awesome.  He's also a member of the FOG and owns a lot of Festool.

Check it out...I sat down and read almost the entire thread.  Granted it took me 2.5 hours, but it was a really good read.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185104

Thanks for the link.  I see a long night of reading and note taking ahead of me.  Looks like he's got some great ideas.

We would need to have more of an idea what you intend to do to advise you and even then different members will give different advice. However if you have an MFT then a TS55 would be an obvious choice for your next purchase. Almost everyone would also recommend a dust extractor and the Midi would be a safe bet for that. You can use a TS without dust extraction if you're on a tight budget but I wouldn't recommend it.

A sander would be really handy too and if you were to pick one  the Rotex 150 is arguably Festool's most versatile sander. It could also be argued that the Rotex 90 is extremely versatile as well depending on what you're doing. If you get into the sanders you will definitely want dust extraction.

For now I'm building small projects.  A dresser for my son.  Some shutters for the outside windows.  Eventually, I want to build some cabinets for the garage and laundry room, and if those builds go well, build vanities for the 3 bathrooms. 

The saw, sanders and dust extraction are very much on my list.  I'm thinking I may sell the table saw to help offset the cost.  Do you find yourself using both or mainly the TS 55? 

The list could go on and on and it often does for a lot of the members on here. It's an expensive addiction and I have spent more than I ever imagined I would on Festool gear. I can justify Festool purchases as I earn my living from the tools but if you are a hobbyist and have lots of time on your hands and very little spare cash then I would recommend going with cheaper brands for certain tools and compensating by throwing more time at a project. 

Be careful not to get over excited by the Festool thing, they are just tools, albeit some of the best you will ever buy. The most important thing is you and your skills, motivation and patience. Festool is not a magic bullet, they're great but only when put in the hands of someone who wants to produce quality work. Always bear in mind that people all over the world are producing astounding work with what many on here would consider to be rubbish tools.

Also some of the guys on here would buy what comes out of the back end of a dog and rave about how wonderful it is provided it had a Festool logo! Sorry that was a bit unfair and not particularly eloquent but I guess everyone can see the point I was trying to make.

Thanks for this advice. I'm going to try and get by with only the tools I need for the projects I'm currently working on.  At these prices, I don't want to buy something just to have it sit on a shelf.  But I can see why it is tempting to over-indulge.  Time to re-work the family budget.  ;D

My suggestion would be a TS rr or 75 depending on what you like to build. The weight isn't all that important since the saw is guided by the rails.  You can get %10 off the dust extractor if you buy it with another tool.  The track saw is very good and makes a huge difference in cut quality than you can imagine!  Festool is expensive, but i've found it to be worth the money for sure!

Thanks for the advice.  I didn't realize there are discounts if you purchase together.  I'll look into that......later. 

A fixer upper? You need a ROTEX !!!

I had to google Rotex.  You're probably right.  Most of our downstairs has wood floors that need to be refinished after we move some walls and patch in new boards.  The dust extraction would be great.  My wife has been very worried about how long we'll be picking dust out of our food after that project!

  What to add next will depend on what job / project you will be doing. But, other than a vacuum, the tool that seems to be completely missing from a general list is a router.

Seth

I've never owned or used a router, so I'm just getting up to speed.  From the little bit I've read and watched online I can see why I need one.  I've debated just picking up a used cheaper one while I'm learning, then move up to a Festool product once I have some experience.  Would you recommend a handheld/plunge router or a table router as a first purchase?