R
Rob Z
Guest
(corrected typo in model number of tool-misread the catalog)
Hi everyone,
In another post, I noted that my first and only Festool purchase is the CT22. (We matched the 22 with an electric concrete cutting saw and cut over 200 lineal feet of concrete indoors and did it with virtually no dust escaping the vacuum attachment).
As we were finishing up that job, my customer asked for us to pull some trash out of the basement. One item was an old workbench. One of my men called me on the phone and said "Rob, you have to save this workbench-wait until you get here and see the lumber that was used to make it....and there are two vises on it, as well."
I was amazed once I arrived and looked closely at the lumber....it is clear fir, very old, with maybe 20+ growth rings per inch on the visible ends of some of the planks that make up the top. I decided that I need to clean this thing up and use it in my shop. It is covered with 50+ years of paint, stain, varnish, and other assorted spills and messes. At frst, I thought about running it all through my surface planer, but now I think I don't want to lose any thickness of wood if it can be avoided, and some of the pieces are warped a bit and should be dressed before hand with a large jointer (which I dont have).
Then, when I looked in the Festool catalog and read some of the threads here, it seemed to me that maybe the RAS 115 would do a fine job stripping the finishes off of this thing and getting it down to bare wood.
A related project is to restore/refresh/refinish the workbench I have that I inherited from my Grandfather, which he built by hand in the the early 1940's out of oak he salvaged from his job at the lumber yard. This bench has seen tons of work and would look great stripped down and refinished.
So, my goal is to get both benches down to bare wood with as little damage or wood loss as possible. My two enmployees are painters and finishers, and have done a lot of work on our jobs with wood finishes, so I am in good shape with the finishing end of things. I own a detail sander that will work in the nooks and crannies, but I want to get the proper Festool sander to hog out the rough work. I could have them use some of the miscellaneous sanders we already own (Porter Cable, DeWalt, Ridgid), but I don't want them breathing the dust and like the option of running the 22 along with the sander.
I would appreciate any feedback that anyone can give me, as well as suggestions for the best abrasives to buy. I see in the catalog that there are a lot of options.
(I tried calling a local Festool rep that we met at product demo day, and all but told him that I was ready to hand over my credit card and let him start selling tools...but he has never returned my a calls. Business must be good....)
Hi everyone,
In another post, I noted that my first and only Festool purchase is the CT22. (We matched the 22 with an electric concrete cutting saw and cut over 200 lineal feet of concrete indoors and did it with virtually no dust escaping the vacuum attachment).
As we were finishing up that job, my customer asked for us to pull some trash out of the basement. One item was an old workbench. One of my men called me on the phone and said "Rob, you have to save this workbench-wait until you get here and see the lumber that was used to make it....and there are two vises on it, as well."
I was amazed once I arrived and looked closely at the lumber....it is clear fir, very old, with maybe 20+ growth rings per inch on the visible ends of some of the planks that make up the top. I decided that I need to clean this thing up and use it in my shop. It is covered with 50+ years of paint, stain, varnish, and other assorted spills and messes. At frst, I thought about running it all through my surface planer, but now I think I don't want to lose any thickness of wood if it can be avoided, and some of the pieces are warped a bit and should be dressed before hand with a large jointer (which I dont have).
Then, when I looked in the Festool catalog and read some of the threads here, it seemed to me that maybe the RAS 115 would do a fine job stripping the finishes off of this thing and getting it down to bare wood.
A related project is to restore/refresh/refinish the workbench I have that I inherited from my Grandfather, which he built by hand in the the early 1940's out of oak he salvaged from his job at the lumber yard. This bench has seen tons of work and would look great stripped down and refinished.
So, my goal is to get both benches down to bare wood with as little damage or wood loss as possible. My two enmployees are painters and finishers, and have done a lot of work on our jobs with wood finishes, so I am in good shape with the finishing end of things. I own a detail sander that will work in the nooks and crannies, but I want to get the proper Festool sander to hog out the rough work. I could have them use some of the miscellaneous sanders we already own (Porter Cable, DeWalt, Ridgid), but I don't want them breathing the dust and like the option of running the 22 along with the sander.
I would appreciate any feedback that anyone can give me, as well as suggestions for the best abrasives to buy. I see in the catalog that there are a lot of options.
(I tried calling a local Festool rep that we met at product demo day, and all but told him that I was ready to hand over my credit card and let him start selling tools...but he has never returned my a calls. Business must be good....)
