Shaping a chair seat with a RAS

[LloydM]

Hello all;

I'm interested in making some walnut dining room chairs, I was wondering if the Festool RAS would be a good choice to shape the bowl area of the seat? I watched Shaun Boyd use a Kutzall carving wheel on an angle grinder to do it but I like the idea of the dust control found on Festools.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be really appreciated!

 

[AlexThePalex]

If you want to work fast use a grinder, the RAS will also work, but much slower, and you should definitely not expect too much from the dust collection on a job like this. The RAS' dust collection is pretty poor on a flat surface already, let alone on a cupped surface.

 

[elfick]

I'd probably lean towards a Rotex with a soft pad and a decent grit selection. Use a pull knife to get your initial shape and then finish it off with the Rotex.

 

[chrisrosenb]

I use a HL 850 planer with a undulating HS 82 RW planer head to rough the seats out. I then use a RO 150 to smooth them out.

 

[Sanderxpander]

Toddler's asses are best for this. It is known.

 

[Cheese]

Here are a couple of very recent posts.
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/can-you-recommend-a-method/msg569024/#msg569024
http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/kutzall-disc/msg576097/#msg576097

 

[Svar]

Scorp or inshave is a proper tool for hand shaping chair seats. There are one or two handed types.
View attachment 1
It is as fast but more forgiving than angle grinder and definitely more efficient than Rotex. Choose cutting over abrasion, shavings over deafening noise in the midst of a dust storm. Refine with travisher.

 

[Sanderxpander]

Here are a couple of very recent posts.
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/can-you-recommend-a-method/msg569024/#msg569024
http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/kutzall-disc/msg576097/#msg576097

That's where I got my info!

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Hello all;

I'm interested in making some walnut dining room chairs, I was wondering if the Festool RAS would be a good choice to shape the bowl area of the seat? I watched Shaun Boyd use a Kutzall carving wheel on an angle grinder to do it but I like the idea of the dust control found on Festools.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be really appreciated!

Yes - in my opinion it is the perfect tool for this application - 24 grit or 36 grit Saphir will work very well and last a long time. The DC is not great, but the fine dust is captured and the bigger saw dust drops to the floor or bench and is easy to vacuum. I found the RAS to give great control and the speed was fast enough to remove material well but not too fast to risk mistakes or as big of mistakes. I have made 5 walnut Maloof inspired chairs with the RAS and Rotex sanders and it worked perfectly. The RAS and RO90 can get the job done and I found a Rotex 125 to be the perfect middle sander size to smooth the seat with interface pads. This trifecta of sanders worked extremely well for me.

Here are a couple of quick videos of my using the RAS - not the best quality, but I did this one handed and you can see the control this sander gives.


And this one is shaping an arm - again, one handed.

 

[AndrewG]

I think I’ve posted this in one of the other threads, but I used my RAS 115 to sculpt most of this rocker. I started with the holey galahad wheels, but there was no way of controlling the dust so I got the RAS.

It will be followed up with rasps, and RO90 and RO150.

There is a learning curve on how to best maximise dust extraction with turning the handle, and although not perfect it’s still not bad. Highly recommend it.

 

[Cheese]

Here are a couple of quick videos of my using the RAS - not the best quality, but I did this one handed and you can see the control this sander gives.

Thanks for that.  [smile]  I don't have an RAS but I am surprised at how well it controls the fine dust. The stuff that gets in your eyes and obscures the work surface.

I'm also impressed with the one-handed control. The Milwaukee grinders I use would be more difficult to use one-handed.