Thunderbay said:
I lost most all of my carpenter tools.(miterbox, tablesaw, bisket joiner, routers, compressors, sanders, jigsaw, non were festool) Don't ask how. I always admired others festools on the job sight. I would like to get suggestions of the perfect setup for building cabinets, bookcases and mantels and hanging doors
Welcome to FOG. I am so sorry for the loss of your tools.
Since you did not mention having your own workshop and did mention working on sites, your current situation is similar to mine in early 2006. In previous years the pressure of my career left me no time for woodworking. When I sold my home in 1994 I also sold all the fixed equipment in the 2-car garage bay serving as my workshop. All I retained were some hand tools and a couple of electric drills. When I decided to take a leave of absence from my career in January 2006 to be followed by complete retirement in early 2007, I turned to my trusted friend Jesse Barragan who owns Eagle Tool of Los Angeles. He was the pioneer Festool dealer in my area.
At the time I had a spare room in my condo 14' x 16' so I realized I had no room for a cabinet panel saw. Jesse let me try a TS55 on a guide rail there in his demo room. He sells several brands of expensive cabinet table saws. I felt then and still feel that for cabinet case construction from sheet material what is needed is a "glue ready" cut quality. The TS55 provides that quality of cut and does not need the working room of a table saw breaking down full sheets.
I did not have a vehicle to transport a 106" (2700mm) or 118" (3000mm) rail. Always when I did have a large cabinet table saw I would start by making a clean-up rip on the long side of a sheet. Sometimes I could make all the rips right away, but more often I would need to make rips and cross-cuts in random order. To get around my guide rail transport issue, with my first TS55 I purchased 2 extra 55" rails, for a total of 3. I could use the extra rail as a straight edge when coupling the other two. This system served me very well until my cabinet making made enough I could buy a truck with a lumber rack, to also transport a 118" rail.
Cabinet making, as I do it, requires a way to dado and rabbet sheet material. Even when dado cutters were still commonly used on table saws I had done that function with routers using guide bearings for rabbets and various straight edges for dadoes and grooves. Reading the Festool catalog I learned that they had a way of guiding their OF1010 router with the rails. That 1010 watt router is more than enough to make 3/4" rabbets and grooves.
To me the LR-32 cabinet has made good sense since the late 1940s. Over the years I was never happy with any method of drilling all those shelf-holes, until I read about the Festool system using a rail with guide milled slots and a special device for an OF1010. In those days Festool sold a 42" rail with the slots, so I bought that and the LR-32 kit since I already had the OF1010.
These days Festool also sells the OF1400 which many folks use to drill the LR-32 holes and also use as a more powerful router accepting 1/4", 8mm and 1/2" shank cutters. I would recommend the OF1400 as your first Festool router. Eventually you might well want to add an OF1010 as a lighter router and the OF2200 as a powerful router. That only comes with a 1/2" collet and use of smaller collets is not recommended.
I strongly believe in the use of Festool clamps on guide rails even for sawing. Those clamps are even more vital when routing or drilling with rails. I urge you to include at least a pair of the screw clamps as well as the Quick clamps. Originally I also bought a pair of the long screw clamps so I could work on the top sheet of a stack and still reach to clamp.
From 2006 until I opened my big shop in the middle of 2010 I used my condo and space I rented in many other shops to build cabinet jobs. For my condo I did buy a 10" Hitachi miter saw and a used 10" portable contractor table saw since every cabinet includes parts made of lumber. In theory the TS55 can be used, but my experience is that the frustration saved justified the cost of the miter and small table saw.
Oh yes, with my first TS55 I bought the CT22 and I still own that. I bought the clean-up accessory kit and up-graded that to a 36mm AS hose, which I prefer on the TS55 and on Festool routers larger than the MFK 700.
These days you have a choice between the CT26 and the CT36. Originally I bought the CT22 because when nearly full it was not as heavy as the CT33. There is little difference in the cost of the CT, but the larger one saves on the cost of bags.
My first Festool sander was a Rotex 150 and I still use that same sander. Over the years I have added most Festool sanders. Each serves a purpose. The Festool sander advantage is vastly improved dust collection and increased life of the sanding material. I have always felt it was the glue-ready TS55 cuts and the Festool sanders which provided my competitive advantage over other cabinet makers.
The Domino is a marvelous system. In my business the Domino has replaced the biscuit joiner. When Festool started selling the Kapex miter saw in the USA I was waiting at midnight to take delivery of one that first day. I have bought an additional 4 Kapex because they work so well. The UG stand is wonderful for site work.
I still use a Festool Trion PS300 as my jig saw. When the MFK 700 was introduced those became my trim routers.
Cabinet makers working for me own a lot of Festool cordless drills and love them.