Step by Step Process for Squaring up Rough Lumber on 6 Sides using Festool only

[Twin driver]

Does anyone have a step by step process you can share for cutting and squaring up rough lumber on 6 sides ...... using only Festool Products. I have a TS-55, CMS Router Table, MFT-3, and Guide Rails. I do not have a Table Saw, Planer or Jointer.

I'm a "newbie" Craftsman with Festool Products. I just built a new small Workshop and have purchased Festool Products as the "core" of my power tool inventory.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[mouppe]

I would pay a little extra to have the lumber yard mill it for you. You are going to find it difficult to square it up with just a router table and a TS55.

But if you are really up for it, you can rip one edge with the TS55, then make a router sled and joint one face square to the edge, flip it and joint the other face, and finally mark a parallel edge and rip it with the tracksaw.

This will leave you with squared wood, but I'd still prefer to hop in the car and pay to have it milled!

 

[tjbnwi]

There edges are easy, the faces are not. You can joint with the CMS, unless the face is smaller than the longest bit you have squaring them up will be difficult.

Here is a link to my YouTube page. There may be something there you can learn from. The videos are raw, no editing.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MrTjbnwi

Tom

 

[ear3]

If boards are long, i would consider investing in a Dewalt portable planer for board faces, or get a rotex.  As others gave remarked, the edges will be easy with the track saw, but the faces much more of a challenge, to the point where I'm not sure it would be worth it to attempt with your current setup.

 

[Kev]

If you're going to buy rough lumber you're going to need the tools to work it ... your Festools aren't the solution. Bandsaw, planer, thicknesser are your targets for the job, sized suitably for the lumber you're going to feed them.

There's nothing worse than using the wrong tool for the job. You'll wear out expensive consumables and get frustrated as you go.

 

[Holmz]

The thicknessing can be done at the yard you buy the wood from. The makes the thickness flat and parallel.
They can also jointer one long edge, so you only have 3 sides left to do.
Those 3 remaining sides are then easy.

Unless you are doing a bunch of wood all the time, it is probably the easiest solution and easier on floor space and $.

 

[Twin driver]

Thanks to all for your thoughts. It looks like the Lumber Yard is the simplest solution for most of the necessary steps given my currrent inventory of Festool products.

One suggestion was that I buy a Dewalt Planer. That's a good suggestion ... BUT .... will the Planer remove any warps, curves or bows in the piece being processed? It seems to me that the Planer will not solve that problem unless I build some sort of jig. Any thoughts on how to solve that problem if I do buy a Planer?

Also is there a specific Mgr / model of Planer that, from your experience, would be a "best buy"?

I really appreciate everyones input!

 

[Sparktrician]

Make yourself a router sled.  Nick Offerman made a great one shown in Fine Woodworking, as an example.  There's a YouTube video here.

 

[JimD]

A planner will only flatten boards if you use a sled that is flat to hold the boards.  That is doable but most people don't.  I have a fairly wide jointer (8 5/8) but I don't usually flatten boards before running them through the planner.  It is more work to use the jointer and I often get boards that are too thin to use if I prepare it that way.  If you buy work that is planned on two sides, it is rarely flat.  And if you get it flat, and the moisture level changes it won't stay flat.  But if you have the thickness, the right way to prepare wood is to flatten a face, then straighten an edge, then rip to width and cut to length.  But the jointer part is often skipped.  A lunch box planner can also be significantly cheaper than a jointer, especially a wide one.  It further takes up little space.  I use an only Ryobi AP-10 I bought used for $100.  Blades were horribly dull but once they were sharpened it has worked well. 

 

[jacko9]

I'm in get the widest Jointer you can afford camp.  Once you get one reference side flat and straight you can use several methods to get a parallel surface including using a marking gauss and hand jointer plane.  I do have a 3hp planer and I always buy rough cut lumber surface, edge, rip on the table saw and then run through the planer - Then I sticker and wait a day or two (or longer) and repeat the process to see if I get a board stabilized.  Once it's stable I use my digital caliber and take equal amounts off both faces until I get the dimension I want.  I do the same equal amours off both edges to get the width I want.  Go slow and be methodical and you'll have wood that goes together after you cuts the joints for your project.  I will admit that some woods depending on the tree and the location where it was grown or the process where it was initially dried can be almost impossible to get straight (Australian Blackwood comes to mind).

Jack

 

[Twin driver]

Thanks to all .... Great ideas. When I followed up on Spartician's Router Sled idea noted above it was very helpful and led me to a product offered by Woodhaven who sells an inexpensive Router Sled. I'm looking closely into more details on this one.

Please keep the good ideas flowing ......

 

[sancho57]

i buy my timber S2S straight-line ripped which means it come with one straight edge so you can joint the other one. still cheaper then S4S