A bit of an introduction guys.
I've been lurking for far too long, but there is a lot of information to gather before I felt confident enough to ask an intelligent question. I teach and coach in a public high school, and only woodwork as a hobby, but it has been something I enjoy and spend a fair amount of time with. It has replaced my shoddy golf game, and it's starting to encroach on my fishing! My shop was our attached two car garage. It wasn't big enough for our vehicles anyway, and no one parks inside in TX. It is/was a very traditional shop; built one piece at a time, never a charge on a credit card, mostly vintage iron and quality hand power tools. For the most part, everything was centered around the table saw and a large work bench. Throw in a few band saws, 8" jointer, big drill press, planer, dust collector, miter saw, floor-mount mortise machine, router station, and all the hand power tools; and that makes up my shop. Most tools are vintage powermatic, except my ancient Delta band saws. I use to have a 12" Rockwell RAS, but it required too much space and created clouds of dust.
Then last November, I ventured into a local store that sells Festool. Without realizing how it happened; I walked out with a plunge saw and a closeout mft1080. I didn't think much about it at the time. It seemed a little spendy, but not more than other high quality tools and a lot less than others I've owned. Had the radial arm saw only known then that its days were severely numbered. It almost happened without mention, and would almost seem quaint. Just one day I was counting bills, loading the RAS, and going back to work with the TS55.
Move forward to today, and a CT-22, OF 1000, and ETS 150/5 have joined the crew. Add a few clamps, clamping elements, and things are starting to look funny around the old shop these days. Take for instance my workbench. The heart of my shop and the first useful thing I ever completed. All assembly, measuring, laying out, beer drinking..... everything started and ended on that bench. Now it holds parts and pieces, a few tools, and a sometimes finished pieces. I still put my beer can there when I'm not working with the tools. My mighty clamp collection mostly gathers dust, sans a few parallel clamps and quick clamps. The MFT has taken over with assembly, routing, sanding, pocket holes, panel sawing..... that little thing does everything and does it fast and well. What I almost thought of as a gimmick and only bought for a good deal, has me thinking about another. My wife pointed out that my large bench would be a perfect table for the back patio and could easily seat 10. Of course there's no need to mention the sander, router, or vac. Y'all know the merits.
So it's been a while since I've brought in the Green and Black, and I'm getting ready to do one heckuva summer shop cleaning/clearance. These Festools have me working faster, cleaner, and safer; and I'm digging that.
I've got two tools on the mind, at least at the moment: Domino vs OF 1400
Let's talk about the OF 1400 router first. I currently have: the Festool of 1000, 2 Bosch 1617evs kits, 1 Hitachi 12vsc kit, and a pc 690. One Bosch always stays in a JessemFX lift in the router station. I long ago sold the plunge base for that kit. The other Bosch kit is my go to router, usually in the plunge base. The Hitachi has seen two bits; 1/4" roundover and 3/8" rounder. The PC is set up for an Omnijig and has never been used for anything else. The of 1000 doesn't get much use because I'm already invested in 1/2" shank bits. I don't see any reason to get rid of it, as I'll likely own the lr-32 at some point and time. Let me know if I'm wrong; but I could sell the other routes except a Bosch kit and replace them with the OF 1400. I don't do that much work that I can't swap bits, and these new Omnijigs are easy to repeat setups. I could keep the one Bosch mostly in the router table, take it out if I needed a second plunge for speed; and the proceeds from the others could move me toward the OF 1400 rather smoothly.
OTOH, the Domino. I currently use traditional M&T because I have the tooling; not because bookcases, desks, and end tables require that kind of strength. I have a JET floor mortise machine that is easy to use and very accurate. However, i HATE cutting tenons. I don't like cutting them with a tenon jig, I don't like cutting them with a dado blade, I didn't use to like cutting them on the RAS, and I don't really enjoy cutting them on the band saw. So I get to considering selling the mortise machine and the tenon jig and putting that money toward the Domino. However, I do have in mind that a new model is coming out soon.
Sorry for the long ramblings; I don't go there often. I figured it was good background in order for me to better be able to reference my questions and experience.
I've been lurking for far too long, but there is a lot of information to gather before I felt confident enough to ask an intelligent question. I teach and coach in a public high school, and only woodwork as a hobby, but it has been something I enjoy and spend a fair amount of time with. It has replaced my shoddy golf game, and it's starting to encroach on my fishing! My shop was our attached two car garage. It wasn't big enough for our vehicles anyway, and no one parks inside in TX. It is/was a very traditional shop; built one piece at a time, never a charge on a credit card, mostly vintage iron and quality hand power tools. For the most part, everything was centered around the table saw and a large work bench. Throw in a few band saws, 8" jointer, big drill press, planer, dust collector, miter saw, floor-mount mortise machine, router station, and all the hand power tools; and that makes up my shop. Most tools are vintage powermatic, except my ancient Delta band saws. I use to have a 12" Rockwell RAS, but it required too much space and created clouds of dust.
Then last November, I ventured into a local store that sells Festool. Without realizing how it happened; I walked out with a plunge saw and a closeout mft1080. I didn't think much about it at the time. It seemed a little spendy, but not more than other high quality tools and a lot less than others I've owned. Had the radial arm saw only known then that its days were severely numbered. It almost happened without mention, and would almost seem quaint. Just one day I was counting bills, loading the RAS, and going back to work with the TS55.
Move forward to today, and a CT-22, OF 1000, and ETS 150/5 have joined the crew. Add a few clamps, clamping elements, and things are starting to look funny around the old shop these days. Take for instance my workbench. The heart of my shop and the first useful thing I ever completed. All assembly, measuring, laying out, beer drinking..... everything started and ended on that bench. Now it holds parts and pieces, a few tools, and a sometimes finished pieces. I still put my beer can there when I'm not working with the tools. My mighty clamp collection mostly gathers dust, sans a few parallel clamps and quick clamps. The MFT has taken over with assembly, routing, sanding, pocket holes, panel sawing..... that little thing does everything and does it fast and well. What I almost thought of as a gimmick and only bought for a good deal, has me thinking about another. My wife pointed out that my large bench would be a perfect table for the back patio and could easily seat 10. Of course there's no need to mention the sander, router, or vac. Y'all know the merits.
So it's been a while since I've brought in the Green and Black, and I'm getting ready to do one heckuva summer shop cleaning/clearance. These Festools have me working faster, cleaner, and safer; and I'm digging that.
I've got two tools on the mind, at least at the moment: Domino vs OF 1400
Let's talk about the OF 1400 router first. I currently have: the Festool of 1000, 2 Bosch 1617evs kits, 1 Hitachi 12vsc kit, and a pc 690. One Bosch always stays in a JessemFX lift in the router station. I long ago sold the plunge base for that kit. The other Bosch kit is my go to router, usually in the plunge base. The Hitachi has seen two bits; 1/4" roundover and 3/8" rounder. The PC is set up for an Omnijig and has never been used for anything else. The of 1000 doesn't get much use because I'm already invested in 1/2" shank bits. I don't see any reason to get rid of it, as I'll likely own the lr-32 at some point and time. Let me know if I'm wrong; but I could sell the other routes except a Bosch kit and replace them with the OF 1400. I don't do that much work that I can't swap bits, and these new Omnijigs are easy to repeat setups. I could keep the one Bosch mostly in the router table, take it out if I needed a second plunge for speed; and the proceeds from the others could move me toward the OF 1400 rather smoothly.
OTOH, the Domino. I currently use traditional M&T because I have the tooling; not because bookcases, desks, and end tables require that kind of strength. I have a JET floor mortise machine that is easy to use and very accurate. However, i HATE cutting tenons. I don't like cutting them with a tenon jig, I don't like cutting them with a dado blade, I didn't use to like cutting them on the RAS, and I don't really enjoy cutting them on the band saw. So I get to considering selling the mortise machine and the tenon jig and putting that money toward the Domino. However, I do have in mind that a new model is coming out soon.
Sorry for the long ramblings; I don't go there often. I figured it was good background in order for me to better be able to reference my questions and experience.
