A Little Tiny Bit of Festool Talk

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I know Festool is a sore subject in a lot of places and most folks either hate it or love it. I happen to be one of the few in the middle of the pack. I think a lot of their stuff is GROSSLY overpriced, actually all of it is grossly overpriced, but I think a few items are really industry leaders (Domino, Rotex and Plunge Circular Saw come to mind).

At any rate the sole purpose of this thread is to pass on a little info for those interested in Festool products. Since pricing is fixed by Festool you can only shop on service. Makes sense to me to buy out of state for no sales tax and have it shipped in for free. That is where Bob Marino comes into this. Bob is a Festool ISA (independent sales agent?) who sells only Festool products. He knows the stuff forward and backward. And he is just a super nice guy, especially considering he is from Jersey , and a heck of business man. His service is unreal. Follows up on sales, ships immediately and I know of situations where he has lent his personal tools while customers stuff is being repaired, etc. Just amazing.

Small sample : Ordered Festool product from Bob at 5:04 pm today. He has the order processed, has it packaged and has it in UPS hands for delivery tomorrow! Granted I am about 150 miles from Jersey, but I will have the product in less than 24 hours using free UPS ground service! That is impressive!

I have absolutely no affiliation with Bob just wanted to pass this along to those of you fondling these things at Woodcraft and now Rockler stores. Skip the tax, enjoy the free shipping and get great service from someone who knows the product forward and backward.

http://www.bobmarinosbesttools.com/

[siliconbauhaus]

Uncle Bob is the man.....I'll be getting my ts55 from him soon hopefully

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Uncle Bob is the man.....I'll be getting my ts55 from him soon hopefully

Ya, well you don't have to get used to the metric crap, lucky you!

I have a friend who does high end custom restoration down in historic Charlottesville VA. He uses the TS55 for hardwood flooring repairs with amazing skill!

[tkarlmann]

Festool

I have been toying with the idea of getting TS55 circ saw, the Domino, and the sander for some time now. When the TS55 was new, I may have been one of the first to report it here.

Perhaps the most fundamentally impressive is the circ saw -- the ability to make a finished cut on both sides of 4'x8' plywood is unreal.

The Domino is leaps ahead of the biscuit, the dowel, and maybe even my trusted pocket-hole system.

Perhaps the most unsung of the trio, but perhaps the best, is the sander. "Well, it's a sander -- so what?" you might say. Go watch the video on the Festool sight. With sanding its all about one thing -- the dust. The dust control on Festool is unreal when compared to anything except handplaning. With all the attention given to dust in the last ten years, everyone should be jumping up & down over this stuff.

Why aren't we? Well, the darn price, of course. If I get enough use out of the tools to justify them, I will buy in a heartbeat.

Just a cursory look at all the panel saws, huge, heavy, expensive European combination machines, sliding table accesories, etc. that are replaced by the TS55 -- it makes me woosy.

P.S. 23 Oct 07:
I share Jeffrey's view of the systainers -- they are relatively not rugged comparitvely speaking. I am not sure what they were really designed for, but here in the U.S. either you are able to throw in the back of your truck/whatever, let it bounce around and come through unscathed, or you cannot. I do not think the Systainers would fare well in that usage. Festool seems committed to them, and they can be perceived as a weak point.

Question to Jeffrey: What use of plastic ON THE TOOL are you concerned about?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

The Domino is leaps ahead of the biscuit, the dowel, and maybe even my trusted pocket-hole system.

Perhaps the most unsung of the trio, but perhaps the best, is the sander. "Well, it's a sander -- so what?" you might say. Go watch the video on the Festool sight. With sanding its all about one thing -- the dust. The dust control on Festool is unreal when compared to anything except handplaning.

I use my Domino just about every day. This evening I was using it for building face frames and attaching them to carcass. It is incredibly quick and makes very strong joints.

There are some minor issues with the quality of the Festool products IMHO. I know they have a 5 year warranty and they stand behind the product, but there are a few too many places that have plastic on the Domino that I don't like. Those silly Systainers are not that well made (only have the one the tool came in, I would never buy one at those prices) and I will likely end up selling my Systainer for the Domino and any future tools. Just because its expensive and a "system" doesn’t really mean I want those cases laying around (I am not a fan of cases). Last, I was not really impressed with the quality of the Midi Vac. Again, very cheaply made, though it has tons of engineering behind it. Technologically it rocks and performs well, however it is pretty flimsy plastic.

The Rotex sander is amazing. I have used one at a friends shop and it is really something. But MAN is it expensive!

[affyx]

cutting through the MFT?

In this video on the Festool Multi Function table, it would appear that he is cutting into the table. Seems like a very expensive table to be tearing up. Is there a groove that can't be seen in the video?

Another Q: with all those holes does it double as a downdraft table?

Those look like some amazing tools... adding the saw and table to my list of things to add to my shop someday.

[siliconbauhaus]

The top is just mdf and you're meant to cut into it. The idea is to set the saw so it's 2-3 mm past the piece your cutting. The top can be rotated 180 and flipped so you get a good amount of use out of it. You can also buy replacement ones.

The holes in the top are for using various clamps. I doubt it would work as a downdraft table....and with their sanders you wouldnt need one anyways.

[affyx]

Thanks Silicon...

Is the table wothwhile without the Festool saw or router?

Here's one for sale very close to me... http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/tls/454968301.html

Jeff, you want me to pick this up for you?

[siliconbauhaus]

ooooooh....near enough to me as well

[mschrank]

The top is just mdf .... You can also buy replacement ones.

Sure, if you don't mind paying $135 for a 2'x2' piece of mdf with some holes drilled in it.

I don't care how great Festool is...I wouldn't pay those outrageous prices if I won the lottery. Maybe if I was a pro using my tools everyday to make a living, I could almost justify it (if I won the lottery).

[tkarlmann]

In this video on the Festool Multi Function table, it would appear that he is cutting into the table. Seems like a very expensive table to be tearing up. Is there a groove that can't be seen in the video?

Another Q: with all those holes does it double as a downdraft table?

Those look like some amazing tools... adding the saw and table to my list of things to add to my shop someday.

The Festool table insert is actually cut into to provide part of the no-tear-out on the bottom edge feature. However, you do NOT need their table, you can use anything -- MDF ,cheap pylwood, etc. However, once you buy the Festool Table, you can replace the deterioratable insert with anything you want. Those hole placements I do not think are critical -- you can put the clamp holes wherever you want.

The holes in the table are for clamps they also sell, not downdraft.

[siliconbauhaus]

Here's one for sale very close to me... http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/tls/454968301.html

bugger...someone beat me to it

[cbrown]

Here are two questions I have had about the Festool circular saw system:

Can one really manage full 4x8 sheets of plywood, including a full-length rip?

How accurate is the squaring? I have made a grid table that I use for cutting plywood with a circular saw riding in a carriage along a 90" all-in-one clamp, and I can get nice clean straight cuts with a Freud blade, but getting things squared up over 8' while keeping aligned with the cut line is tedious and error-prone.

Just curious, you know, in case *I* win the lottery.

Chris

[Jeffrey Schronce]

As you can note there a not a lot of Festool users on BT3. I would suggest posing your question at www.festoolownersgroup.com

[siliconbauhaus]

Providing you have a long enough rail then yes you can certainly rip a 4X8 sheet. The accuracy of it is all down to your layout marks. The best method is to use 2 safety razor blades stuck into the plywood at the correct mark. Slide your guide over the them and then either clamp the guide or just run the saw without the clamping.

Once you've done you ripping the best way to get square cross cuts is to use the mft.