New Tool Review - "Festool Circular Saw."

It is time to assemble the basic cabinet. She is using a small clamp that is brand new to the shop. It is Jet's Jointing Clamp. She slides one clamp on the bottom of the back piece.    [I bought this new clamp as a set of two for $19.99 from ToolCrib. It is their part number 709055.]
	Now she can slide the side panel into the joint clamp. The red inside piece keeps the two sections square.
This outside view will give you a better look at the spring steel clips that hold the panels against the square plastic block.
	You can see from the prior picture that the clamp raises the corner a bit causing the panels to tilt slightly. Here, Karla points to a small block that comes with the joint clamp. It is slid under the side and allows the side to be level.
Karla drills a hole right next to the clamp. She has installed the stepped drill that is designed for use with the confirmat type screws.
	She screws the confirmat style screw into the pre-drilled hole. The inset picture shows this type screw. For a "Single Skills Subject" on this fastener, click here.
In doing the next corner, Karla uses a rubber mallet to "coax" the side flush with the back.
	The clamps allow Karla to slide the corner open and spread some Roo Glue on the joint. When done, she simply slides the side back in position and adds the confirmat type screws.
We also tried out another new clamp. This style is made by several clamp manufacturers and works very well here. In our view, the Jet Jointing Clamps work better and are less expensive.
	It was fun for me to see Karla do so well in making this cabinet. Clearly the Festool system is well designed and makes a lot of skills and tasks easier and safer to do.    As she finished this assembly, she asked if the glued and screwed corners were strong enough. I said that they are more than sufficient but that we could make a stronger cabinet by adding dados and rabbets to the joinery.
And that is what we will do next week. I just received the Festool router that uses the same guide system.  Karla and I, both, are looking forward to see how easy it will be to use this and take our cabinet making "up a notch."   So, my original question was "Is the Festool System worth it?" The answer will have to be relative to each person's requirements, but I will tell you that the whole system is great. It made the cutting of the cabinet parts easy, accurate and safe — and those are all good things.