Festool Products

Website:  http://www.festoolusa.com/

Note: Karla, Beth, Joslyn, Andrea and Elena and I have reviewed many of the Festool line and will continue to use them as part of ongoing projects. The key uses will be added to this sub-menu.

"Cabinetmaking with the All-Festool Shop

We are currently shooting sections for a DVD titled "Cabinetmaking with the All-Festool Shop."
As we create the DVD, we will add the subjects in "storyboard" form to this website and this menu.
Click here to go there.

    You can see this in station 2, above. The Festool planer is mounted in a clever accessory stand that  provides the edge jointing facility that we need in cabinetmaking. Elena has a chance to practice edge jointing with the Festool planer/jointer stand that Sal had put together.
                                      Show me

  New Festool Products - mid 2008

   This is the MFT3 it is a new version of the older Multi Function Tables (MFT).  It is a honey of table with some new features that I will really like.
    Click here to go there

   The picture is of the new Festool Kapex Sliding Miter Saw. Sal and Elena try it out.
       Click here to go there

  Festool ATF 55 E-Plus Portable Circular Plunge-cut saw

   Karla and I started our review of Festool Products by using the Festool ATF 55 E-Plus Portable Circular Plunge-cut saw.  This plunge saw makes use of their heavy duty guide rails. Cutting panels to size is a cinch, but more important, we found that we can make final cuts with this system — that's a real timesaver.
   Click here to go there.

The best way I can think of to test the ability of my shop to cut things square is to build a cube with mitered corners. Elena and I do this with the Festool plunge saw.                                   
   Click here to go there

More circular saw subjects:

Cutting  narrow stock with the guide rail system.
   Click here to go there.

   Using the miter gauge attachment with the guide rails.
   Click here to go there.

   How fast can you cut panels? John goes "against the clock" in cutting one sheet of melamine for a cabinet case. "It is surprisingly fast and accurate. It can bring to the small shop, the speed and accuracy of the large panel cutters."
   Click here to go there.

   Handling heavy panels for making cabinets is a task for most woodworkers. Clearly, it is one
that Beth and I would like to avoid. Our solution is one that makes real sense: put the heavy sheet in place and make all the cuts there. And since accuracy and quality of cut can be very high, there is no need to move to the table saw and make the finishing cut. The Festool ATF 55 E-Plus Portable Circular Plunge-cut saw gives us that finished cut. That considered, this is a great way to make cabinets.
   Click here to go there.

   You know that I love the Festool guide rail system. I do, and I never thought there would be anything to "top it." Well there is. It is their "boom arm. "   What a wonderful add on. Click here and see Andrea install it and use it.
    Click here to go there

   Andrea and I found the best saw blade and methods to cutting white melamine
 particle core board. Believe it or not, you can get perfect chip free cuts in that material.

   Click here to go there.

   We have seen many new digital measuring devices in the recent years. Here is one that is a part of a longer sensor that I have installed in one of the Festool MFT (multi function tables.) I like it because it works.

         Click here to go there.

   We use another way to rip boards easily and accurately — with the Festool Parallel Guide made  for the plunge saw.

           Click here to go there.

   We have come up with a great  way to cut panels to size with the accuracy that you would expect from a top-dollar cabinet saw.
   Click here to go there.

   Gail and I after using the Angle Unit a lot decided to make a small alteration to this great accessory. The change keeps the angle from being nudged out of position.
   Click here to go there.

   Jointing board edges is always a challenge that gets greater as the boards get longer and more difficult to handle.  I use the guide rail and plunge saw to correct a poorly fitted joint. The exactly same system can be used on boards when first put together. Don't move them; add the Festool system and joint them in place.
   Click here to go there.

   Jessica shows how she re-sawed a thick timber into narrow boards for a silver chest. It was not only doable, it was easy and accurate.
   Click here to go there.

 
   Bob Marino brought in two really rough edged boards to see me demo the technique of edge jointing with the Festool Plunge Saw and Guide Rail systems.
   Click here to go there.
 

 
   Here is our way to make tight fitting dados for any width board.
   Click here to go there.

Special Project: Elena Builds a Cabinet:

   (Note: we have put all the pages together and the story starts here: Click here to go there. )

   Elena is new to the shop and new to woodworking, so I thought this would be an ideal time to put all that we have learned about cabinetmaking into this "Elena tutorial."



   It took her very little time to learn how to use the guide rail and the TS55 Plunge Saw.


   We decided to add rabbets and dados as a part of the construction technique. Clearly they will add a tremendous amount of strength to this cabinet. Using the Festool OF1400 and a couple of spacers makes this a very easy task.



    She learned how to use pocket screws which really helps the construction process.

Festool OF 1000 E Plunge Router

Karla uses the Festool OF 1000 E Plunge Router for the first time. She will use it to make rabbets and dados for the cabinet she is building. With the guide rail system, it is the perfect companion to the circular saw.
   Click here to go there.

Festool OF 1400 Plunge Router

This mid-range Festool router is such a welcome partner to the Festool line. It has collets of 1/2", 1/4" and 8mm, soft start, speed control, soft start, smooth plunging, several types of dust collection attachments — and more. Elena gets her first use of it when she starts to learn cabinetmaking.
    Click here to go there

Festool OF 2000 E Plunge Router
 
    This is a great new router that is in the 3.5hp category. It is smooth start, electronic motor circuits, sealed bearings and has a very comfortable feel. Beth uses it to make party trays using the CMT  3D Router Carver System. The dust collection keeps allows her to make the carvings without dust accumulating.
    Click here to go there.

   Festool  Multifunction Table MFT 1080 —
  
    I saw this table used in the Festool video and thought it made lots of sense. I didn't realize it had so many features  until I started really using it. It is clever and well designed — a great shop aid for use with the circular saw and the router.
   Click here to go there


  I use the table with the plunge circular saw. It is way more capable than my compound miter saw.
   Click here to go there


 

    Beth and I used the saw to make absolutely true 45^o cuts the length of this column. The cuts were right on, and the 4 sides folded up as square as you could get.
Click here to go there



  I am adding a steel measuring tape to the tables fence. I want accuracy and speed at the table.
   Click here to go there

  



  Here are some clamps I use with the 3/4" hole grid of the multifunction table.
   Click here to go there

  
  
   I have setup the multifunction table for ripping narrow pieces and making rail and stile frames..
   Click here to go there




   It took some experimentation and "jigging" but it was worth it. I am now able to do very tight rail and stile work using the Festool Router and MultiFunction Table. Having this "skill" now, I can do  so many more practical woodworking projects.
   Click here to go there


     Andrea installed a Mast-R-Lift in the MultiFunction Table. It will be primarily used to make raised panel doors.
   Click here to go there

Festool Rotex RO 150 Grinder, Sander, Polisher

  This is one "hot" machine. I have quite a few orbital sanders but this is much more of a tool. I found very quickly that the dust collection on this machine really works. I don't mean that it picks up "a lot of the dust". It picks up all the dust in most cases. It has adjustment of amount of orbit and speed. Between those controls and the many pads and discs available, this is one very complete system.  Click here to go there

   There are two "screens" that can be used with oil or buffing compound to get to the perfect rubbed stage. They are 600 and 1200 grit equivalence. I used them with VelvitOil and turned the speed of the Rotex RO 150 down to slow and "hand rubbed" the panels. What a beautiful luster and smooth feel it gave them.
   Click here to go there

  


   Beth uses the Festool Rotex 150 with compounds from the Beall Buffing System to get a superb high gloss finish without any oils, varnishes or lacquers. She runs through the step-by-step process with a sample piece of Brazilian Cherry.
    Click here to go there

  
Festool Rotex RO 125 Grinder, Sander, Polisher
   The main difference with this new product is the size of the disc — 5" rather than 6". That may be the number one difference, but this is really a whole new machine. It is ergonomically designed, lighter, easier to hold, easier to switch modes — and more. On this page, Joslyn uses this new product and the old favorite the RO150. Click here to got here

  

 And another page on the Menzerna buffing/polishing method. It works so very well. We used the Festool RO150 and the Festool RO125 — two great machines for this finishing task.
                Click here to got here

Festool Hole Drilling Kit 
     Like most woodworkers, I have drilled thousands of holes for shelf clips, so when I saw the hole drilling kit, I had to try it. Not only did it work so well and effortlessly, the holes are crisp and clean.
     Click here to go there

   The Festool Hole Drilling Kit also makes drilling the 35mm hinge cup hole easier and more exacting.
     Click here to go there

Festool CDD 12 ES/MC 15 Plus Cordless Screwdriver
   I have been using this great tool for weeks and haven't really "reviewed" it, but here is a mention when I used the very convenient right angle chuck — it saved the day.  
   Click here to go there.

  An "All Festool Project"
    In the past weeks, Karla and I have spent a lot of time using many of the Festool products. More than one reader asked if a person who did not have a full shop, with table saw, jointer and all the rest,  — if could do whole woodworking projects with the "Festool Stack" as I have been calling the ensemble. At the time, I couldn't answer, but now I can — "Yes!!!" The CD Storage Cabinet was almost such a project. I used a bandsaw for resawing the book matched walnut, but other than that, I think it was totally a Festool project.    Click here to go there

The Festool VS600 is a very complete joint system. It does half-blind dovetails, through dovetails, box or finger joints and cabinet dowels. As with all the Festool line, it is a very well thought out system. 
      Click here to go there.

The Festool OF 1000 E Plunge Router can be used with the new Akeda Jig. This page will show you how.          Click here to go there.

The Festool Trion Jigsaws are available in two handle configurations. Gail and I tried them both. In the process, we made a large clock dial and enjoyed many of the great features of this new jigsaw.      
    Click here to go there.