All year long we've experience a drought, and deliveries and installs weren't a problem. After the deliveries, I found myself having some major fitting due to the room being so far out and couldn't cut or plane in the house without making a huge mess. The client had absolutely no place at all I could do my cutting, like a garage or porch and the rain came down for 3 day's straight once I got there. I don't have to tell you the frustrations for both of us. A room full of cabinets they couldn't use, and I couldn't complete to pick up the final payment.

I spotted Festool's set up a while back, and it was a hard swallow to justify the cost, but after these two back to back jobs, it was well worth the cost. They are a German company, with great engineering and allot of problem solving thoughts that went into their tool line. Allot of things are different than what we are use to seeing, but I'll tell you....... they sure made a believer out of me.

Festool has a great system, in that you can produce clean finished cuts fine enough to start using without taking that extra step of resizing on the table saw, or jointer. Since my back injury, I've begun to look at things a whole lot differently. This business going to the back of the shop to resize and handle things twice came to an end with Festool. Now...... I know this can be done with a regular saw and straight edge but the problem that happens is that a circular saws get beat up with time and I don't know how many times I've scratched some finished sheeting from some burr under the circular saw table. I've sanded the bottoms, then you leave the dirty aluminum markings. I've used tape on the edges to have it tear, then add another layer of tape and at some point its got to be all taken off again and replaced. Once your done with the saw, it gets knocked around in a cabinet, on the floor, or truck tool box to pick up more burrs. No one likes to buy tools twice, and it just didn't make sense to me to buy another circular saw when I already have one. Then comes the dust. Cutting MDF is about the messiest thing in the world. Try and sweep it out of the driveway and it takes forever. Cutting on the table saw even with dust collection, and a fine sediment settles everywhere.

Here's where I love the Festool system!!!!!!!!!!!! I can just grab a sheet off the truck and pull it on to my saw horses and cut my sheets to exactly what I need without re-sizing. With a regular straight edge, you measure what you need then deduct the saw table and I've seen to many times where my finished cut varied with all this measuring going on. Another thing that happens from time to time is not keeping the saw tightly against the straight edge, or too tight and have the edge move slightly because you didn't clamp it tight enough.

Festool has a great system. The straight edge has 3 strips of rubber that keeps the guide right where you place it. It takes quite an effort to slide the guide due to these rubber strips, and I soon found that I could cut without even clamping it down.

It does however, have a neat clamp that slides into a channel designed for their clamp, so that the clamp doesn't interfere with the saw when cutting.

Prior to doing any cutting, you run the saw down the guide cutting the access rubber. What this does is leave an exact zero tolerance left over that is placed right on the finished mark, and that's exactly where the cut will be, thus eliminating deducting and re measuring later. Cutting with a straight edge you have to use a certain amount of force to keep the saw against the edge, and a pushing motion to keep the saw going forward. Festool's system has a channel on the guide, and the saw has a matching groove that sits onto the channel. There's a small adjusting screw that eliminates any slight play in the groove, and the saw simply glides forward on the rail.

Now, why is this better? Well....... several reasons I couldn't understand till I actually got to try it. For openers, your not pushing, or holding anything tight......... you just glide the saw along its rail. No screw ups! Believe it or not, I'm actually cutting MDF in this pic below!!!!!!!!!!

Another thing I didn't consider was the plunge of the saw. This saw is different than a typical saw. Normally with a regular circular saw, you would wait till it stops, then set the saw on the floor or driveway, so the saw won't mark the finished material. Then what happens is that the table picks up a possible burr or pebble, and the next cut here comes a scratch. The plunge action of Festool's saw allows me to leave the saw right there, in the guide on the material. When my hand comes off the handle, the blade retracts, and saw stops dead.

Now, anyone who's put a saw down with out looking knows what a slowing blade can do to a chord. I've even had a Rockwell with a sticking guide creep along the floor on its teeth when I set it down, and run over my foot! Luckily I didn't get hurt, but the finished oak flooring had the teeth marks and a partial cut that had to be repaired, and that took care of the profit I had hope to make on that job. Now here's the best part. I'm one of these guy's from the old school. Learn how to do something one way, and you don't want to change the way its done. When HVLP came out and I started anything with a vacuum hose, I knew I was gona have an aggravation to deal with that would just turn my world upside down! Now comes sanders on DIY shows with cute little hoses, and gadgets that's just NEVER going to happen with this puppy, let alone some hose gizmo dangling off a circular saw.

I've got a collection of vac's that are ridiculous! A shop vac, portable smaller version, then a hand held dirt devil. All vac's hoses stink! Hoses are to stiff, to short and besides having little flexibility, they always come off the vac! Festools extractor (vac) is a total dream. It comes with a hose that's about 10', and extremely flexible. Its has power enough to be used as a shop vac, even though the hose is a bit smaller in diameter. Its got a nice ring type connection that plugs into the saw to catch the dust, and I mean it catches the dust, and guess what? Its got a bag system! Man......... know more blowing out the darn fins or wraps to increase suction anymore.

So here I am entertaining all these do dads, and I can just see my world turning upside down. Not only have I got this hose to deal with, but now comes extension chords up the yang-yang. Nope! One extension to the vac and that's it! The circular saw chord is plenty long to reach the entire cut, and get this....... it plugs right into the extractor (vac). Pretty neat heh?......but that isn't the end to the neat part. There's a switch on the Vac (extractor) that turns from auto-to manual. Manual when you want to run the vac alone but auto (now get this) turns on only when the saw trigger is activated. Yup...... no noisy vac to hear running before and after your cutting. Both turn on and off with the saw trigger. If you stop midway through the cut to answer a phone call....... just take you hand off the saw. The plunge retracts, stays in the guide still on the zero tolerance finish cut line, and the vac shuts off simultaneously. When your through, just pick up where you left off.......gliding the saw along the rail till completion. When its done, no mess to clean, no mask to wear and just start gluing! Man, I wished I had this set up on those two prior installations! The customer would have been happier, and I would have gotten my money that day..........and what a referral I would have got leaving a job neat as a pin.

Here's another bonus that I hadn't thought of, that Festool did. What do you do with this set up once your done? I hate boxes with a passion. I don't save any of them, but this one sits right on top of the extractor, so it just made sense to me to keep the box, and never worry about this saw getting knocked around picking up those dreaded burrs. The extractor has a handle so it can be carried in one hand, and wheels that are so neat to roll and have a lock when you don't want it to roll. I don't know how many times my shop vac has tipped over by pulling on the hose going around something. Ever empty a shop vac full of fine sawdust and shavings? Ha! There's another pain.

Here's another great use for this set up. Ever buy lumber that has a wicked crown (curve), and several passes on a jointer is a must before you can even think of using it? You dread the jointer either because your not that great with one, and usually end up still with a crown, or you don't have a large enough jointer to do this right or maybe not even having a jointer at all? Well..... you just lay the guide on the lumber, and just cut for a nice clean, straight rip that will be just as good as anything off a jointer! The blades they carry are not some "finish wanna bee's" but precision assortments to handle anything. This set up is a fine piece of engineering, and so is the carbide finish blade and also have special blades for cutting melamine that equal Forrest in my book.

There's no doubt in my mind the sander is next, so is the plane, and router. The cabinet I did on this last job had to be 3/8" wider than needed to be scribed. I used my DeWalt planer and the mess was unbelievable.

Here's another use. Ever have to cut door bottoms, like I had to do on this previous job and had no where to do this without creating a mess? Can't take it outside because its raining? Not anymore!

Look closely at how much MDF dust was left after the full 8' cut. What you also see is the small rubber particles from the prior cut. I swear, after sweeping these crumbs up, I could have placed everything on a quarter! Try that the next time you cut MDF!

Wait till the day comes you have to change out some T&G oak flooring and have to get a precision cut to remove and replace. The guide with those rubber strips, holds in place and you can expect the precision of a table saw in the cut. Have to replace sub floor but it goes under an existing wall? This saw guides along a wall, leaving only 3/8" left that will easily be covered when the baseboard is attached, after that sheet has been replaced. I keep wanting to say "the best feature is", but there are so many new discoveries I make the more I use it and could go on and on filling pages. All I can say is...... if you can justify the cost, you'll find this to be a great addition to your shop, just as I have. Is this some sort of "super saw"?.......I wouldn't go that far, but certainly offers allot for the money for my use. They have a package for the saw, vac, guide and extra blade for 675.00 and that's what I got mine for. I also think McFeeley's has the line, but visit Festools site at:

UPDATE 4/14/2005

While building my new hen house and used an old discarded French door window insert I picked up at the dump. Not having a table saw, shaper, or router table on site yet and still in storage, I was really going to put the Festool system to test as far as accuracy goes. I had some dry Poplar I used from a year old entry door we had on the barn. Notice, its not primo stuff, but dry! What I want to show is that these are about the worst conditions one could work with, and achieve absolutely precise accuracy with this system.

This was the molding I did. 7/16 x 3/8

and this is the result and using that old crappy Ash. Now, that old ash board along with 2 others made up a small entry door we used for the goat barn and now, that discarded door holds the glass on our new hen house. Not some major miracle woodworking project but just simply want to show how precise and accurate results are using my Festool system and haven't regretted my purchase one single bit. The moldings in both top and bottom of the left panes are the repairs. Excuse the paint job.... as I wanted to get a good seal for the weather.

and order a catalog. Also see John Lucas's site at: http://www.woodshopdemos.com/ for more information and use on this well engineered tool. Am I glad I bought it? You bet!