Festool's Dovetail Jig and the 1000E router
Being EXTREMELY happy and enthused so far with Festool products, I was very excited in trying the dovetail machine and router. The concept of working dust free really swung me over, and gave me a whole new outlook in woodworking. Dovetail making has to be the only messiest function left to conquer in the shop, and I really was eager to try this baby out.
First of all..... the Dovetail Jig has the appearance of a heavy duty, well engineered precision piece one could expect. It has every adjustment imaginable, and then some. I really liked the preset stops that have been molded according to the template selection and it eliminates the hastle of figuring out the correct settings.
The downside was keeping the selection tight so it wouldn't move. The adjustment knob appears to be a finger tight type knob, but every time I removed stock, the setting moved also. To correct this, I had to use pliers and give it a little more torque. The stops are labled for each template, and the settings are automatic. Now this was nice!
The instruction book was detailed and included pictures for router set up, and the jig. The downside was the average person here in the US uses inches rather than metric, and trying to figure out which templates to stock thicknesses is impossible without some sort of metric measuring device.
The router, is a light plunge type and even with this design I found it to be very well balanced and easily handled as well as adjusting. I must admit that I thought it would be under powered at 1 1/4hp, but it handled this operation with a breeze, and without the slightest detectible change in sound, as it ate its way through the work load. It's not the type of router one would use to make raised panels in a router table, but the balance and lightness it has, it will be used for rabbeting cabinet backs, trimming laminate tops, and edge round over's of my drawers. Being able to hook up the extractor on laminate trimming should be particularly advantageous. The downside is that the router comes with two collets for 6mm, 1/4", and 8mm, leaving out ½" bits, but that's OK for what I'll be using it for. Bits can also be ordered through Festool pretty reasonable I might add, and the bits I have seem to be excellent quality.
The templates come designed for specific uses, recommended bits, and copying guides that are installed on the router for each individual template.
Each template has its own specific copying guide. The guide has a lip and fits exactly into each template finger, without slop and room for error.
Each copying guide also comes with its own centering mandrel designed for that ring and template so the bit is exactly centered, and no chance for error. Each template has precision fine tune adjustments for in and out seating of the dovetail, using a rotary wheel that can be dialed in or out, then locked in place. The router also has fine tuning (in metric) but....... using the pre determined metric numbers in the booklet for each template, its easy to adjust the router and if finer adjustments are needed then a small turn of the fine adjustment knob + or - in increments of .1 will bring you in where you need to be.
Once adjusted for this template, the router has a revolving 3 pin stop turret adjustment you can set, and once the desired setting is made, then next time around won't be as time consuming like the first time. Just dial the turret to the appropriate one, and go. The template also once adjusted and everything is tightened, no further set up is required from then on. This set up like any other, and has a learning curve.
The router has variable speeds, and also very smooth start up's without the jerking commonly seen in routers.
Like anything else out there, to expect perfect results the first time out is unrealistic, and this is what I found so far.
I made several attempts with full 3/4" stock x 7.5" width. I tried using the router with the dust catcher and decided that the shroud with hose connection hooked up to the extractor would probably best serve me.
Right off the bat I saw it put me in an uncomfortable position due to the router being so well balanced without all these add on's, now seemed heavily leaning toward the outside. This posed a problem with keeping the lip of the copying ring seated right to follow the finger grooves. Once seated, it followed the finger template fine, but once out of the finger template.... the top heavy balance of the router made it difficult to realign the ring back in the finger to start another pass. In order to get it to perform right, I had to slightly keep my wrist twisted a tad, and apply pressure to the base plate so it remained perfectly flat on the template.
I suppose in time I could get use to this, but it felt un natural. I tried a different position, holding the handle with the left hand, and being right handed, this felt awkward. The other problem I found was the 1" square tube tension bar unable to keep the stock in place well enough for consistent precision cutting on smaller pieces such as the 3/4"x7.5" I was doing. The booklet shows the ability to mill 2 sets of adjoining sides.... thus keeping the tension bar theoretically stable applying equal pressure. I found that the bar needs excessive tightening, more than one would think and even then....... the tension bar takes a slight arc resulting in the piece being held down only on one edge and force of the router cutting in, that edge acts as a pivot allowing the back end of the top piece to move, causing miss alignment of the cut.
I was really frustrated with this because each faulty cut resulted in stock removal and if this had been a project........this lumber would have been wasted.
It took several attempts to figure out what was going on, and going back to the manual I noticed that Festool offers additional tightening knobs for both tension bars, that can be placed in the center of each bar, that would keep the arc from happening. This knob is an accessory.
After seeing this.... I compared this unit to another cheaper unit I've been using and noticed that the smaller unit had a cam in the center. The cam has a center off set rotating wheel that applies pressure to the stock with a quick flip of a handle.
Once adjusted to the height, and piece inserted into this unit, the lever is lowered with enough pressure to hold the piece in place securely.
I think if Festool had the same feature, this unit would be much faster to use, and less chancy with wasted stock. It didn't take long to conclude that after several attempts.... the fighting that was going on keeping the copying ring working right, was to get rid of the attachment and hose. This put the router balance back on the unit and routing went much faster and easier, with absolute precision.
The first set was in poplar, and one more tiny adjustment and it will seat perfectly
Keeping my finger on the bar, it acted as a pivot and I was able to slide in and out of the finger with speed and ease. Pictured is a completed set done with yellow pine. Nice and clean, and as perfect as one could hope for from a dovetail jig. In both of these samples, there was absolutely no tearout on the backside.
I think if the router was designed so that the hose comes off the top as with the 621 DeWalt, this set up would be a winning combination. On to the wide stock, where I wanted this most. This will enable me to do chests and pieces that are 2' or so. I laminated a few pieces so I could get a wide enough piece. This piece was about 20" and first shot went smooth as silk, and fit like a glove. The arc was still present, but at least there was pressure contact on both edges of the work piece this time
Now this......... was a pleasure to do, and to view. It didn't move because pressure from the beam held down both ends snugly.
This is a thing of beauty on this long joint, and just look at the close up on this fit!
Most jigs will only allow about 11.5 or 12", but Festools has a capacity of 25 ½ .
Over all opinions are that while it can do many different joints in many sizes of stock, its slow to use but accurate. Careful attention has to be given to every knob, adjustment, and hold down BEFORE cutting begins, or it will be an exercise in futility. There is a long learning curve due to the many functions its capable of and can be a nice addition in custom work, but not a machine for production due to the time between cutting and lack of a locking cam which I find quicker and easier to use.
Hand tightening and loosening between operations is loss of time, with room for error should one turn be ½ a turn shy. The various templates that can be obtained really offers a lot of versatility in projects. One of the most important functions in a shop is set up time. The less time in changing over for different operations can affect profits and is why I have several routers that are dedicated for specific tasks. The ability to do 24" joints meant a lot to me, and now I have that added ability in my custom applications. Worth it? Well....... it depends on the user. I recently declined from an order for 12 cherry horse bridle chests and had I this set up....... I would have taken commission.
I haven't had the chance or opportunity to use "all" of the templates yet, but as I do and my experience grows with this unit, you will see it on the site in actual use or in this review later.
You might also want to contact Bob Marino at: ROBARLMAR@aol.com where I ordered mine from
