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Thread: Festool circular saw

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Baltimore, MD
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    171

    Festool circular saw

    OK, I may have said this before, but I have to say, this has to be one of my favorite tools. I mean this thing I put through its paces while building my house and many other projects. Sometimes even turning to it before my slider.

    I cannot thank Bob enough for the day I called offering this to me =). I have about 10 other saw both cordless and not, worm drives and regular. None compare to this. The rail and saw combo is absolutely excellent. If anyone is on the fence with this saw, please do take the plunge, you will never look back.

    One thing I don't like, but I haven't ready directions there may be a way to do this =). I would like to be able to lock it into its plunge position so I can easily use a bevel to adjust for angle. Trying to hold it in plunge and adjust for angle can be a bit tedious =).


    Well I'm done with my rant, go buy this saw!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
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    15,332
    Hey Chris,

    Long time no hear!

    Have you had a chance to check out the www.eurekazone.com stuff? There is a guy in the Classified section (Greg: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...1798#post81798) ready to sell his once he receives Dino's system!

    I'm really looking for folks who have worked BOTH systems. I won the first auction (see the link) and just received my stuff but won't have a chance to play with it for a little while.

    Welcome Back!
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Laguna Beach , Ca.
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    7,201
    Chris,
    I just also bought the festool plunge saw from Bob M. He shipped it very fast! I really haven't used it much yet. I did make some trial cute. It seems excellent. I don't think it works well for cutting without the guide rail like a regular framing saw. You have to plunge and guide the saw and the blade is on the right...making the view a bit difficult. What do you think? For sheet goods it seems really great! I will probably dedicate it to that use and get a left blade saw for more general work.
    "All great work starts with love .... then it is no longer work"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Grand Marais, MN. A transplant from Minneapolis
    Posts
    5,513
    Al right where ya been? We were getting real use to your daily shipments of the newest and nicest toyls in town. How about a pix update of the :

    Shop
    House
    Garage
    Dad's shop
    Investment property.
    & tool inventory????

    Welcome back Chris.
    TJH
    Live Like You Mean It.



    http://www.northhouse.org/

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Grand Marais, MN. A transplant from Minneapolis
    Posts
    5,513
    [QUOTE=Chris Padilla]Hey Chris,

    Long time no hear!

    Have you had a chance to check out the www.eurekazone.com stuff? There is a guy in the Classified section (Greg: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...1798#post81798) ready to sell his once he receives Dino's system!

    I'm really looking for folks who have worked BOTH systems. I won the first auction (see the link) and just received my stuff but won't have a chance to play with it for a little while.


    Gee Chris,
    I'm thinking price alone is going to dictate superior quality. If the Fes. is all I hear it is?? There is no dicussion!
    TJH
    Live Like You Mean It.



    http://www.northhouse.org/

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
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    15,332
    Mark,

    I just picked up the Smart Guide system from Dino so I'm torn right now. I was saving up dollars for the Festool plunge but I am going to hold off now.

    My trusty Skil Mag worm-drive saw is near and dear to my heart and has never let me down. Only when I turned it on it's side 90 degrees for several hours did it finally get mad at me and demanded I let it cool down!

    I also have the Clamp-It tool guide and it works well for me but only for cross-cuts...no ripping of sheet material. If I have to rip long, I do it on the TS still or I hunt around for a decently straight 2x4.

    I've successfully trimmed a door with my method. I have a nice CMT blade in my Skil, however--makes a big difference.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Oakland, MI
    Posts
    494
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Singer
    Chris,
    I just also bought the festool plunge saw from Bob M. He shipped it very fast! I really haven't used it much yet. I did make some trial cute. It seems excellent. I don't think it works well for cutting without the guide rail like a regular framing saw. You have to plunge and guide the saw and the blade is on the right...making the view a bit difficult. What do you think? For sheet goods it seems really great! I will probably dedicate it to that use and get a left blade saw for more general work.
    I just got my saw about two weeks ago and have been very pleased with it as well. I also, however, wonder about its use without the guide because the blade is hard to see, even though I'm a lefty. I find it easier to use right handed (lefties are used to that anyway) but that is easy for me with the guide to help.

    Just last night I started making some saw horses for a cutting table patterned after Nick Engler's design. It calls for 25 degree, or 65 degree depending on how you view it, crosscuts on the legs that are more rip than crosscut. (Boy that's clear!) Anyway, by setting the angle on a miter with a stop for the overall length on my version of Festool's MFT, this was a piece of cake. The cuts in the pine 2x4s were like glass and every leg was exactly the same when laid next to each other. I think the ability to overide the return spring for purposes of settin up angle and such would be nice too. I am sure this can cause some safety issues and is probably why the feature is not there so I can deal with it. As it exists today this has got to be the safest CS around.

    BTW, I have made an adapter for using my Bosch router with the guide rail. It is not perfected yet and probably will never be as elegant as using one of Festool's Routers but I think it will allow me to use the system for things like stopped dadoes and sliding dovetails. Still have my eye on a Festool router. Trying to adapt tools to other systems always presents some unique challenges and gives you new appreciation for the tool designs that work so well, like Festool's.

    Greg

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Oakland, MI
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    494
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla
    Mark,

    I just picked up the Smart Guide system from Dino so I'm torn right now. I was saving up dollars for the Festool plunge but I am going to hold off now.
    Chris,

    I am interested in your opinion of Dino's system. He won big points with me in a previous thread about his system versus Festool's. His remark was something along the line of 'Lay off Festool. There not the ones making dumb tools.' That's not a direct quote and I am too lazy to look it up but I think it's close enough.

    Gotta love that atitude.

    Greg

  9. #9
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    Dec 2003
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    SF Bay Area, CA
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    Greg,

    I plan to get to it but it will be a month or two before I really tear into the system Dino sent me, unfortunately.

    I'm currently emptying my garage so I can gut it and remodel it.

    Your paraphrase of Dino's quote sounds about right to me. I'll hold off just a bit longer for the plunge saw/guide from Festool and give Dino's system a going through. I do think a Rotex is in my future, however, and perhaps a jigsaw.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Oakland, MI
    Posts
    494
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla
    Greg,

    I plan to get to it but it will be a month or two before I really tear into the system Dino sent me, unfortunately.

    I'm currently emptying my garage so I can gut it and remodel it.

    Your paraphrase of Dino's quote sounds about right to me. I'll hold off just a bit longer for the plunge saw/guide from Festool and give Dino's system a going through. I do think a Rotex is in my future, however, and perhaps a jigsaw.
    Wasn't it refreshing to read Dino's remark? Made me like him right off the bat. I have the Rotex and it is very nice. Being able to go from aggressive to normal random and even polishing is very convenient. And all that stuff about no dust is true. Just a finger whipe on the surface but nothing in the air! I read a comment sometime ago about someone picking a different vac over the Festool because it seemed to have a stonger pull. I find I run the Festool about half throttle when sanding because that's all I need and it is even more quiet! The efficiency of the dust collection is designed in so well that you don't need all that extra suction. I've been around compressed air usage all my life and increased air movement is a real contributor to hearing loss. I did some work Monday morning in the shop, real intermittant and short term TS usage, and did not bother with my ear-muffs. Big mistake! My daughter visited in the afternoon and I had a hard time hearing her voice when there was any background noise. Hearing protection is talked about alot on this forum and with good reason. When somebody joins in and says "I'm new to woodworking and what tools should I buy?" I think we should all be stressing hearing protection. When someone complains about the cost of good tools we don't often stress the hearing loss as a hidden expense of cheap tools. Boy, am I ranting or what? And in your case Chris, probably preaching to the choir.

    Greg

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    SF Bay Area, CA
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    Greg,

    I'm big on hearing protection--even more so than eye protection! I'll admit I need to remedy this and get my eye protection up to the level of hearing! I really feel sorry for those kids who drive around rattling house windows from the 'way too loud' bass they have going. Their low-frequency hearing will be shot at 30-40 years old and it only makes them turn it up louder so they can hear it--ironic, isn't it....

    Anyway, I have a Festool vacuum and the 150/5 ROS and I keep the vacuum cranked up to max but I think I'll take a page from the Greg Mann book and try and dial back the green knob a bit. I still wear hearing protection while sanding but I almost don't need to.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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    Greg, this is in response to your comment "Just last night I started making some saw horses for a cutting table patterned after Nick Engler's design." I made these saw horses as well and they are GREAT! I don't know how I lived without them for so many years.
    Last edited by Frank Pellow; 07-07-2004 at 5:44 PM.

  13. #13
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    Mar 2004
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    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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    Mark, this is in response to your comment: "I don't think it works well for cutting without the guide rail like a regular framing saw."

    I have cut all the framing for my workshop using the saw as a framing saw (with a corse blade, of course) and love it. The saw excels with the rail but, in my opinion, it goodin all other applications as well. I doubt that I (voluntarily) will ever use another brand of circular saw again.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2004
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    Oakland, MI
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pellow
    Greg, this is in response to your comment "Just last night I started making some saw horses for a cutting table patterned after Nick Engler's design." I made these saw horses as well and they are GREAT! I don't know how I lived without them for so many years.
    Frank,
    You might be interested to know that I had been meaning to make this cutting table set-up since I first saw it but finally was inspired to get going when I saw you using it and the Festool saw in your workshop thread. So when I was up late last night and my wife wanted to know when I was going to be finished I told her it was your fault.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla
    Anyway, I have a Festool vacuum and the 150/5 ROS and I keep the vacuum cranked up to max but I think I'll take a page from the Greg Mann book and try and dial back the green knob a bit. I still wear hearing protection while sanding but I almost don't need to.
    Chris,
    Let me know how throttling back works for you. BTW, how do you like the 150/5? I was thinking about the 150/3 eventually since I have the Rotex. Then again, it works so well I may not ever find the need and I already mentioned I had my eye on a Festool router.....

    Greg

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    SF Bay Area, CA
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    You'll get a tad more mileage out of your NE sawhorse set-up by tossing a 1.5-2" thick piece of rigid foam insulation on top of them. I think they are $3-4 a 4x8 sheet at the orange box.

    I often use mine right on the garage floor or driveway as I haven't YET made the sawhorse set up.

    The 150/5 is awesome...what can I say? I was thinking to pick up the Rotex, sell the 150/5, and also pick up a 150/3 but we'll see. That is a lot of money into sanders and I'm not sure it is necessary once I have the Rotex. I get a spectacular finish with the 150/5...can the 150/3 top it??? BTW, I have a Makita Polisher that I plan to dump when I get the Rotex.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

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