Any Festool Advice???

I think you should pass on it! It’s a horrible deal. Oh, just for interest sake, if you can give me the guys number…NOW NOW NOW!!!...but yes, please pass!

All kidding aside, cajun, The RO150 is worth the price. The CT22 is worth it too. The TS55 is worth it. If you can get them all for $400 and you pass on this, then I’m coming to wherever you live, and hitting you on the head with a spade.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Make sure it’s not stolen (that is, as you say, one heck of a deal). You might ask to see the original receipts.

Make a cut with the saw on the rail to make sure that the saw baseplate is flat and that the blade is in alignment (ie: the saw hasn’t been dropped from some great height). You should get a completely joinable edge (ie: you’d feel totally happy gluing it up against another such edge) on a rip.

Run the Rotex in both modes.

Run all three devices at various speeds.

Then buy this. You won’t regret it.

Yes, the dust extractor works great as a shop vac, in fact we use ours as the general purpose household vac (with the addition of a brush/nozzle kit). You’ll probably end up looking towards a Multi-Function Table before too long, or build your own rail on a hinge to do cross-cutting. It should also come with a rail, but that rail will be short enough that you can’t cut a full 8’ sheet lengthwise (you can cut it across, though, so that one rail might be all you need for a while). You can work around this, but you may end up looking for another rail (I use the one that came with my MFT with the joiners) if you start making longer cuts in sheet goods.

Know that you’ll want the Festool specific sandpaper for the extra holes in it for better dust collection. It’s more expensive than the cheap stuff, but it’s in-line with other good consumables.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

Thanks Mot and Dan.

I think that I will take the deal and join the Festool clan. I have a good source that runs a Pawn Shop and the equipment was sold to him by a Counter Shop that went out of business, he even has the original Invoice for the pieces – totalling $1275 new (and they don’t look that old).

After Katrina, this area was flooded – the flooding occurred in two parts – first the water from Katrina and the Levees breaking, then we were flooded by out of state contractors trying to get some business from all of the flooded homes and businesses. Well, the work is slowing down and now the tools are being sold off by some of the smaller guys that can’t compete with the larger contractors.

Now it’s time to take advantage of some good tool prices.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Sounds like a fantastic deal, Bill. And at that price I think you should buy first and ask questions later, but you can point questions over to the Festool Owner's Group, there’s a lot of good accumulated knowledge there.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

I hadn’t thought of the “stolen,” angle, Dan. I live up here in rural Alberta where a deal is still, occasionally, a deal. I let my enthusiasm magnify my naiveté. It does sound like it fell off the back of a truck.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Oh, down sides (at $400 for the lot they don’t really matter, but I figured I’d mention them):

The CT22 uses bags and needs a special insert for wet vacuuming, otherwise you clog up the HEPA filter right fast. The bags aren’t cheap, but you can also run the bags up extremely full, and some people put a mini-cyclone in between the vacuum and the tool.

I mentioned that you’ll want the Festool sandpaper. Again, not cheap, but you probably already know that there are grades of sandpaper, and the Festool prices are inline with good sandpaper, not exorbitant, you just don’t have any choice but to buy the good stuff.

You’ll probably want to make totally sure that you’ve got the saw vertical. There are set screws on the base to do this, do the usual “double the error” trick, make a cut, flip the wood, make sure that they result is flush, on a bunch of cuts to get it dead on. And you probably already know about the little thumbscrews that make sure that the saw runs tight on the rail, if not, there are a few third party manuals as PDFs floating around the web for the Festools, they’re worth reading.

I don’t have the Rotex (I have the ETS150/5), but everyone I’ve heard from who has it raves about it, so it must be pretty good.

And if the saw has been used a bunch, treat yourself to a blade sharpening first…

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

Sounds like a great deal Bill. As long as everything runs and is in good shape, I am sure you will really like it.

Let us know what you do.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Bill,
Tell the guy that if he throws in the Domino, he’s got a deal ;^D

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

If the tools came from a flooded workshop…?

-- John

That’s why I said “run ‘em first, at different speeds”. If they run well, then the only thing you may have lost from a flooding is some bearing life.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke