IRFIG Saturday May 3, 2014 Meeting at Festool North American Headquarters, Lebanon IN

The Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group has been invited to visit the North American Distribution Center  at Lebanon IN.  Not only will we see this very pleasant (yes pleasant) warehouse, but the general offices and more importantly the training center and conference room.

Brian is going to bring in some coffee and refreshments to start the morning off.  I suspect there might be some hats and T-shirts!  The entire line of tools and accessories will be available for demonstration.  We will concentrate on, but not necessarily be limited to routers to get things going.

Here are the details:

Date and time:  Saturday May 3, 2014 from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

Location:  Festool North American Headquarters, Lebanon IN,   North from Indy on I-465 to State Road 32, west for less than 1/4 mile on SR 32, then south at the light, first building on the right.  Sign on outside says “Festool” 

400 N Enterprise Dr  Lebanon, IN 46052

Carpooling.  We are not planning on organizing a carpool.  It’s less than 30 miles from the store and I live half-ways over there so I am not going to backtrack.  If you know one of the other attendees , connect up with them.

Hope to see you there.  Roger Muller

“

 

 

March 15, 2014 The Festool Kapex

THE INDIANAPOLIS ROCKLER FESTOOL INTEREST GROUP — IRFIG

.. a place for current and prospective Festool owners to share knowledge

The Festool Kapex redefined expectations of miter saws when launched in the US in  2008.  Brian Sedgely, national tool trainer for FestoolUSA will be with us to discuss features and usage of the Kapex.

The presentation will start at 9:00 am and run until 11:00 am at Rockler Castleton IN store.

Saturday, March 15, 9 to 11 am.  Mark your calendars!   Bring a friend.  Advance registration is not required.

Remember to look at our blog   http://www.irfig.wordpress.com

January 18, 2014 The Festool Carvex

The January 18, 2014 meting had  a presentation by Brian Sedgely, national sales  trainer for the U.S. on the Carvex.  There was not a post to this blog prior to the meeting.  Several short videos will be eventually added to the site to cover a few of the “niche” points covered — inserting blade, machine use, etc.  All attending agreed this was a very significant upgrade of an already fantastic machine.

October 26, 2013 The Festool Dominos

THE INDIANAPOLIS ROCKLER FESTOOL INTEREST GROUP — IRFIG

.. a place for current and prospective Festool owners to share knowledge

The October 26 meeting: – We will be working with the Domino and Domino XL, Festool’s mortising machines for free-floating tenons.  Not only will features on the machines will be discussed, but workflow and hints for successful use will be presented.

Date:   Saturday October 26, 2013,  9 :00 am to 11:00 am., Rockler Store at Castleton Mall, Indianapolis, IN

Registration:   Please call the store (317/578-9750) to register for the event.  While space is not restricted, we would like to have an idea for space-planning purposes.  Last minute drop-ins are always welcome.

The Domino is  a precise woodworking machine.  Learn how to manage this precision.  Feel free to bring your woodworking challenges for the instructor Roger Muller who is factory-trained.  Existing owners are welcome to bring their own machines.

Sessions (times are approximate and will float as approriate):

9:00  to 10:00  Technical Review of the Dominos  – Classroom and Demonstration Style

10:00 to 11:00  Workflow — techniques, joints, etc.   What to do and what not to do!

Added Demonstration — BLOKKZ Clamping Aids

Glueing up a 22″ bevel miter with 4 Dominos, Using the Blokkz Clamps to tighten miter over the distance.  Watch these unbelievable clamping aids draw the miter joints tight.  See http://www.blokkz.com for more information.  You can never have too many clamps!  There are 12 in action here.

Tools, projects and personnel will be available for a period of time after this .  Some video taping may or may not be done.  You are welcome to stay and watch.

About the Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group

• Group’s purpose is education and information sharing
• Rockler views this activity as a marketing service to current and future customers.  The sessions will not be intensive sales activities
• Roger Muller, Rockler associate, is serving as facilitator.  Over time, other Rockler personnel and IRFIG participants will be instructors/speakers.
• Meetings are to be conducted at approximate intervals of one to two months.  Exact day of week and time of day and length of meeting will be adjusted as the group develops..
• Attendees are encouraged (actually expected) to present in the future about their experiences.
• You do not need to have purchased equipment from Rockler to attend.  If you have purchased elsewheres — you are still welcome.
• You do not need to be a current owner of Festool equipment

Contacts:   Rockler Indianapolis, 317/578-9750

Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

8452 Castleton-Corner Dr

Indianapolis, IN 46250

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May 11, 2013 IRFIG Session to be Held at Festool North American Distribution Center, Lebanon IN

The Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group has been invited to visit the North American Distribution Center  at Lebanon IN.  Not only will we see this very pleasant (yes pleasant) warehouse, but the general offices and more importantly the training center and conference room.

Brian is going to bring in some coffee and refreshments to start the morning off.  I suspect there might be some hats and T-shirts!  The entire line of tools and accessories will be available for demonstration.  We will concentrate on, but not necessarily be limited to routers to get things going.

Here are the details:

Date and time:  Saturday May 11, 2013 from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

Location:  Festool North American Headquarters, Lebanon IN,   North from Indy on I-465 to State Road 32, west for less than 1/4 mile on SR 32, then south at the light, first building on the right.  Sign on outside says “Tooltechnic Systems, LLC ”

400 N Enterprise Dr  Lebanon, IN 46052

(765) 482-4500

Carpooling.  We are not planning on organizing a carpool.  It’s less than 30 miles from the store and I live half-ways over there so I am not going to backtrack.  If you know one of the other attendees , connect up with them.

Hope to see you there.

 

 

Review of April 13, 2013 IRFIG — Festool Saws and Accessories

Thank you Brian Sedgely, national Festool trainer for joining this Festool User Group and the enthusiastic participants at Rockler Castleton.  Here is a brief summary of what was covered.

1.  Joining track with the Festool supplied connectors.  Do not make this a complicated process.  First do not push the 2 tracks tightly together, leave a slight gap of less than 1/16 ” (just so you can see light).   Then STRADDLE THE SAW over the joint and tighten the screws.  You want smooth action on the guide as this is what keeps the saw sliding nicely without binding.  Do not mess with straight edges, etc. on the very outside edges.  Be concerned only with the smoothness over the area the saw straddles.  It will then work smoothly.  DO NOT carry jointed guide rails in a fashion where you can lever the joint, causing it to flex.  Give support to the joint.

2.  Power cord.  The power cord with the TS 55 is 16 gauge.  It is the cord without the extra bump out on the connector.  All other tools have 18 gauge wire with the bump out on the connector.  The more flexible 18 gauge cord allows more maneuverability in sanding in tight spots.  Yours truly had an 18 gauge cord on his personal saw that was field modified to remove the bump out on the connector (amputation with shop utility knife).  As a result, I could be starving the saw on current under heavy use.  Someplace out there I have the correct cord.  It probably is on my boom arm.  I am going to followup on this and clearly brand the correct saw cord with something like green tape!

 3.  Installing new plastic splinter guard tape on guide rails.  The old “black style”  tape has been replaced with a clear plastic.  The old foam style was trimmed at low speed.  The new clear style is best trimmed at high speed for a cleaner cut.

 4.  Splinter guard tape — this may or may not be a good recommendation for most users.  If you use the rails for joining together with other rails with connectors, you want the splinter guard tape approaching (within 1/8″ ) the end of the rail.  If you do not do this, you may wish to do the following:    Leave 2 inches on each end without splinter tape on them.  This really helps remind you that the track saw needs to be fully engaged on the track and held in place with the fore and aft compression  mechanisms properly engaged on the guide rail.

5.  Cutting 45 degree bevels.   Make sure your left hand puts some pressure on the left side of the saw base to keep the saw from lifting or drifting off.  This requires very little pressure

 6.  New torsion box designed for table top use by Roger Muller (me).  Lots of compliments.  Sketchup plans with legs will be published later.

Torsion Box without legs dropped on MFT

 7.  TS 55 REQ — many evolutionary enhancements

• Saw will tilt an extra 1 or 2 degrees.  47 and -1 degree cuts possible (this is a big deal for those doing long folded miter cuts where the tips must meet.
• Changes to splinter guard.  Now can be either a clear plastic insert with enhancements  to aid in collecting dust at the front of the blade, or it can be more like the conventional splinter guard with an up and down engage/disengage feature which is real slick.  Old and new splinter guards are NOT interchangeable
• Ability to cut 1/2″ from wall when installing flooring (almost flush).
• Riving knife now engages into preexisting kerf to allow continuation of previous cut.  Nice new feature if cut needs to be extended, does not interfere with previous functionality of riving knife.
• Slightly better dust collection efficiency
• Dual labeling on the cut depth gauge.  Now has optional stick-on Imperial/English units scale for those who do not wish to use metric
• Automatic depth adjustment for thickness of guide.  Just set the the thickness of the material, not the material plus guide depth thickness as had to be done in the past.

8.  Parallel guides and extensions were demonstrated on material less than 5/8″ thick on the torsion box.  This shows functionality of guides and additional support required for thinner materials.

Videos may (or may not — depends on time) become available on some of these key points at future dates.

April 13, 2013 at Rockler Castleton IN — Festool Saws

Everyone is welcome — Current and potential future Festool Track Saw owners.

We’ll be meeting from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

Brian Sedgely (National Festool Sales Trainer) and Roger Muller (of Rockler) will be presenting the TS75 EQ and the new TS55 REQ saws the first hour.  Following a short break, we will move on to the assorted guide rails, the parallel guides and parallel guide extensions.  Weather-permitting, we will spend the second hour outside working on plywood sheets.

Click here to download a brochure:  2013_041313_IRFIG_Trifold Brochure

Visit These Websites Before You Come, They are a Great Preview:

Festool Video

http://www.tracksaw.com

3 Videos by Roger Muller (Breaking Up Sheet Goods Such as Plywood)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4VTxEGyU0Y&list=PL02B2683AE384BED4

One of these videos was Cabinetmaker and FDM Magazine 2010 training video of the year.  Another has over 94,000 hits.

April 13 is Roger’s birthday.  Come help celebrate and learn lots about Festool Saws and Workflows!

Review of Feb 16, 2013 Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group — Sanding and Polishing

The 4-hour meeting was attended by 18 registered attendees, several walk-ins, and numerous customers in the Rockler store.

Principles of sanding and key features of Festool Sanders were discussed by Roger Muller.

Then, Brian Sedgely, national Festool Sales trainer, discussed Festool models, demonstrated proper sanding techniques and moved into an extensive polishing techniques demonstration.

More extensive notes and/or video may or may not be published at a future date on this blog.  In the meantime, here are 2 pieces of information that will be useful:  (a)  the tools and accessories discussed and demonstrated that were of most interest to attendees and (b) procedures used to polish finished wood to a very high gloss finish.

The first item contains a finished picture in addition to the steps.  It is a downloadable PDF file that most likely will open following download.

IRFIG_2013_021613_PolishingDemoSteps

The second item is an Excel spreadsheet  converted to PDF which in turn is downloadable.  It will open when you download.  Nearly all of these items are either in, or will be added to Rockler Castleton IN inventory.  The remainder can be special order.

IRFIG_2013_021613_Sanders_Items_of Interest

IRFIG Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group

Announcing

The Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group — IRFIG

.. a place for current and prospective Festool owners to share knowledge

First Meeting: – a special kick-off event at Rockler Woodworking and Hardware Castleton store in Indianapolis IN  — A “HANDS-ON” event emphasizing sanding processes and Festool sanders.  Participants will be able to use tools on real projects.  The event will be held in the unoccupied retail space immediately adjacent to the Rockler store.

Date:   February  Saturday 16  9 :00 am to 1:00 pm

Registration:   Please call the store (317/578-9750) to register for the event.  While space is not restricted, we need to get an accurate number for lunch.

Theme:   Making Sanding Fun!  — The Festool Sanders

How many times have you heard a woodworker say “sanding is fun”?  Almost never!  Once you:  (1) understand the reasons for sanding, (2) understand the underlying principles of how to accomplish the desired outcome. (3) have the proper sanding machines. (4) have proper abrasives. and (5) have effective dust control, you will enjoy the experience.  Festool has 12 sanders in their product line.  Festool also has numerous families of abrasivesin a wide variety of grits.  In addition, there are pads, buffers and other accessories.  The Festool CT vacuums complete the sanding system.  These tools provide for not only an enjoyable sanding experience, but an enjoyable wood finishing experience as well.

Sessions (times are approximate and will float as approriate):

9:00  to 10:00  Introducing the IRFIG, Sanding and Festool – Classroom and Demonstration Style

• About the Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group
• Sanding overview and theory
• Festool sander line (there are 12 machines), what are the strengths of each machine?
•  The abrasives — what do you use where?

10:00 to 11:00  Attendee “hands on use”

• We will have nearly all sander models for you to work with.  Current owners — bring your machines and/or projects with you.
• Plenty of raw wood samples to work with
• A refinishing project.  This 30+ years-old play kitchen needs refinishing.  Have at it!  You will have hands-on experience with all of the sanders and abrasives to take off the old finish and prepare these items for spray finishing
• OWNERS OF EXISTING SANDERS ARE URGED TO BRING THEM ALONG.  Additional equipment will be appreciated.

11:00 to 12:00  LUNCH Break and Speaker.  Light lunch and drinks provided.

Brian Sedgely, National Festool Trainer from Lebanon IN will join us to talk about two new tools in the Festool line just now being introduced:

• CMS Router Table
• Planex LHS 225 Drywall Sander

12:00 to 12:30  Sanding  Flat Surfaces and Moldings

Plywood, veneered projects and several types of moldings will be discussed.  Again, there will be assorted materials including these birds-eye maple panels which are parts for a shelving unit under construction that will allow for hands-on experience.

12:30 to 1:00  Finishing and Polishing

Festool sanders and abrasives are useful not only for sanding raw wood, but are useful for between coat sanding and for final polishing.  A number of panels that are at intermediate stages in the finishing process will be used for demonstrating finishing process and the roles sanders play —    sealed only, first coat of finish, second coat of finish, etc.  In addition scrap pieces at intermediate stages will be available for “hands on work”.  Finishing steps will include not only the the final finishing steps, but polishing out to a gloss surface with abrasives such as pumice and rottenstone and wax polishing.

1:00   Official Adjournment of Formal Meeting

Tools, projects and personnel will be available for a period of time after this .

About the Indianapolis Rockler Festool Interest Group

• Group’s purpose is education and information sharing
• Rockler views this activity as a marketing service to current and future customers.  The sessions will not be intensive sales activities
• Roger Muller, Rockler associate, is serving as facilitator.  Over time, other Rockler personnel and IRFIG participants will be instructors/speakers.
• Meetings are to be conducted at approximate intervals of one to two months.  Exact day of week and time of day and length of meeting will be adjusted as the group develops.
• Not all meetings will be as intensive as the sander and saw “kick-offs”
• Proposed second meeting:  “Saws and Acccessories”.  This will again be an intensive “kick off” event covering circular saws, guide rails, the parallel guides and extensions, the MFT-3 table and more.
• Proposed third meeting:  Routers  (format undecided)
• Beyond this — shorter meetings, field trips and whatever else attendees desire.
• Attendees are encouraged (actually expected) to present in the future about their experiences.
• You do not need to have purchased equipment from Rockler to attend.  If you have purchased elsewheres — you are still welcome.
• You do not need to be a current owner of Festool equipment

Contacts:   Rockler Indianapolis, 317/578-9750

Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

8452 Castleton-Corner Dr

Indianapolis, IN 46250