The New Festool Conturo, (no, it’s not an armchair)

In keeping with their philosophy of thinking outside the box Festool has again demonstrated that they’re the most innovative tool company on the planet with the release of their new edge banding system, the Conturo
The Conturo allows for the easy and clean application of a variety of thicknesses and widths of edge banding (lippings) to all types of manufactured timber boards including ply, mdf & chipboard.
As well as handling straight edges the contour easily applies branding to bevels, internal and external curves.

The attached videos from Festool UK will help you explain the machine in greater detail so if you’re interested please take the time to watch them

Introduction

Applying edging.

Applying edging to curved surfaces,

Edge Banding internal Corners/

The Conturo has been released in the UK and from what Ive heard it’s doing fairly well there. Festool Australia have advised me that they don’t have a release date or pricing yet, but looking at the UK pricing I’d guess that it will retail for around the $3900 to $4450 mark.

Like all Festool Tools it’s got a fairly hefty price but looking at what the tool can do it’s sure to be a time saver, particularly on site.

As more information comes to hand I’ll post it on this site so watch this space…..

As always your comments and questions are appreciated . Thanks for reading.

Be safe and have fun.

Cheers

Bryan

February 11, 2014 1

The first of the new arrivals!!!

On the shelf at Just Tools in South Melbourne

November 30, 2013 0

The Works Of Chris Vesper

Hi All

As a woodworker for over 20 years I, as many of us do, have an appreciation of finely made hand tools. They seem to make a job flow a bit easier and a quality tool feels “right” in your hands. About six years ago during my time at Festool I had the chance to get to know an up and coming toolmaker by the name of Chris Vesper. Over the next few years and countless working with wood shows I came to know Chris fairly well and purchased a number of tools from him which I used in the training sessions I ran for Festool.

My undoubted favourite would have to be the sliding bevel ( pictured) which still sees regular use most weekends setting out dovetails.

After I left Festool lost touch with Chris but caught up with him again at this years Working with Wood show. It was great to see that Chris’s range is still expanding and his reputation as a quality toolmaker is still growing.

I was delighted to see a feature length article on Chris in the December 2013 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine which was written by the hand tool maestro Christopher Schwarz, of “Lost Art Press” fame. It’s outstanding to see a local Aussie toolmaker featured in an international magazine of this standing.

You can see more of the tools made by Chris on his Vesper Tools website. Please keep Chris in mind if you need to update your layout tools and lets support Australian made tools.

As always, be safe and have fun

Cheers

Bryan

November 19, 2013 1

A Handy Hose Adapter from Protool

Hi All,

Just a short post today about one of those handy little things which will save you heaps of time.

The quick stem hose adapter from Protool effortlessly converts a 36mm hose to a 27mm port

so you can easily use your large hose, which you’d normally use with tools like the

Kapex, Planex or renovation grinders, with tools like the Rotex, Domino or Jigsaws.

I discovered them about a year ago and have been selling them weekly since.

At less than $30.00 (Australian) they’re an absolute must have for the tool kit.

The part number is 768135, and they should be available from most good Festool dealers.

If you can’t find one email me and I’ll see what I can do to help you out.

As always, be safe and have fun.

Cheers

Bryan.

October 21, 2013 0

The Festoolisation of Protool

Hi All,

I recently came across a new You Tube video from Festool in Germany which I thought you all might find interesting. Titled “Festool Rhythm & Tools (gb)” its a marketing video to promote the Festool brand in a very interesting way. The link to the video is here,

and while is a little bit cheesy in parts, I’d recommend you have a look as it has some particularly good vision of the inside of the Festool factory.

I was intrigued the first time i watched the video as there were some tantalising glimpses of what looked like new Festool product and what got me really curious was that they looked like crossover products from the Protool range.

Have a look at some screen grabs from the video here:

Now due to some commission work over the last couple of weeks I hadn’t had a lot of time to investigate this further but thanks to a dose of the flu courtesy of my 10 year old, Im off work for a couple of days and have managed to do a bit more research.

On the Slingers Ironmongers website, ( a UK based Festool Dealer)
I found a listing of New Festool Tools which are due out in the UK this September. Here’s some photos to wet you’re appetite!

Festool Duradrive Collated Screw gun 769205

Festool Sword Saw 769211

Festool MFT SYS 500076

Festool C17 Extractor 768472

Festool Quad Drive 769202

Festool Quadrill 769198

All bar the MFT SYS box appear to be direct crossovers from the Protool range so question now is Why?
Is the Protool range going to disappear, or are Festool, Festoolising Protool products so our Festool brothers and sisters in the North American can finally get their hands on these fantastic products. Only time will tell.

As always, your questions and comments are appreciated.

Be safe and have fun!
Cheers

Bryan

September 3, 2013 1

New(ish) from Festool; the Sys-roll and Sys-cart

Hi Guys,

As the Festool specialist in a large retail outlet one of my daily tasks is to move systainers. Regardless of whether they’re full of tools or not they can be a bit

awkward when you’ve got a lot of them to shift, so at our recent Festool sale when we had around 200 systainers to move I really came to appreciate the new Sys

Roll and Sys Cart.

With the ability to hold and easily move over 10 systainers at once, the sys roll helped us make short work of our set up. Check out a video of it in action <a href="

“>here.

The new sys cart is a massive improvement on the old black version. With larger wheels and a bigger footprint it’s a lot more stable and easier to drive.

At around $195 for the Sys Roll and $99 or the Sys Cart, (in Australia) the price won’t break the bank and the with the time you’ll save on moving your tools to your

worksite, they’ll pay for themselves in no time.

As always your comments and questions are appreciated.

Be safe and have fun.

Cheers

Bryan.

May 7, 2013 0

Festool Hand Sanding Pad

Hand sanding pad

For those occasions when an electric sander is too aggressive or when you’re sanding delicate materials such as small mouldings, the hand sanding pad, (Festool part # 495966) is an absolute gem.

The pad features a Velcro backing which wraps around the piece and easily accepts all styles of 150mm diameter abrasives. I’ve teamed it up with the new series of Granat papers to sand small timber mouldings up to 1500 grit for a project I’m working on and have been extremely satisfied with the results to date.

Available as either a hard or soft pad and selling for under $40.00 they’re a worthwhile addition to your sanding kit.

As always, your questions and comments are appreciated

Be safe and have fun,

Cheers

Bryan

November 19, 2012 0

TS55R & CMS Module

Hi Guys

Todays post is all about the new CMS module for the TS55R plunge saw. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the CMS system, it is in essence a Triton workcentre on steroids.

It offers a really accurate and easy to use module for the TS55R saw, a module for the PS300, 400, and hopefully PS420, jigsaws, a linisher module and possible the most outstanding router table on the market today, the CMS-OF, which fits all of Festool’s routers. though, my personal favourite is to use it with the OF 2200.

Please watch below to see the Wood Whisper’s video review on the CMS router table.

I had fun with the CMS TS55R unit but must admit to being a bit perplexed by the lack of clear assembly instructions and the inclusion of components from the old CMS TS55 Module

Please click here, (CMS TS55R) to read my full article.

As always, your questions and comments are appreciated.

Be safe and have fun

Cheers

Bryan

November 18, 2012 0

The New TS55R is here!

Hi All,

Well the new TS55R is here and I’ve finally had a chance to have a bit of a play with one. Mechanically, it’s the same as the old TS55 with no changes to either the motor size or electronic components.

The major changes are to the body of the saw with the new flat side design enabling you to cut within 12mm of a wall, or, by laying the saw on its side you easily and quickly undercut skirting boards and door frames to allow for floating floors.

You’ll also notice the change to the riving knife with the new rounded tip fitting into the saw cut more easily. The riving knife is also now in a sealed compartment of its own so you don’t have to worry about it getting clogged with swarf.

There is now a clear viewing port at the front of the blade so you can clearly see where you’re cutting. The clear port is removed and replaced with the newly designed splinter guard for splinter free offcuts.

The measuring scale has been completely revised with a dual scale and pointer showing the cutting depth both with,(FS), and without the guide rail.

The black knob to the right of the scale is another new feature. It’s use to calibrate the blade depth. When you put a re-sharpened blade blade on the saw, set the scale to zero and plunge the saw, (without the power on), then turn the turn the knob until the tip of the place touches the work surface.

One important point to remember with the new TS55R is that owing to the body changes it will no longer fit the CMS saw table. There is a new plate on the way as well as an adapter kit to retrofit existing CMS, TS55 modules.

I’ll post more info as it comes to hand.

That’s all for now, remember to be safe and have fun.

Cheers

Bryan

August 5, 2012 2

Lie Nielsen Hand Tool Event Photos

Hi All,

I spent a few hours yesterday down at the Lie Nielsen Australia hand tool event at the RMIT furniture workshops in Orr st, South Carlton where the irrepressible David Eckert, from Lie Nielsen Australia and Henry Eckert fine tools and Chris Vesper, of Vesper Tools are displaying and selling their outstanding ranges of tools.

Hopefully the photos below will wet your appetite and you’ll be able to get down there before they close at 3pm today, (Sunday)

Some offerings from Chris Vesper!

An assortment from Lie Nielsen