Protool UniverS SSP 200 EB, Sword saw

Hi All,

Today we’re going to have a look at a relatively new tool from Festool’s sister company Protool. The SSP 200 EB is a bit of an unusual beastie and I remember the the first time saw it I was a bit perplexed by it.

The SSP is in essence, a chain saw that’s mounted onto a circular saw base. It has a maximum cutting depth of 200mm (about 8 inches) and it runs along standard Festool or Protool, guide rails for accuracy and ease of cut.

Its not a tool that you have to have but if you’re regularly cutting sleepers, timber beams, or LVL, (laminated veneered lumber) boards or girders, the SSP is guaranteed to make your life easier

Designed for cutting large beams the SSP which weighs in at only 6.5 KG ( 14 Pound) is a lot easier and safer option than circular saws with a comparable cutting depth such as the Protool CSP 165 which weighs in at 22kg, (48 pounds)

I’ve used both the CSP 165 and the SSP extensively and, personally i’d now always choose the SSP over a large and heavy circular saw.

When docking beams to length with the SSP you can tilt the blade forwards at a 10 degree angle which exposes more blade to the timber and gives you a proportionately faster cut. The maximum mitre angle on the SSP is 60 degrees and when used on a guide rail will pivot on the scribe line in the same manner as a TS 55 or TS 75 will.

Lets have a look at the features of the SSP;

1, Blade,

2, Fast Fix Blade Changing

3, Guide Slot for Guide Rail

4, Mitre Angle indicator

5, Tool less chain tension adjustment

6,Tool Less chain lubrication

7,MMC, (constant speed under load) electronics

8, Bar oil level indicator

9, Dust Extractor Connection

10, Auxiliary Handle

11, Clearly visible cut indicator.

Not being a major fan of chainsaws, I must admit to being a bit nervous when using the SSP for the first time but, within 5 minutes I was as happy as a pig in …….., and had chopped up a large beam into small pieces before I realised it. When connected to a CT26 dust extractor, with the 36mm hose about 2 thirds of the dust was collected leaving only a relatively small amount to clean up.

Click below to watch a video of the SSP in action.

As you can see from the video there is plenty of different applications for the SSP. Ive used it on both softwoods an Australian Hardwoods and found that it didn’t struggle with either of them.

No review of the SSP would be complete without giving you the chance to watch the Official Protool film on the SSP. Its the first Big Budget advert for a power tool that I can remember seeing in a long time.

Enjoy !!!!!

Well I hope you enjoyed that.

As always, your comments and questions are appreciated.

Be safe and have fun

Cheers,

Bryan

June 8, 2012 1

How to get the most from your Festool OF1010 Router, (Part Two)

Hi All,

Sorry its taken a couple of weeks for me to get part two of the Festool OF 1010 series posted, but I was floored with a dose of Flu.

In Part two we’ll further explore this great little router , showing how to insert a cutter and focusing on the depth turrets which, from experience, seem to give people a lot of trouble.

Don’t be put off reading this article if you don’t own a Festool router as virtually every plunge router on the market will have a similar depth turret adjustment system, and the information in the article can easily be transposed between brands.

Please click here, Of 1010 Part 2 to read the full article.

In Part three we’ll look at the accessories which can be used with the OF1010, including the Guide rail sets, accessory bases and copy rings

I hope you enjoy the article and as always, your comments and feedback are appreciated.

Articles in the pipeline include, how to make templates and use copy rings, the Festool 1400 and 2200, the Bosch GMR trimmer and a review of the new Dremel Saw-Max if I can get my hands on one.

If you have any questions on any of the information in this article, or if you’ve got any router or woodwork questions you can contact me via email or post a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Have fun and be safe

Cheers for now….

Bryan

March 31, 2012 2

How to get the most from your Festool OF1010 Router

The Festool OF 1010 Part 1

Hi Guys

Well, here’s the first part of the series of router articles that I’ll be uploading over the next few weeks.

The articles will be quite comprehensive, so on machines where there are lots of features to cover I’ll break them up into two parts. Part 1 of the OF1010 covers the basics and details all of the important parts up to the depth stop mechanism.

Part 2 which should be up next week will cover using the depth turret, copy rings, changing bases and accessories. I’ll also be including practical exercises which will give you an idea of how to create some common joints with the OF1010.

I’m working on a series of articles which will cover template routing and how to make things such as hinge jigs and other useful jigs. Before these articles are uploaded I’ll be covering the features, functions and ideal applications of a number of popular routers and trimmers on the market. Please take the time to read these as they’ll all help to give you a greater understanding of how your machine works. Before you can begin to get the most from your Router you need a thorough understanding of all its features and functions.

Drop me a line if you have any questions about specific machines and as usual, your questions and comments are always appreciated.

to read the full OF1010 article please click here Getting the most from your OF1010

Have fun and be safe,

Cheers for now

Bryan

March 5, 2012 3

Dovetail Keys as a Timber Joint, ( Part 1)

More things to do with do with dovetails.

The project that I’m working on at the moment has twelve timber shelves as part of the design.

I was able to source a selection of recycled messmate and mountain ash in small dressed boards, which I decided to use for this part of the project
The shelves needed to be a 245mm wide and the board’s ranged in width from 40mm to 80mm, so a selection of boards had to be joined together to give me a panel as near to my 245mm width as required for the project.

In an ideal world I’d be able to reach for my domino and hey presto, I’d have the shelves joined; but sadly I don’t have a domino yet, so it’s back to the drawing board.

I have a full router table set up, so another possibility is to use was biscuits, but frankly, I don’t like them You may as well butt-join the pieces for all the additional strength that you’ll gain from them.

After a bit more thought, I settled on butt joining the pieces and then adding dovetail keys, both as a means to prevent the shelves from cupping, as well as a decorative feature.

Another advantage of this method was that I’d used sliding dovetails on the shelves and dividers in the carcasses of the wall unit, so I was very familiar with the required technique.

Once I’d cut all the timber to size and jointed all the edges, the shelves were glued, and butt joined together in lots of three with a couple of sheets of newspaper placed between each of the shelves to prevent them from sticking together. The glued units were then left for 24 hrs to cure.

Once cured the shelves were planed flat to remove any irregularities and sanded to 80 grit.

As there were 12 shelves to add dovetail keys to, I made a simple jig to speed up the process of routing the channels and to ensure continuity of dovetail placement on all the shelves. The jig is just a 3-sided frame, screwed to a sacrificial board with a straight edge attached to guide the router.

The position of the trench is determined by the placement of the straight edge, relative to the edge of the board. Remember to take into account the width of your router base when working out the correct position and double check that everything’s square before you screw the straight edge to the frame.

The next step is to run a straight trench through the shelves to remove the bulk of the excess timber and to minimise strain on the dovetail cutter. I used my Festool of 1010, fitted with a 6 mm spiral uncut but to perform this task.

It’s important not to avoid this step as the removal of the excess material from the trench allows the dovetail bit to perform much better and the bit is under much less strain.

The material I chose for the dovetail keys was 19mm Sydney blue gum that gave an excellent contrast against the messmate in the shelves. So that the keys were balanced in the shelves, I decided to set them in 6mm deep.

The next stage was to set the depth of the spiral cutter in the OF 1010 to 6mm and then cut the square trenches in the shelves.

Remember to check the position of your fence before you start cutting.

If your using two different routers, as I did, the fence will need to be moved into the correct position for the dovetail trenches after you’ve cut the straight trenches.

As in my previous article on sliding dovetails, I again turned to my trusty Bosch Gmr trimmer to cut the dovetail trenches.

With the tool unplugged insert the dovetail cutter into the Gmr and set the depth, so there is 6mm of cutter protruding.

The dovetail cutter depth must be the same as the depth of the straight trench that you cut previously.

Once the trimmer is all set then double check that your fence is in the correct position and cut all of the trenches. Clean up any feathered edges on them and put the shelves aside.

Make sure you don’t remove the dovetail cutter from the trimmer or adjust the depth.

The depth of the trench is the same as the height of the dovetail key we’re going to cut in part 2

Part 2 of this article will cover how to make the dovetail keys.

As usual, your comments and questions are appreciated

Thanks for reading this article,

Bryan

September 19, 2011 6

How to get the most from your Rotex, (Part 1)

How to get the most from your Rotex, (The Basics)

Okay, so you’ve done. You’ve bitten the bullet, spent the bucks, and now, sitting on the bench in front of you is possibly the best sander thus far to emerge from the melting pot that is European power tool engineering.

So; now what?

The first thing you probably want to do is whack a sheet of paper on it and sand a piece of wood until it’s paper thin. If you need to, go ahead, but make sure to clamp down your work first; there’s not much worse than being hit in that tender part of the anatomy by a piece of Rotex propelled timber.

Once you’ve got that out of your system, let’s start by having a good look at your new machine. Hopefully the salesman you purchased the sander from fully explained all the functions to you, but in case he didn’t, let’s start from scratch.

The Rotex 150 is a dual mode sander with an aggressive, gear driven mode, (Rotex mode) and a random orbital mode with a 5mm orbit.
You switch between these modes by pressing the green button on the top of the machine, down & to the left When the button.

is in the upright position the sander is in the Rotex mode.

To test this, make sure the power is turned off, then turn the base plate with your hand. You should feel some resistance and hear a “growl” coming from the sander. Now, push the top button down and to the left. This puts the sander into the random orbital mode. Turn the base plate again so you can feel and hear the difference between the two settings.

You’ve probably noticed the small green button on the right side of the Rotex just above the base plate. This is the spindle lock, and it’s used when we need to change the base plate because it’s either worn out or you need to switch to a pad of a different density for a specific application.
It’s a bit of a bugger to change, particularly the first time, but it will get easier to practice.
To use this function, first make sure the Rotex is unplugged, then put the sander into the Rotex mode.

Hold the sander upside down in your left hand so that your left thumb can depress the spindle lock button. Depress the spindle lock button with your left thumb and turn the pad anti-clockwise with your right hand until you feel the spindle lock engage, ( the spindle lock button will depress an extra couple of millimetres).

Continue holding the spindle lock and turning the pad anti-clockwise until the pad comes off.
To put on a new pad, depress the spindle lock, put the pad on the machine and turn it clockwise until you feel it drop into position and the locking mechanism begins to engage. Once this happens, grip it firmly and turn it clockwise until it locks. Now put the machine down and give your hands a shake. Told you it was a bit of s bugger to do; but trust me, it will get simpler with practice.

At the rear of the machine just above the plug it lead is the variable speed control for the sander and the green button on the inside rear of the “d” handle section releases the dust extractor port so you can polish the car without running the risk of it accidentally banging into the paint surface.

Using the Rotex.
Now, whatever your project, having a good understanding of how to use the functions of the sander will always help you to achieve the best finish possible on your work.

Rotex and Random Orbit Modes
One of the most common questions I field when showing people the Rotex is, “how do I know which mode, I should be using?”
Well, the simple answer to this is that you should always use both modes. Let me explain.

The Rotex mode will, with coarser papers, raise the grain while the random orbital mode cuts the grain back. From experience, I’ve found that if, for instance, you’re starting with 60 grit, whack it into Rotex mode and sand your work then stop, put the machine into the random orbit mode and sand it again. It’s important not to try to change from Rotex to random orbital mode while the tool is running; it’s like trying to change gears on your car without depressing the clutch.

Then change up a grit to 80 and repeat the process. As you progress through the grades, getting finer and finer, you’ll see the surface start to develop. It’s really important that you feel the wood with your hands as you’re sanding. Getting a good feel for the timber will help you gain a greater understanding of how a surface develops.
Continue sanding with 120, 180, 240, and 400 grit abrasives, being sure to repeat the Rotex, then random orbit modes

Sanding speeds

To achieve the best result results in your work, speed is another crucial factor to consider. The main things you have to remember are, the coarser the paper, the higher the speed.

Coarse paper on slow speed tends to dig in and ‘bite’ the work, which can lead to scratches and swirls that can be bloody hard to get out. Coarse paper on high speed tends to ‘skim’ over the work, and while it may take a little longer, you’ll achieve a more controlled result.
When you start sanding and are using, a 60 grit paper begin with the sander on speed 6 and use the Rotex, random orbit method as described above. As you start moving into progressively finer grades, gradually begin to lower the sander speed. Use the chart below as a rough guide for sander speed related to sanding grit.

Sanding grit. Speed
40. 6
60. 6
80. 6
120. 5
150. 5
180. 5
240. 4
320. 4
400. 3
500. 3
800. 2
1000. 2
1200. 1
1500 & finer 1

This chart is a suggested range only and results can vary depending on the type of timber that you choose.
The transition point when sanding is 400 grit. This is the stage where you stop sanding the timber and start burnishing it. From 400 up you’ll begin to see the surface of the wood develop and become smoother with every sanding stage that you complete. Don’t forget to feel the timber as you sand it so that you become more familiar with how each sanding grade contributes to the overall finish. Keep using the Rotex / random orbital sanding technique until you pass 1000 grit. From experience, I’ve found that when you reach 1200 grit switch to using the Rotex mode only. You should begin to see the timber surface begin to develop a lovely lustre and the surface will start to shine. This happens because the super fine grits that we have been using are burnishing the timber surface and closing the pore of the wood which gives us this glass-like finish.

That’s it for part 1 of this post, in part 2, I’ll go thru how to apply a burnished wax finish to your piece.

Cheers for now

Bryan

August 27, 2011 11