How the VS-600
System Works
The VS-600 is designed around
a
base unit
which will hold your properly
prepared stock in exactly the
right location while you make
your cuts, a set of heavy,
machined metal
templates
which will guide your router
to make the cuts in exactly the
right places,
a
guide bushing
which you
will attach to your router to
exactly follow the contours of
each template, and a
cutter
that is of the exact size and
angles for which the template
was designed.
The templates mount on the
base unit. The guide bushing
and router bit mount on the
router.
Every part of a VS-600 system
is shown in the picture below.
While it may look a bit
intimidating, the pieces all
relate to one another quite
simply and you don’t need to
buy them all at the same time.
One of the beauties of the
Festool VS-600 system is that
you only need to do your set
up
one time
. And, all that
amounts to is (a) setting the
template in or out to get the
edges of the finished cut
perfectly flush with one
another and (b) setting the
router bit depth to get the fit of
the joint exactly as tight as you
want it.
From that point on, you only
need to mount the bit in your
router, set the depth the same
as on your test piece, and cut
away so long as the
component parts are within
the range each template is
designed to handle.
See the sidebar on “One Time
Setup” on page 32.
I have found that in most cases
the factory settings for in/out
on the templates and the
factory bit depth
recommendations for each
template are right on and little
adjustment is required. One or
at most two test cuts is all you
need to make.
When you get the fit you
want, keep the test pieces as
your depth gauge for all the
subsequent uses of that
template/bit combination,
perfect drawer after perfect
drawer.
I strongly recommend the use
of Festool guide bushings and
cutters to be sure these match
the templates properly. I also
recommend the use of the
excellent Festool routers.
They are lighter in weight than
most other routers to give you
ease of control. They are far
more powerful than their
small size would suggest. I
have yet to bog one down no
matter what I was cutting.
And, they offer excellent
chip/dust collection so you
can concentrate on producing
your perfect drawer in five
minutes, rather than worrying
about trying to work around
the mess most other routers
and jigs produce.
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