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Festool VS-600, Instruction Manual

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Festool VS-600 Instruction Manual Download Page 14

A Perfect Drawer 

Using Half-Blind 

Dovetail Joints 

 
Earlier I said stock 
preparation, along with the 
precise engineering of the 
Festool VS-600 templates, 
guide bushings and cutters 
was the key to achieving the 
desired outcome of creating a 
perfect drawer with half blind 
dovetails in under five 
minutes.  
 
I use primarily solid woods for 
all my furniture so will spend 
some time outlining how to 
get properly prepped solid 
wood components.  
 
If you want to use man-made 
materials, stick to a good 
grade of multi-ply plywood 
like Baltic Birch.  That usually 
comes in 5’ x 5’ sheets.  The 
plain old softwood plywood 
sold in 4’ x 8’ sizes has too few 
plys and too many interior 
voids to make for anything 
approaching a perfect drawer.   
 
Hardwood plywood is usually 
much better and can be used 
with some success. 
    

 

 
Don’t try to use chip board or 
compressed board as they 
generally are too weak to work 
well.   
 
MDF can be used but know 
that the male fan shapes can be 
quite fragile until the piece is 
assembled and glued up.  
Once assembled with a good 
quality wood glue, MDF 
makes for a strong drawer, box 
or cabinet carcass.  Without 
glue the joints in MDF are 
simply too weak to be useful.   
 
Half blind dovetail joints cut in 
solid wood are strong with or 
without glue. 
 

To prep solid wood you 
almost must have a jointer 
and a planer.  

  
Seldom is the wood you buy 
pre-surfaced really straight, 
flat or of equal thickness over 

its length.  It may look that 
way in the store but often will 
have some cupping, twist, 
warp or curve.   
 
You can see it if you look at 
the end of the board to see if it 
is flat side to side or whether it 
bows across its width 
somewhere along the length.  
That bow up or down is called 
“cupping.”  The board often 
also will have some twist.  This 
is where the flat face of the 
board is not parallel along its 
entire length.  Or, it may be 
warped enough that 
individual components are not 
flat over their length.   
 
The only way to effectively 
take out cupping, twist or 
warp is with a jointer.  If you 
run a warped, twisted or 
cupped board through a 
planer, the pinch rollers will 
temporarily flatten the board 
right under the planner knives.  
The warp, cup or twist will 
reappear again as it exits, 
leaving you with a warped, 
cupped or twisted board that 
is simply thinner. 

 

14

Summary of Contents for VS-600

Page 1: ...1 ...

Page 2: ...using half blind dovetail joints 23 A perfect drawer using through dovetail joints 29 Perfect finger joints 31 Conclusion 32 One time setup 36 Using the metric system 40 Continuous improvement 41 What you need to know about the Festool templates 42 How to calculate drawer height for properly centered joints 43 Table of drawer heights for properly centered joints 43 Metric to approximate inch conve...

Page 3: ... Joint There are several different types of joints that are all called Dovetail Joints They get their name from a fan shaped male piece that looks a bit like the tail on a dove That fan shaped male fits into a female recess of the same shape Once in place the joint cannot be pulled apart without breaking the surrounding wood The strength of the joint does not rely on glue nails or screws It comes ...

Page 4: ...t called a sliding dovetail joint These are most often cut with a router bit with sloped sides called a dovetail cutter where the router is guided past stationary work pieces in a straight line Sometimes this is accomplished using a guide rail my favorite and sometimes by holding the router stationary while the work pieces slide by in a straight line guided by a fence They also can be cut on jigs ...

Page 5: ...e pictures above and below show a side slat assembly for a large bookcase that is held together with sliding dovetails Once you start using sliding dovetails you will rarely revert to simple dados again 5 ...

Page 6: ...l the way through the thickness of each work piece This is commonly called a through dovetail although the Festool VS 600 manual refers to this as an open dovetail tenon It is a far more complex and confusing joint to machine than either a sliding dovetail or a half blind dovetail The male fan shaped portion of the joint is normally cut with a dovetail shaped router bit with the router guided by a...

Page 7: ...e the template with the angled fingers for cutting the female recesses is labeled as an SZO 14 Z or an SZO 20 Z It really doesn t matter what you call these two as long as you are clear that you will use the S for cutting the fan shaped male tails as shown in the picture above right and the Z for cutting the female recesses separated by pins Throughout this manual I will refer to the male and fema...

Page 8: ... for precision is amplified since even if the male and female fan shapes are exactly the same size and same angle if they are not also exactly the same distance apart the joint simply will not go together no matter how hard you try Given the requirements for perfection in cutting these highly useful joints there is little wonder why the dovetail joint is considered so difficult to cut properly and...

Page 9: ... box or a cabinet carcass A little later on I will also cover what else you need to do besides the dovetailed side joints that differentiate one from another And still further on we will talk a bit about using the VS 600 to also make slotted or box joints as well as dovetail joints A perfect drawer is one that is exactly the length width and depth you want is absolutely square sits flat and invoke...

Page 10: ...ht 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...

Page 11: ...t box joints in stock of different widths and even a doweling jig to allow you to joint two pieces of wood or man made materials with multiple dowels if you wish The first time you look at their catalog or web site the section on the VS 600 jointing system as they call it will appear to be a bit intimidating Let s decode it The Base Unit The VS 600 item number 488 876 is the base unit You need one...

Page 12: ...the same outside diameter as their Festool counterparts You also need to buy the cutters separately Festool calls their carbide tipped bits HW while the high speed steel bits are called HSS I only use the HW or carbide bits I find the Festool router bits to be among the best I own and use them every day They are very well machined finely polished sharp right out of the box and have large carbides ...

Page 13: ...u can branch out to the other types of joints as you wish Don t make this mistake Just don t make the mistake I see first time users of dovetail jigs make all the time They pull their new purchase out of the box do a cursory glance through the jig manufacturers manual and start butchering wood They cut a few poor half blind dovetail joints then several really poor through dovetail joints and maybe...

Page 14: ...a good quality wood glue MDF makes for a strong drawer box or cabinet carcass Without glue the joints in MDF are simply too weak to be useful Half blind dovetail joints cut in solid wood are strong with or without glue To prep solid wood you almost must have a jointer and a planer Seldom is the wood you buy pre surfaced really straight flat or of equal thickness over its length It may look that wa...

Page 15: ...oper size Height Centered Dovetails Look Best Start with the height of drawer you want All fixed template half blind dovetail jigs including the Festool VS 600 are inherently designed around drawers of a height that is an even increment of twice the finger spacing In the case of the SZ 14 template the distance between each finger is exactly 22mm If your dovetails are properly centered on the drawe...

Page 16: ...ail showing to the maximum size drawer which can be built on the VS 600 using these templates One more note on drawer height The slot you will cut into the inside of the front back and drawer sides to receive the drawer bottom will be centered on one half the template spacing up from the bottom of the drawer components 11mm for the 22mm spacing on the SZ 14 and 16mm for the 32mm spacing on the SZ ...

Page 17: ...500mm about 20 front to back using the SZ 14 which calls for a router bit depth setting of 12mm and want to use front back components that are 20mm thick cut each side component to be 484mm long 484 500 2 20 12 or 484 500 2 8 or 484 500 16 This is really easy to calculate using the metric system but can be a bit confusing if you insist on staying with the base eight inch system where you will have...

Page 18: ...cts to determine the inside and outside faces for each component and which edge should be the top of your drawer When you like the arrangement mark the INSIDE FACE of each component and mark the edge that is to be the TOP I do this by drawing a triangle with the point up on the inside of each component Mark which is the FRONT piece and which is the BACK piece of your perfect drawer I write f or a ...

Page 19: ...unge the cutter to the exact depth of the test piece That is all the router set up you need to do Remove the router bit depth test piece from the clamp bar on the front of the VS 600 and replace it with the two side components One will clamp to the right side of the VS 600 and one will clamp to the left side Make sure the INSIDE face is away from the VS 600 pointing towards you with the TOP edge a...

Page 20: ...the template spacing 11mm in the case of the SZ 14 template which uses a 22mm finger spacing and 16mm for the SZ 20 which uses a 32mm finger spacing That way the dado will not show from the outside of the drawer If you want the bottom to be removable cut the bottom of the BACK piece off at the height of the top edge of the drawer bottom dado Now the bottom can slide in from the back side and can b...

Page 21: ...If your drawer components are all made from man made materials which move either not at all or far less than solid woods you can safely glue the drawer bottom in place if you wish 21 ...

Page 22: ...onents shorter than the depth you want your drawer to be by 2 times the thickness of the front back components less the specified router bit depth of cut 12mm for the SZ 14 and 15mm for the SZ 20 Mark the top edge and inside face of each component Cut the joints in any sequence but always align the top edge against the side stop with the inside face away from the VS 600 Always clamp the front and ...

Page 23: ...ct drawer sides front and back is easy Just cut them to the exact length you want for the outside width of the drawer and for its depth front to back Height centered dovetails look best Calculating the correct height for your drawer to make sure your dovetails are properly centered is a bit more involved You want half pins at the upper and lower sides of your drawer This drawer has the dovetail sh...

Page 24: ......

Page 25: ...eld vertically under the front clamp bar with the OUTSIDE face pointing out away from the VS 600 Work pieces set to cut the male fan shapes in the tail board The female recesses cut with the angled template will always be held vertically under the front clamp bar with the OUTSIDE face pointing out away from the VS 600 In all cases the top edge of the drawer components will be against the side stop...

Page 26: ...Depth of Cut With the template lowered onto the scrap pieces place the router on the top of the template Set your router depth of cut to be exactly the receive the female recesses Since the scrap is at least 5mm thicker this will allow your router bit to miss the aluminum bed of the V you make your cuts width of the pieces which will S 600 as ote that the proper depth of the picture below the rout...

Page 27: ...a scrap piece at least 5mm THICKER than the router bit depth of cut horizontally under the top clamp bar so you do not hit the body of the VS 600 while cutting the female recesses Mount the work pieces under the front clamp bar with the OUTSIDE facing away from the VS 600 the top of the drawer against the side stops and the ends flush with the top edge of the scrap pieces Drop the template on top ...

Page 28: ...five minutes per drawer required for half blind dovetail joints In both cases your drawer will be perfect right out of the VS 600 joining system It will be exactly the length width and depth you want it to be will be absolutely square sit flat and invoke an image of fine craftsmanship from the minute you assemble it No sanding to fit no make it a bit bigger and cut it to fit afterwards and no put ...

Page 29: ... range of the template you are using Centering the Fingers As with dovetail joints the best looking finger joints are when the fingers are centered over the height of the box You will have one half finger at the top of the box and one half finger at the bottom of the box Avoid boxes with less than or more than half a finger at the bottom as these tend to be quite weak as well as awkward looking Th...

Page 30: ... thickness of the work pieces Make the cuts If the thickness of your work pieces is greater than the diameter of the router bit make the cuts in multiple passes with each pass cutting no more than the diameter of the router bit Rearrange the work pieces under the front clamp bar stacked with the OUTSIDE faces together and the TOP against the side stops Make the cuts and you are done A perfect box ...

Page 31: ... too can make a perfect drawer with half blind dovetails or finger joints in less than five minutes and with through dovetail joints in under fifteen minutes using the well engineered Festool VS 600 jointing system Once this becomes your preferred means of creating perfect drawers boxes and cabinet carcasses you will be amazed at how often you find yourself doing so Day in day out there simply is ...

Page 32: ... rotary knob that holds the template is loose enough that the template can slide in and out When you have the in out adjustment wheel at BOTH sides of the template set to the same zero mark tighten the holding screws Now push the template towards the VS 600 so the cam shape on the under side of the black in out adjustment wheel is against the front edge of the VS 600 and tighten the rotary knobs w...

Page 33: ... the joint is when driven all the way home If the vertical piece what will normally be the side of your drawer stands proud of the edge of the horizontal piece which normally will be the front or back of your drawer then loosen the two holding screws and turn each in out adjusting wheel to the same mark in the direction Note that the well engineered VS 600 is calibrated so each mark represents an ...

Page 34: ...han your horizontally mounted test work piece to avoid cutting into the VS 600 As before once you make your test cuts put the two pieces together and observe the fit If the edge of what would normally be your drawer side the piece cut with the straight fingered template stands proud from the end of your drawer front back the piece you cut with the angled finger template loosen the securing screws ...

Page 35: ...obs to secure the template in place Position your work pieces under the clamps as outlined in this manual set the router bit depth using the test pieces you saved and you are good to go From this point forward you will cut perfect half blind dovetailed drawers in under five minutes and through dovetailed drawers in under fifteen minutes Cut the work pieces to the proper size mount them as indicate...

Page 36: ...ons on each end Think you can do that one in your head every time without error Now try the same thing using the metric system The door is 500mm wide Rails and stile pieces are 50mm wide by 20mm thick with 10mm groves Now the calculation is 500 less 100 plus 20 Easy to do that one in your head without making a mistake isn t it From my experience the best thing you can do to improve the accuracy qu...

Page 37: ...ack and forth you don t need to and doing so just introduces error and frustration In this manual I am using the metric units of measure as those are the markings on the Festool VS 600 and routers It is not important that you can visualize the length of say 300mm only that you know it is twice 150mm or ten times as much as 30mm It is all relative 37 ...

Page 38: ...e correct joint fit was just a threaded collar on the same stud used to hold the template to the fixture Not very elegant not very flexible but certainly precise and very repeatable to use once properly set up When Festool designed the VS 600 on my dovetail work station above to replace the VS 500 on the bench to the right they did not simply make a few cosmetic or incremental changes to the old u...

Page 39: ...en somehow manage to fit one hand into the limited space between the bottom of the router body and the top of the plunged base to depress the spindle lock and also fit the other hand into that same limited space to tighten or loosen the collet nut It could be done but it was at best awkward For the VS 600 they redesigned the guide bushings with an inside diameter larger than the corresponding dove...

Page 40: ... seen and adjusted The base appears unchanged so all the same great attachments and fixtures fit either The plunge lock and depth setting mechanisms appear to be the same so both exhibit a superior feeling of control over any other routers I use for hand held applications In truth since buying my first Festool router the OF 1000 you see pictured I have not touched any other brand for hand held use...

Page 41: ...ess and within the thickness range specified above Sides can be a different thickness than the front and back work pieces usually thinner Center the dado for the drawer bottom one half of the template spacing up from the bottom edge of the drawer Make the dado one half as deep as the thinnest of the work pieces Cut the bottom 2mm less than the measurement from dado bottom to dado bottom front to b...

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Page 44: ...fect setting for my studio on the first floor and our loft style living quarters on the second The studio reflects both my former background in technology management and my fetish for precision and standards in my furniture making In consultation with the client I first fully engineer a piece for function so I will know how the owner will interact with it how the doors will hinge latch and swing h...

Page 45: ...Festool Multi Function tables which greatly simplify achieving the accuracy required for the way I build fine furniture I purchased most of these myself and became quite impressed with the level of systems engineering intelligent design and precision manufacturing standards before I agreed to write manuals such as this one for Festool Simply put their tools provide a high return on investment for ...

Page 46: ...ailing and edge routing to the Festool sanders while sanding to the Festool saws while cutting and to the plate jointer while cutting the slots for those joints A pair of Festool drills and a set of excellent Festool chucks bits and drivers are at hand on the wall behind this work station Each one of these Festool products displaced other well known high end brands because they were simply superio...

Page 47: ...aced 20mm holes across the whole surface are ideal mounting points for a whole variety of clamps jigs and fixtures both those sold by Festool and those I make myself Seldom a day goes by that both the Festool work surfaces are not in use To the front of the studio is a small gallery where a few pieces are always on display It is hard to keep many pieces on hand as spec built pieces tend to sell qu...

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