Most cabinets, like the black
walnut and maple burl
bathroom vanity shown
above, are built to what I call
a 20 x 50 x 10mm or 20 x 65 x
10mm standard. That means
that all the rails and stiles
and the drawer, shelf and
bottom divider components
are 20mm thick by either
50mm or 65mm wide and
the sliding dovetail joints
and the slots for panels are
10mm deep. I seldom use
dados, finding sliding
dovetails to be vastly
superior as they are self
locking, self aligning and self
squaring.
To cut a matched set of
mirrored, stopped sliding
dovetails for the dividers
and drawer guides on a
chest with multiple drawers
can be a challenge if not
done with great precision.
Thanks to Festool Multi
Function Tables and rail
guided routers, this
previously complicated
operation can be done easily
and repeatably.
As you look at the pictures
of my studio you will see a
number of excellent Festool
hand power tools and
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 me as they
allow me to work faster,
more consistently and to
tighter production
tolerances, all critical aspects
which allow me to sell my
pieces at prices far below
what I would have to charge
if I worked in more
traditional ways.
Better value for my customer
and higher margins for me, a
true win-win situation.
My studio is organized
around what I do the most
and then I let form follow
function. In my work, the
things I do more than any
others are to sand, finish,
assemble and polish. So, the
very best spot in the studio is
devoted to those tasks. This
work station is a large solid
wood topped table with
heavy welded steel square
tube legs with large leveler
feet. The top is perfectly flat
and square.
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