A versatile and useful workshop addition
The potential and functionality of this new product in the Festool stable of accessories is apparent as soon as you take it out of the box.
Designed to be attached to the FS guide rail system to allow for accurate and secure cutting of angles, I’ve used this tool for several tasks in the shop now and have found it to be very intuitive to set up and use.
I’ve verified the accuracy of the tool with digital angle calipers, as well as with some basic trigonometric calculations, and I can report that this tool is extremely accurate right out of the box.
Fixing the stop to an FS guide rail is easy and secure with a lug that
registers in the recess on the underside of the rail and a strong overhead cam buckle to lock everything firmly down.
Damion FauserThe potential and functionality of this new product in the Festool stable of accessories is apparent as soon as you take it out of the box.
Brisbane based furniture designer
Further security for safe and accurate cuts is available when combined with the FS Rapid guide rail clamps, which can be used in the traditional fashion by sliding into the recess underneath the rail to clamp the rail directly to the workpiece.
The FS Angle Stop also has a clever left/right bracket built into the
end of the trammel arm with recesses to accept the FS rapid clamps for fixing the stop itself to the workpiece.
These two clamping options can be used either independently of each other or concurrently, offering great flexibility depending on the circumstances of the cut.
The Festool engineers have also added a further workpiece
registration feature, with two corrugated stops that can be secured
in the recess underneath the rails and fixed at any position to provide
positive registration against the edge of the workpiece.
When not in use, these stops have their own built-in storage cavity in the body of the tool, which is a great feature.
Setting the angle is very easy, with a large comfortable locking knob
that fixes down fast and strong. The available cutting angles range from
plus to minus 60°, with mechanical detentes at zero as well as plus/
minus 15, 22.5, 30, 45 and 60°.
The fidelity on the scale is in 1° increments, but it is easy to lock
down and use the stop at finer increments if required.
This tool is available from Festool retailers and will find itself useful
both on the jobsite and also for those needing to make angled cuts beyond the capacity of their tablesaw.
Review tool supplied by
Festool Australia
Damion Fauser is a Brisbane based furniture designer maker who also
teaches woodwork classes.
www.damionfauser.com
CRAFTSMAN: Damion Fauser
