Totally adorable
What do you look for when buying a tool? I’m guessing the same that that I do (along with thousands of other woodworkers). At the top of the list are excellent performance at a fair price, reliable and available accessories, a track record of manufacturer build quality, and suitability to your working needs. Also important are power, capacity, tool weight, dimensions and other physical characteristics.
What do you look for when buying a tool? I’m guessing the same that I do (along with thousands of other woodworkers). At the top of the list are excellent performance at a fair price, reliable and available accessories, a track record of manufacturer build quality, and suitability to your working needs. Also important are power, capacity, tool weight, dimensions and other physical characteristics.
One thing that’s probably not on your list is a requirement that the tool be adorable, like the table saw below.
That’s Festool’s recent offering in the cordless table saw category, and it’s pretty impressive. Sporting two 5Ah 18-volt batteries, it’s all electronic – blade angle and height adjustments are made via a front-mounted touch screen, so no cranks or handwheels. It includes a built-in sliding table, measures a petite 20” x 15-1/2”, and weighs about 45 lbs.
The blade is 168mm (about 6-1/2”) and gives a maximum cut of 1-7/8” at 90 degrees. While that’s plenty for cutting 2-by material, you won’t be building an entire house with it. It could, however, easily do just about all the finish and interior work needed to complete one.
The saw’s been around for a year or so, and although aware of it I’d never seen one in person until attending a recent regional woodworking show. The first thing that struck me was just how darned cute it was. If Hello Kitty had a table saw, this would be it. I wanted to just pick it up and cuddle it. I wanted to hug it, and squeeze it, and call it George. (Yeah, a Looney Tunes reference.)
It’s clearly not for everyone, but I can see a lot of practicality as an on-site saw or for cramped workspaces. If I ever have to downsize, it will definitely be on my list. Not only would I be able to use it in an extremely small shop space, but I can easily see it replacing the teddy bear I currently sleep with.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
