Eric.

There are times when I'd like to have one more set. I'll probably buy a Festool and the installer's kit eventually because there are some neat toys in there...and I'm kind of running out of things to buy. LOL But these guys who have like a dozen lined up on the shelf? Yeah I don't get the point of that at all.

I'm curious how you know it's "American mahogany." The little bits I've seen tend to be considerably darker than that. What you have looks like Honduran to me...but one pic of one board is far from conclusive. Best to tread lightly when finishing mahogany. It needs zero help in the beauty department. Pore filling is a traditional technique but unless I was trying to do an exact repro of a period piece I wouldn't even consider it. The more you monkey around with wood, the less it looks like wood...IMO. Shellac would be a great finish. A few thin coats of wipe-on poly would also look good. Satin ARS is dead easy to apply and more protective than shellac.

Settled on a Lenox Trimaster 3/4" after much debate.

Let's count... from drill press, past the jointer, around the mft, take a sharp right at the bench then a sharp left, walk past bench and table saw toward the shelf above the miter station, dig around on five feet of shelf, find bit, scratch ass, turn around, walk past bench and table saw toward mft, take a sharp right and then a left, around mft, past the jointer, arrive at drill press... ...shit...wrong bit

The new bandsaw has forced a little bit of orgo to make room for a slightly larger machine. This was long overdue anyway - I've been walking all the way across the shop to get a bit for the drill press for as long as I've had a shop. Who would have thought that putting your bits close by would reduce walking? Yeah I know...nothing groundbreaking here. But I thought it might inspire one of you to get off your ass and make something cool for your shop. And yes, your eyes are working. I own one drill and one driver. I don't have the drill addiction that others have. Don't really get that.

Yep! It happens.

Nice job. Was Roy there?

I don't use the head either. I took it off and clamped the fence down directly to the table a la Paul Marcel. I square the track with the big WP triangle and go. I haven't done that many angles yet but I'd just mark lines like you said or use the qwas dogs for common angles. I also found the head to be poorly designed...and too damn bulky. All in all I don't think the MFT is engineered as well as it should be...at Festool standards. It is handy dandy though and I have no thoughts of getting rid of it for sure.

Yeah my moron brain had a 3/4" pattern bit chucked up. LOL Makes sense. I still think there's too much room for error doing it that way.

And how do you assure that you're plunging directly into the hole before the bearing engages? Sounds impossible.

How do they do it?

Yeah...totally forgot...rustic isn't supposed to be flat and square anyway. The crappier the better! How charming.

And I simply can't visualize how you could accurately transfer those holes even if they weren't reamed out. I guess you could go through some time-consuming process with guide bushings and straight bits...but in the end it wouldn't be worth the time and probably wouldn't be dead nuts precise anyway.

LOL - By the time I made that ridiculous thing and sold it for eleven dollars, my blade would cost me about five hundred bucks if you factor in my labor. Aside from the fact that it's junk wood...I wouldn't send cocobolo through my planer if it was full of nails at one time. Simply not worth the risk, ever.

So many cocks. I'm no help.