Hacker News Reader

I make and sell custom tabletops compatible with the festool woodworking products. I cut them locally on my CNC router and advertise exclusively through craigslist. I do 3-5 per month of those, and another 10 projects / month that come from repeat customers - mostly hobbiests and contractors.

Through craigslist, I’ve ended up making components used in the Apple campus, and service pieces used in a 3 Michelin star restaraunt.

View on HN

What is special about a tabletop for festool products?

Take a look at Festool’s MFT 3 table system. It is a grid of 20mm holes, spaced at 96mm on center. There are many time saving and convenient tools made to take advantage of them, and many more custom stuff that craftsmen build to make things easier.

Without a CNC it is frustrating to drill those holes reliably square enough to use them in downstream operations like squaring cuts or aligning/spacing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com