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Big Sound, Tough Little Box

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Getting the ground ready, building forms, and generally making ready for concrete is excruciatingly hard work and painfully boring. The pole barn project mentioned in the first section has so far entailed weeks of back-breaking work with little progress to show. Every day I bolster my resolve by imagining the day when I will truly get to do some woodworking, uh, carpentry, and see some real progress.

To help pass those endless days of preparatory work, I wanted to listen to the radio. But where I live, radio reception is virtually non-existent. The AM station I most like will not "come in" at all. The couple of FM stations I can pick up are filled with the worst excuses for music I have ever heard. I downloaded an application to my iPad that lets me listen to virtually any station I want via the internet, but the tablet's speakers are so small and wimpy that even at maximum volume I couldn't hear it more than a few feet away.

Figure 9 - My new jobsite music system... and yes, Jim, it is sitting on a used 5 gallon bucket!

There are all kinds of worksite devices that will deliver music, some by connecting to your phone or tablet, but all seem too big and appear to have too many other tricky little gadgets and functions that I didn't need. When I saw the Festool SYSROCK Worksite Radio , I was intrigued, simply because the unit is small, would run off a legendary Festool battery thus lasting virtually forever, and because the SYSROCK is a purpose-built unit intended to do just one thing, and do it very well. It could connect to my iPad or phone via Bluetooth or with a cable. My concern was simply this: Would the unit generate enough volume for me to hear it all over the pole barn worksite, but without the usual distortion so prevalent among other units when they are cranked to high volume?

In short, I couldn't be more pleased. Volume is incredible without distortion or "boominess." Sound is crystal clear, more like what you would expect from high-end audiophile systems.

The unit accepts any Festool flat pack battery. I paired mine with an extra 18 volt 5.2 Ah Li battery that came with one of my drills. I turned the unit on, and within seconds my iPad "discovered" the SYSROCK BR10 and the Bluetooth paired instantly. I tuned to my internet streaming radio station, and the sound was stunning. For the real test, I carried the SYSROCK and iPad back to the pole barn site, cranked up the volume, and could hear crisp, clean detail in every sound at 50 feet away and more, with other equipment running.

I used the unit three straight days and the battery never whimpered. On the third night, after a long day of work, I recharged the battery, so there is no telling how long it might have run… Festool claims that you can get 4 to 5 days of listening from a full charge.

The SYSROCK is a tough little box, just slightly larger than the SYSLITE KAL II Worklamp . Throw it in a tool bag or box, no worries about damage. Set it on the ground, hang it on a tree branch like I did using the built-in hook, or mount it to something using the 1/4-20 threaded insert. This little sound system is going with me everywhere now.

On a different topic, a milestone of sorts was reached this last month when the five-hundredth person downloaded plans for the SawStop Outfeed Table project chronicled in a video series for Highland Woodworking. Many woodworkers have built the outfeed table and sent me pictures of their finished project. Thank you all for doing that!

Because the outfeed table was, at least in terms of my viewership, a "hit," I decided to build another project that will be its natural accompaniment, something most woodworkers will eventually need. I am deep into the making of the first video of the series, but sadly, it will not be ready in time for this issue of Wood News Online. So, sorry, but no video this month!

I wish I could claim the delay is due to all my outdoor projects, but there have been plenty of rainy days to get inside-the-shop work done. No, the delay is because the first video is a bit involved and requires that I do a little graphics artwork (not my forte) and some drawings (even less of a forte). I promise, though, to have the first installment done by the beginning of October, and hopefully, you will deem it worth the wait!

If you're interested in finding out more about the Festool SYSROCK or purchasing one for your own shop, check out the product page on the Highland Woodworking website .

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Steven Johnson is retired from an almost 30-year career selling medical equipment and supplies, and now enjoys improving his shop, his skills, and his designs on a full time basis (although he says home improvement projects and furniture building have been hobbies for most of his adult life). Steven can be reached directly via email at sjohnson@downtoearthwoodworking.com

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