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Author Topic: Simple Fence for ripping small strips  (Read 12044 times)
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mntbighker

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« Reply #30 on: December 14, 2007, 08:33 PM »

I personally have found the whole discussion very confusing but I get the sense that if I could decode it I would find it very useful  Huh?  I don't have a table saw either. I have puzzled this very topic. I think it confuses me because I have only recently acquired my MFT and TS-55.

--Mark
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woodshopdemos
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« Reply #31 on: December 14, 2007, 08:52 PM »

Forgive my ignorance,  but could the parallel guide (edge guide) be uses in conjunction with the guide rail?  Seems like this would be another viable alternative, if it can.  (a stop placed at the end of the cut could prevent the kickout?)


John Lucas has a demonstration IIRC of the parallel guide used to cut thin strips.  I think it is used without the MFT guide rail system.  In effect, as I understand it it just guides the blade at a specified distance from the edge of the workpiece.  Check woodshopdemos.com.


Dave R,
   Thanks for the mention. I have been reading these ideas with interest. A lot of good energies put into this problem/solution. But, I think that the Festool Parallel Guide remains my favorite "rip" accessory. I used it yesterday to rip some stock for a demo of a new (Rockler) product. Not having a table saw means that occasionally I have to make like a TS...the parallel guide with the TS55 and the worktable took care of this quicker that I would have been able to find the TS.

Here is the story: http://www.woodshopdemos.com/fes-par-1.htm

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Steveo48

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« Reply #32 on: December 14, 2007, 09:19 PM »

Wow, arn't we making a big deal out of a really simple process? (I'm not trying to start a war here).   Grin

The TS is so much faster for this kind or work.  I teach teenagers to do this every year and we cut thousands of strips 1/8" to 1 1/8" wide and I've never had an accident, incident or near-miss.  I also cut the materials for our construction classes and probably cut over 50K 3/16 wide pieces each year with no problems.   Make a good push stick out of soft pine, and you can run it right over the blade as long as your hand is steady.

OK, where's my helmet?  Wink

Steve
Steve,

It's a big deal for those of us (like me) who do NOT have a table saw.   Worksite saws like the Bosch, Makita, and Dewalt might work fine, but I don't have one of those either.  Also, some are pretty heavy when set up with a nice stand like the Bosch or Rousseau stands.  That's not a good thing for guys with bad backs.

The "big deal" is that we're trying to leverage our Festool tools as much as possible.  The "outer limits" of Festool tools is still unknown in most cases.   Jesse's simple, elegant solution is a great example of testing those limits.  It combines quick setup, dirt cheap cost, usable accuracy, and max portability into one simple solution.  To me, that's a VERY big deal.

Five years ago (even two years ago), it was common wisdom that everyone MUST have a tablesaw to work with wood.   Now (in 2007), a tablesaw might be the best option for some people in some situations, but it is NOT mandatory for everyone in every situation.   For example, I still read questions on other forums like, "What's the best way of hoisting a full sheet of 3/4" ply on to my tablesaw to cut it down?"  (Talk about being in a rut!)  My response is typically, "You're asking the wrong question!"  The better question is, "What's the best way to break down my sheet goods?"   (A couple sheets of pink foam insulation on the floor on a low, cheap cutting table can work wonders!)

If you're cutting 50,000 strips of wood per year at a single site, then a tablesaw is probably the best option.   If you're cutting 50 strips of wood at a worksite 3 times a year, then lugging a tablesaw around (even a portable tablesaw) may not be worth it.  Maybe an MFT plus TS55 is a better option.   Frankly, using a $3 piece of aluminum angle for the few times I need to make repeated wood strips seems like a MUCH superior option to me.

Bottom line - If we don't test the limits, we'll never improve our skills and use these tools to their limits.   There is a lot of merit in sticking with the old way of doing something.  However, we don't know whether the old ways are better than the new ways unless we explore the new ways!  THEN, we decide which is best for a given situation.   Grin

Regards,

Dan.

I wasn't trying to argue that the MFT table isn't more portable or can't do a fine job, nore was this a nice suggestion.  I was commenting to someones response that cutting small strips on the TS might be dangerous (it is as much as you want to make it so), and the going on and on about a simple solution to an equally simple task.  

These responses remind me of people standing in a parking lot admiring hub caps on a new PU, much ado about nothing. Some of the other suggestions remind me of Rube Goldberg designs, I guess I expect a little more creativity and less gee whiz from people spending $400.00+ on power tools.  If you want to see something to get excited about, look at the MFT's being built by other FOG's.    Cheesy

Now where is my asbestos suit?
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JJ Wavra

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« Reply #33 on: March 02, 2008, 04:48 PM »

A little late to the topic but here goes;

I actually made a rip fence for my mft.  Kreg makes track that is 3/8" thick I took this and cut three 5" pieces.  I then installed them in the mft to the right of guide rail recessed so that the top of the track and the top of the mft were about even.  It still leaves 3/8" of mdf under the track and there is some supplied screws that worked perfectly for installation. Oh yeah the tracks are perpendicular to the guide rail.  Those thin tracks take 1/4 20 hex bolts.  So, I took some of that 3/4" thick by 4"wide by 22"long plastic scrap ( that is just the size that came in the bag of scrap that i baught) they sell at woodcraft and drilled holes in it to accept the bolts. I then use these cam clamps to tighten the fence.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10602

I added fender washers between the plastic fence and the cams and also rubber washers under the fender washers. (this just seems to make the cams work better. I did not make the fence the entire width of, or depth depending on how you look at it, the mft so that i can install a stop block at the top of the mft.  I simply cut a small 1 1/2" wide piece of wood and cut a 45 degree on it and clamp that to the top so the piece being ripped will not move up on the table.  the piece that is clamped really only has to be to left of the fence a little bit.  Also, I have found that the festool srew clamps work better than the quick clamps because they are smaller.

I have been using this for a year or so and it seems to work well.

This board is great I found it about a month ago and have been trying to read everything here.  This board is going to cost me some money! Cheesy

best
jj
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Scott W.

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« Reply #34 on: March 02, 2008, 05:20 PM »

jj,

Got photos???

Scott W.
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Dan Clark

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« Reply #35 on: March 02, 2008, 05:27 PM »

jj,

As the resident FOG photo cop, it's my duty to offer a socially acceptable, very subtle hint:



/subtlety = OFF.

Regards,

Dan.
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Brice Burrell

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« Reply #36 on: March 02, 2008, 05:49 PM »

 I think some of you guys don't give Dan C. AKA: "Picture Cop", the proper respect his job deserves. Perhaps seeing him in uniform will straighten you guys out.  Grin

Now remember all good ideas must be documented with photos!


* barrney fife.jpg (37.11 KB, 349x450 - viewed 152 times.)
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Dan Clark

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« Reply #37 on: March 02, 2008, 07:39 PM »

Hey!  You ain't got no right to post pics of me!   Especially in uniform!  (Hmmm...  That pic does capture my good side, doesn't it?)  Cool

Dan.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2008, 10:46 AM by Dan Clark » Logged
JJ Wavra

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« Reply #38 on: March 02, 2008, 07:58 PM »

Sorry for the lack of pictures I don't own a camera!  I was going to buy one and all of a sudden I baught a 1010.  My dad has one so next time he is here i will ask him to bring it by and I will definately post pictures, that is of course if I can figure out how.

Hopefully pictures coming soon,

JJ

Edit: my phone has a camera and I took pictures.  However, for whatever reason that may be , I can not figure out how to resize them.  would someone be willing to do that for me.  I am so un-tech savey that I am truely a disgrace to my generation.  I read the tutorials but simply don't know how to do it .  thanks. jj
« Last Edit: March 02, 2008, 09:02 PM by JJ Wavra » Logged
Dan Clark

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« Reply #39 on: March 02, 2008, 10:51 PM »

JJ,

Pick a couple and send them to me.  I'll take a look.  My e-mail address in my profile.

Regards,

Dan.
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mhch

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« Reply #40 on: March 03, 2008, 02:00 AM »



  I use Picasa to resize pictures to be posted. Picase is a FREE
  picture management tool downloadable from google. com
  Great UI anda number of useful features.





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Matthew Schenker

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« Reply #41 on: March 03, 2008, 07:51 AM »

JJ,
As mhch mentioned, you can use Picasa to resize photos.

Another option is Irfanview, also free and very easy to use.  If you just want to open photos and resize them, Irfanview might be your answer!  To download Irfanview, CLICK HERE.

By the way, thank you for resizing!  I appreciate when members try to keep their photos as small as possible, to save space on our server.  That's a hint to everyone, by the way.

Matthew
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JJ Wavra

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« Reply #42 on: March 03, 2008, 10:07 AM »

I would like to thank dan for resizing these pictures it was a trmendous help. Smiley


ok here goes- In the first picture you can see the three kreg tracks installed on the mft.  If i had it to do over I would probably only put in two;



the second pictuure is with the fence on the table ;



the last is the top of the fence with the  clamp and stop block. Also on the fence I drilled three holes by each clamp so that I can change the anchor point and make the rip capacity bigger or smaller, but to be honest I have not needed to do that.



hope this makes things a little clearer

JJ
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Dan Clark

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« Reply #43 on: March 03, 2008, 10:53 AM »

JJ,

Your pics do a very nice job of capturing the essence of the your jig.   

Regards,

Dan.

p.s. The only thing I did to each pic was to reduce the size and pixel depth, and sharpen a bit.   Took about one minute per pic.
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Ned

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« Reply #44 on: March 03, 2008, 11:24 AM »

JJ--

Those pics are from a phone?  Nice work.

Another Cam Clamp Fan.

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JJ Wavra

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« Reply #45 on: March 03, 2008, 12:29 PM »

ned

Yeah they are from a motorola krazr. The phone has bluetooth and my computer has bluetooth( a mac I don't know what I would do without it it practically does everything on its own) that is how I some how managed to get them over.

JJ
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Dave Ronyak

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« Reply #46 on: March 03, 2008, 01:41 PM »

JJ,

Thanks for adding the photos.  I also compliment you on your earlier written description which gave me the same mental picture as your recent photos.

What is your procedure for ensuring the rip fence is set parallel to the guide rail and at the exact distance you want the width of the ripped strips to be?

Why is your end stop pointed - to keep sawdust from building up?

Dave R.
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Dave Rudy

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« Reply #47 on: March 03, 2008, 02:20 PM »

I think some of you guys don't give Dan C. AKA: "Picture Cop", the proper respect his job deserves. Perhaps seeing him in uniform will straighten you guys out.  Grin


Dan is actually a little older now than when this picture was taken (1956).  But his facial expression, as I understand it, hasn't changed that much.
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JJ Wavra

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« Reply #48 on: March 03, 2008, 05:28 PM »

JJ,

Thanks for adding the photos.  I also compliment you on your earlier written description which gave me the same mental picture as your recent photos.

What is your procedure for ensuring the rip fence is set parallel to the guide rail and at the exact distance you want the width of the ripped strips to be?

Why is your end stop pointed - to keep sawdust from building up?

Dave R.

dave,

I usually set the fence differently but i think this would work better.  First off, I keep the angle guide and bar away from the rail so that I can lay the rail flat on the mft top.  Slide a thin ruler under the rail until the desired width of the cut piece  plus the kerf of the saw is showing on the right of the zero clearance black strip on the rail and slide the fence up to it.  I do this at the farthest part of the fence and at the closest.  This should give good results.

As far as the stop being angled, I do this so that I don't have to keep different thicknesses of stops around.  Essentially you can put the point of the stop block on the right edge of the rip piece and then the saw will clear the stop piece.  I found that if you leave the stop piece square and thicker than the rip piece the saw will get stuck on it (I have the ts 75 and it slightly overhangs the rail).  If you think about were the material is removed on the stop piece you can always clear the piece usually even with a chip guard on the right of the saw. I usually just cut it at 45 degrees.

I hope this helps,

JJ
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Dan Clark

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« Reply #49 on: March 03, 2008, 06:08 PM »

I think some of you guys don't give Dan C. AKA: "Picture Cop", the proper respect his job deserves. Perhaps seeing him in uniform will straighten you guys out.  Grin


Dan is actually a little older now than when this picture was taken (1956).  But his facial expression, as I understand it, hasn't changed that much.
Ouch!  That stung.  Whine...  Sniffle...  Cry
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Dave Rudy

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« Reply #50 on: March 03, 2008, 07:18 PM »


Ouch!  That stung.  Whine...  Sniffle...  Cry

Sorry, Dan.  Couldn't resist.  It was a setup.  Don't go all touchy-feely on us now.
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woodshopdemos
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« Reply #51 on: March 04, 2008, 05:33 AM »

Simple, elegant -- I like.
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Steveo48

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« Reply #52 on: March 07, 2008, 07:17 PM »

But wouldn't the clamping elements, "for safe and exact fixing of workpieces on MFT", Item # 488030, be easier to use, or are they as reliable as the angle unit?

Steve
Sarcasim mode off  Cheesy
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