1400 with 20mm festool bit for MFT3 top. What am i doing wrong?

[blues]

Don't know what i am doing wrong! I think my 1400 is plunging right and is perfectly square. Still my holes are not square. They are turning out to be slanted as shown in the picture. The slant is consistently towards the handle side of the plunge .. but i am pressing it from the top and the router base is perfectly stable. Am using a brand new 20mm festool bit.[attachimg=1]

Any thoughts as to what may be causing this?View attachment 1

 

[blues]

Router base to bit seems to be square. The dog fits perfectly snug.but every hole.. made about 4 so far.. all of them seem to come out slant.

Thank you.

 

[TSO_Products]

[member=53591]Blues[/member] - Where's [member=44099]Cheese[/member]  when you need him? ?

have you tried drilling the holes with the router base oriented in four different directions each 90 degrees apart with the router marked for each hole you cut.

That should provide a clue as to the router base relationship to the spindle center-line.If there is no difference I would start looking at the grind of cutter or some thing like that.

Using a square against the side of the cutter is not going to be accurate enough. You would need a section drill rod in the collet and you would expect to see any divergence from square against the router base

Hans

 

[rvieceli]

AS Hans said to check the router grab a 1/2 inch dowel pin and put it in the chuck and check.

Here are some from McMaster Carr. These are precision ground and straight.
https://www.mcmaster.com/dowel-pins/system-of-measurement~inch/pins/dowel-pins-7/

Ron

 

[Cheese]

The first item of business is to determine if it's the router or the bit.

I'd replace the 8 mm collet with a 1/4" collet. Then grab a 1/4" diameter solid carbide down-feed router bit/end mill. There are 2 reasons for this step.
First, solid carbide router bits are centerless ground from carbide round stock so the flutes are perfectly concentric with the router bit shaft.
Secondly, carbide breaks rather then bends so if the router bit is still in one piece...it's absolutely straight.

Take a piece of 3/4" maple or mdf and make a 1/4" diameter hole in the material. Plunge the bit as deep as possible without going completely through.

Like Hans & Ron have already said, place a dowel pin in the hole and measure that against the square for perpendicularity. If you have a Starrett combination square use that instead of the DelVe square. I had a DelVe that I returned to Woodpeckers because it was out of whack.

If everything is perpendicular (which is the most likely situation) then the issue is in the Festool bit or the tool.

Place the 1/4" diameter router bit in a drill chuck, spin it and look for any out-of-roundness. It should be true, if so, then place the 20 mm Festool bit in the chuck and compare the two. If everything still looks fine, I'd move to the tool.

Flip the router over and check to make sure all the screws that secure the phenolic base are tight. Then drag a straight edge across the phenolic base to make sure none of the screw heads are proud of the surface. There have been issues in the past.

Carefully remove the phenolic router base bottom. Blow out the area and then carefully look for anything that would prevent the phenolic base from being level when it's attached properly. Especially look at the screw attachment holes to see if there is a piece of casting flash or something else that may prevent a proper and level surface.

After that, if you're still in the weeds, it's probably time to return both the 20 mm bit and the router to Festool for service along with a short note of what the issue is. If the first 1/4" diameter hole test was good, I'd also return that item along with the dowel pin to Festool so that they can compare the perpendicularity for themselves.

Good luck... [smile]

 

[blues]

@ Cheese.. thank you so much for your inputs. I will implement your suggestions and give an update tomorrow. Thanks again for all your inputs. 

 

[Cheese]

@ Cheese.. thank you so much for your inputs. I will implement your suggestions and give an update tomorrow. Thanks again for all your inputs.

Ya [member=53591]Blues[/member]  just take it one step at a time. If it’s a small niggling issue, it’s better to solve it yourself than to send the tool off to Festool. Number 1 you still have use of the tool and number 2 you’ve learned something.
Sometimes all it takes is a sharp eye and an inquisitive nature to resolve the issue.  [big grin]

However, if that doesn’t solve the problem, do send it in to Festool as I’ve had great results with their help and in-house service

 

[blues]

@ Cheese.. you were spot on with your suggestions. Thank you.
I was systematic and followed your instructions as shown in pics below. It was a small piece that was wedged between the baseplate that caused it to tilt, not noticeable to the eye.
Finished up the top, the few holes that came out bad moved them to the left bottom corner where i use the dogs the least.

 

[TSO_Products]

[member=53591]Blues[/member]  - this excercise shows the FOG at its best:

Stumped?
- post on teh FOg with a clear explanation and pictures
- systematically check based on credible suggestions

- Share the findings for all to learn from [smile]

Thanks everybody!
Hans

 

[rst]

Yah, glad that your situation was resolved reasonably easily.  I've routed hundreds of MFT holes with my 1400 and had no issues.

 

[blues]

[member=53591]Blues[/member]  - this excercise shows the FOG at its best:

Stumped?
- post on teh FOg with a clear explanation and pictures
- systematically check based on credible suggestions

- Share the findings for all to learn from [smile]

Thanks everybody!
Hans

Thank you Hans.
Yes absolutely FOG is an amazing place with so many awesome minds.
Also must tell you.. the super dogs are a sheer joy to work with.

 

[waho6o9]

Good show