A place for my tips, toys and tinkering

[NERemodeling]

Not sure if this is really the best spot for this but i thought i would create a thread where i can unleash some of my tinkering projects, tool enhancements, tips, new tool purchases and anything else that comes to mind

I've been screwing around after hours a little bit lately and these are a few of the things ive come up with

EDIT--- the following is only a problem on the older MFT1080 and MFT800
my version of a stop flag  i never really liked how the festool stop flag stuck out past the fence and had to be removed when not in use,   i saw the woodpeckers flip stop at my local woodcraft for $10 and picked it up not knowing if it would work... it didnt... until i tweaked it a bit, now i have exactly what i wanted

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the bolt and grove rib on the flipstop were both too big for the festool fence so i ground down two sides of the bolt and used a file to narrow up the rib that runs in the grove on top of the fence

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once i had it on the rail, i noticed that it too stuck out past the face of the rail so i shaved the plastic back a bit and reduced the overall diameter of the knob, then i ground two flat sides in the knob to increase grip as the smooth smaller knob was a little hard to tighten/loosen

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i did all the grinding on my worksharp 3000 with 120g   i used a pair of vice grips to grind the metal knob

probably took about an hour or so start to finish

 

[NERemodeling]

Here is my version of a Sys cart

I am a remodeling contractor and work out of a 7x14' v nose trailer so i need lots of different tools and space is limited, i liked the idea of a sys cart but also keep a furniture dolly in my trailer and thought with a little ingenuity i could combine the two and not have any tool overlap

I started with a Milwaukee 1000 lb. Capacity Furniture Dolly, Model # 33700   sells for $20 at depot

after dissembling, shortening, shaving, modifying and reassembling this is what i came up with

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i found that i would just move the outer set of wheel bolt holes on the top board to the inner set on the bottom board and then rip down the inside edge of each top board by about 1/8 and i had the perfect inside width i needed    its not shown in the pics but i also had to rip about 3/8 off the inside of each bottom board to give myself 12" of space front to back (i actually made a plunge cut and didnt rip any material off the lower board in the area under the upper board because it was close ot the bolt holes and i didnt want to loose strength)

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the bottom is 3/4" plywood ripped at 12" to fit between the two bottom boards, i installed a 5/8" spacer board under the two upper boards so that the tabs on the front of the systainer would sit below the top edge of the bottom board by about 1/8"   this set me up for the locking clip idea i had

to make the locking clips i had some aluminum flat stock lying around that i bent little lips into and drilled out a slot for the bolt (i chiseled the bolt head into the underside of the bottom board so it doesnt rotate while tightening)   then i routed a slot into the bottom board for the aluminum tab to slide in  they slide in just over the tabs on the systainer    the knobs are Incra Build-It System 1/4-20 Knob Kit,   the nice thing is they sit lower than the top of the upper boards, so they wont have to be removed for furniture moving use

next i added a 1 1/4 rip with a back 45* bevel to act as a french cleat with the systainers back feet

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close up of locking tab

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here are a few finished shots, the slots cut into the bottom plywood are there only for how i strap this into my trailer but they double as nice handles

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Enjoy,

John

 

[NERemodeling]

next up is a quicky but a goodie,     after i got my ct26, i kept finding that i was placing my ts and other tools into the hose garage when i wanted to clear off my mft (only an 800 so not much space).    i made this quick and dirty lid to give myself a place to rest my tools..

its made out of 1/2 mdf, happened to be a piece of scrap laying around   3/4 wouldnt clear one of the raised sections around the perimeter of the hose garage top and would or required some additional work to get it to fit,   the 1/2" fits nice under all the tabs

i could laminate a second piece of 1/2" to this if i wanted a clear shot over the whole top of the vac, i might eventually do this

also i think i might also drill a set of 20mm holes in it so it can be used as a makeshift mini workbench/clamping table when working on site without a table nearby and the need arises

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[Paul G]

NER, I just bought a couple of those exact dollies for similar purpose, you just saved me a bunch of time, my sincere thanks to you  [not worthy]

 

[NERemodeling]

NER, I just bought a couple of those exact dollies for similar purpose, you just saved me a bunch of time, my sincere thanks to you  [not worthy]

[big grin]  Glad i could help, that was really my idea when starting this thread.      that one did take me a while, several assembles and disassembles to get it right..  i can take some measurements off it and PM them to you if you would like

John

 

[Paul G]

NER, I just bought a couple of those exact dollies for similar purpose, you just saved me a bunch of time, my sincere thanks to you  [not worthy]

[big grin]  Glad i could help, that was really my idea when starting this thread.       that one did take me a while, several assembles and disassembles to get it right..   i can take some measurements off it and PM them to you if you would like

John

Thanks but not necessary for me, the big time saver was the sliding lock tab design, simple and effective.

 

[fastbike]

My stop flag pivots out of the way same as the woodpecker / incra / etc ???

http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tool-accessories/work-tables/mft-accessories/stop-flag-495542

That's the one that came w/ my MFT/3.

 

[promark747]

My stop flag pivots out of the way same as the woodpecker / incra / etc ???

http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tool-accessories/work-tables/mft-accessories/stop-flag-495542

That's the one that came w/ my MFT/3.

I believe when the Festool stop is flipped up, it still is in the way by a small amount.  (Which similar to the above, could be ground off if one desired.)

 

[NERemodeling]

My stop flag pivots out of the way same as the woodpecker / incra / etc ???

http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tool-accessories/work-tables/mft-accessories/stop-flag-495542

That's the one that came w/ my MFT/3.

I have the older style MFT 800    there must be a difference in the extruded aluminum fence because mine is not even close to fitting,    in i want to put anything thicker than about 1/2" up against the whole length of the fence than i have to remove the festool stop flag (very inconvenient)

either that or im really missing something obvious

here are a few pics of what im seeing

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[fastbike]

It's definitely not in the way on the stock fence on a MFT/3. The base and flag are flush to the edge of the fence. The fence is clearly different than the MFT800 one in the picture.

When I said it pivots out of the way, that's what I meant.

My stop flag pivots out of the way same as the woodpecker / incra / etc ???

http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tool-accessories/work-tables/mft-accessories/stop-flag-495542

That's the one that came w/ my MFT/3.

I believe when the Festool stop is flipped up, it still is in the way by a small amount.  (Which similar to the above, could be ground off if one desired.)

 

[promark747]

This is what I was referring to.  Mine has the same (minor) problem that would be fixed with a little filing.

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-problems/mft-3-problem/

 

[NERemodeling]

Fastbike,  i can see in the thread that promark747 posted that the fence on the MFT/3 is much beefier and the stop flag sits on it fine.  the festool stop is so far off on the old mft fence that there is no way to modify it to work without destroying it...  the woodpeckers stop took a little work but it is doable

I guess its a good tip for anyone still using a mft800 or 1080 that wishes to use a flip stop

 

[NERemodeling]

Thanks but not necessary for me, the big time saver was the sliding lock tab design, simple and effective.

Paul, to get the tab design to work like i did it i have the systainer platform lowered 5/8" (maybe a hair more) than the top surface of the board that the tabs are mounted into, the grove that the tab sits in is 1/8 deep    essentially giving 1/2" clearance from surface the systainer rests on to the underside of the tab  my tabs are 1 5/16" wide (i think) wide which gives a bit of wiggle side to side for easier insertion.

here is a few more shots of these details

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make sure to let us know how yours come out!

John

 

[NERemodeling]

Gonna call this one the MFCT

I decided to do the mods to the CT vac lid that i posted earlier, as i mentioned before the 1/2 or even 3/4 wasnt thick enough to clear the lip around the top of the hose garage    

i made a second piece also from 1/2" mdf so it was 1" tall    this just clears the top so there is a clear shot over the vac

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in the pics they aren't yet attached to each other so they might be a bit misaligned of have a gap between the two pieces, this will go away when i laminate them together

i did this one in metric, here are all the measurements if you want to replicate it..  used my lr32 setup to drill the holes with Freud 20mm router bit 04-552, i drilled the bottom piece with my festool 35mm hinge bit so that the clamps would go in easier to the 1" material

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Enjoy!    

 

[Alan m]

I decided to do the mods to the CT vac lid that i posted earlier, as i mentioned before the 1/2 or even 3/4 wasnt thick enough to clear the lip around the top of the hose garage   

i made a second piece also from 1/2" mdf so it was 1" tall    this just clears the top so there is a clear shot over the vac

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in the pics they aren't yet attached to each other so they might be a bit misaligned of have a gap between the two pieces, this will go away when i laminate them together

i did this one in metric, here are all the measurements if you want to replicate it..  used my lr32 setup to drill the holes with Freud 20mm router bit 04-552, i drilled the bottom piece with my festool 35mm hinge bit so that the clamps would go in easier to the 1" material

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Enjoy!   

thats a nice little mod there. very handy for a small job  and it takes up very little room in the van for what benifits it brings

 

[NERemodeling]

thats a nice little mod there. very handy for a small job  and it takes up very little room in the van for what benifits it brings

Thanks Alan, Thats exactly what i was going for with it, super simple to make also. 

John

 

[Bikeboy80]

Love it! There are times I could use a spot to work on or clamp to and don't feel like dragging the MFT out. Thanks!

 

[NERemodeling]

Love it! There are times I could use a spot to work on or clamp to and don't feel like dragging the MFT out. Thanks!

Glad you find it helpful, in your signature i can see that you have all the tools needed to build it (minus maybe the 20mm bit, i used the Freud 04-552)

I hope you get some really good use out of it!  If you end up making one, let me know how it goes and post a picture if you could  (that goes for anyone)

- here is a little detail on the hole drilling for anyone interested

the lr32 end stops dont work to put the holes where i have them so you can just align the rail by eye and screw a wooden end stop with a few pan head screws to the underside of the rail butting the workpiece .

i dont have the lr32 edge stops (guide rods) so im not sure how far they will reference from one edge, im assuming not far enough but maybe they will work to reference off of the starting edge, then readjust to reference off the inside edge of the holes  or what i did is just figure out that the center of my bit was about 25mm from my splintergaurd and make marks 25mm off center to one side to align my rail to    then obviusly every 3rd hole on the lr32 will give you your 96mm spacing

with the likelihood that this will only ever be used for clamping its really not crucial that the hole layout is super accurate

i did the 35mm holes the same way because i had the router bit but because these have nothing to do with the accuracy of the top they could just as easily be done with a spade/forrestner bit probably any size 1"or over  (like i said before the oversize helps the clamps go in easier) one downside to mention is you wont be able to use the screw knobs on the element clamps

i went with 4 rows of holes on 68mm centers mainly because i didnt want 3 rows which would have put holes right above the CT handle (could get in the way when inserting clamps)  also 4 rows adds a little more versatility and 68mm was about the widest spacing i felt i could get away with without coming too close to the notches in the top

if after reading this book you are even more confused than when you started  [laughing] feel free to ask me any questions

John

 

[Bikeboy80]

I actually have the Vertias MFT kit that has a 20mm bit in it [big grin] I have yet to use it so I'll have to see how it works in the 1010.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[NERemodeling]

I actually have the Vertias MFT kit that has a 20mm bit in it [big grin] I have yet to use it so I'll have to see how it works in the 1010.

Thanks for the tips!

something to think about, im not sure if the bit in the vertias it is a drill forrester or router approved bit (and if the shank is 3/8 you won tbe able to fit it into the 1010) 

i too once thought of using a forrester drill bit in my router  see THIS post, i was asking about a 35mm bit and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th response to that post (excluding my first post) all advised me against using a drill rated bit in a router.   

im not exactly sure why (maybe someone who knows better could chime in) but i did take their advice and bought 35mm and 20mm router bits

i just wouldnt want to find out that you tried it and hurt yourself or your tools and i could have prevented it

as i said in my last post, accuracy of the holes isnt very important if the top isnt going to be used for cutting with a rail dog style setup    since this top will probably only be used for clamping and there are so few holes maybe just air on the safe side and use your drill

hate to be the party pooper  [embarassed]