FestitaMakool
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I did just check the squareness of the slot to bottom on my OF 1010 - it’s not square.
Angle Arm & Edging Plate Not 90 Degrees to Router Base
- Thread starter mfkd9
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Cheese
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- Jan 16, 2015
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- 12,503
Well, after installing some additional Barrina LED's in the shop today, I had some extra time and decided to further investigate this issue. It just seemed baffling to me that Festool would so totally miss this fine point when the arm & edging plate are designed specifically to be used with both the 1010 & 1400 to produce smooth edges while trimming.
I also noted that at least 3 each 1010 owners verified this out of square condition and 2 each 1400 owners also verified this condition to be true, while only a single owner of a 1400 said this was not an issue. That also raised flags anecdotally because if the proper orientation is actually 90º, then there should be more people saying their set-ups were at 90º. The information being received was trending in the wrong direction.
So, I just sat down with the 1010 in-hand and thought through the process including how the router is used & oriented for trimming operations. After much twisting, turning and squinting I realized that the edging arm & angle plate are not supposed to come to a 90º angle, but like the MFK 700, the router bit needs to be angled slightly to prevent damage to the surface being trimmed.
I measured the offset of the router bit and sure enough it came out to approximately 1º.
I then decided to verify this condition and take a photo of it so that we can finally put this topic to bed. I mounted a 1/4" drill backwards into the collet of the 1010 because that would give me a straight & uniform sight-line to pick up with back lighting. It's a lot easier to see the offset as opposed to measuring the offset.
In the photo, at the very front edge (LH) of the panel and router interface there is a line-to-line contact and you can see that as the distance increases the space also increases. The router base is on the LH side while the edging plate is on the RH side.
[attachimg=1]
I also noted that at least 3 each 1010 owners verified this out of square condition and 2 each 1400 owners also verified this condition to be true, while only a single owner of a 1400 said this was not an issue. That also raised flags anecdotally because if the proper orientation is actually 90º, then there should be more people saying their set-ups were at 90º. The information being received was trending in the wrong direction.
So, I just sat down with the 1010 in-hand and thought through the process including how the router is used & oriented for trimming operations. After much twisting, turning and squinting I realized that the edging arm & angle plate are not supposed to come to a 90º angle, but like the MFK 700, the router bit needs to be angled slightly to prevent damage to the surface being trimmed.
I measured the offset of the router bit and sure enough it came out to approximately 1º.
I then decided to verify this condition and take a photo of it so that we can finally put this topic to bed. I mounted a 1/4" drill backwards into the collet of the 1010 because that would give me a straight & uniform sight-line to pick up with back lighting. It's a lot easier to see the offset as opposed to measuring the offset.
In the photo, at the very front edge (LH) of the panel and router interface there is a line-to-line contact and you can see that as the distance increases the space also increases. The router base is on the LH side while the edging plate is on the RH side.
[attachimg=1]
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FestitaMakool
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Cheese, that’s a very plausible explanation, and indeed the router bit should not interfere inwards so it would leave marks on the surface.
Thanks, at least I will call it a day! Well done thinking!
Thanks, at least I will call it a day! Well done thinking!
Well I’ve been very busy, so I just got a chance to call Festool today. The guy I spoke with said that it’s NOT designed to be that way, but if it’s only a little bit off 90 degrees then it would be considered “within specs”. He asked me to send him some pictures, so I did, but the only response I’ve received to that email so far is that their team will evaluate the situation and get back to me. When I get a response from them, I will post it on here for anyone that is interested in what they say.
Here’s the response I got from Festool today (this seems to run counter to what I was told on the phone, but this is what I was sent):
“Hello,
The response that we received from the technical support team indicates that this picture shows how all angle arms are. They are created in this way to support the router at the correct position when the weight of the router is in place. The angle arm will hold the cutter at a slight angle so it will not dig into the material at the end or bottom of the bit. The pictures submitted are normal and all angle arms will have this slight gap when installed.”
I guess it’s debatable whether this makes sense or actually works in a real life situation, but I did use the router with the attachments today to trim some edge banding, and I didn’t notice any problems. Thanks for the responses, pictures, and time taken on this.
“Hello,
The response that we received from the technical support team indicates that this picture shows how all angle arms are. They are created in this way to support the router at the correct position when the weight of the router is in place. The angle arm will hold the cutter at a slight angle so it will not dig into the material at the end or bottom of the bit. The pictures submitted are normal and all angle arms will have this slight gap when installed.”
I guess it’s debatable whether this makes sense or actually works in a real life situation, but I did use the router with the attachments today to trim some edge banding, and I didn’t notice any problems. Thanks for the responses, pictures, and time taken on this.
