clear sub base for 1400

dereks

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Aug 28, 2018
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Does anyone sell a clear sub base for the 1400 router to use on my dovetail jig? Needs to be adjustable a little bit to center a PC guide bushing.
 
I’m not aware of an aftermarket product that’s available. However it would be simple to make one out of plexi or acrylic.

The adjustable feature for the guide bushing could be as simple as a slightly oversized bushing hole and then use a Festool centering mandrel to center the bushing.

Whoops, missed that one item...

Welcome to the FOG.  [big grin]
 
Sorry - In answer to your question: NO. And, I looked for several years.
I really like my OF 1400 - And it’s my “go to” router for most all my hand held router tasks.
But, I had to find a “work around” router solution to use with my Leigh D4R Jig.
Making a sub-base yourself for the OF 1400 - With the exact centering accuracy needed for jig dovetailing - Is EXTREMELY difficult.
Pat Warner (RIP) - A Craftsman/Seller of many types of precision engineered, clear router sub-bases - Never would make one for the OF 1400.
My solution:
A modestly priced, dedicated Porter Cable 690LR Router - (currently $129~ at Amazon).
There ARE multiple purveyors of low cost, clear sub-bases for the 690LR.
Works wonderfully for me. I can see “where l’m going” when I’m dovetailing. [wink]
 
Hey Joe, I’m not understanding this problem. It’s a simple fix with a jig saw, hack saw or Sawzall... the clear plexi base is nothing more than a window into your work. There’s nothing that needs to be precise in the entire project. You’re looking for a visual to place the router, however the router is actually being located by the router bushing.

You fabricate the base and it can be 6” x 6” or it can be 18” x 18”. It doesn’t matter, the only thing that matters is the registration of the centerline of the router bit with the centerline of the router bushing. Concentricity matters, everything else...das macht nichts.
 
Hey Cheese:
If you’re better than Pat Warner was - The long accepted master at creating router sub-bases - Go for it. You da man!
BTW...
The OP’s question wasn’t: Can you make one?
The question was: “Does anyone sell a clear sub base for the 1400 router?”
 
Hey Joe,
I’m just an old guy that’s flown by the seat of his pants and I’m still alive and functioning...I’d consider that a win.  [big grin]

I don’t know who Pat Warner is because I’m a metal guy. So from my standpoint, wood routers are just the poor stepchild of milling machines. 

My point was, it is extremely easy to fabricate a clear acrylic base for a router with a minimum of tools. Unless you’re indexing off of an edge, it’s the router bushing and concentricity of the router bushing to the router bit that’s important. Really nothing else matters.
 
So, thinking through this issue for the last 24 hours, I’m still of the same mind-set that I was last night. 
The bottom line is simply to solve the OPs problem.

The OP wants a clear router base for his router to aid in positioning the same but no one offers one.

1. Remove the existing router base.
2. Clamp the router base to a piece of plexi or acrylic.
3. Trace the form of the router base onto the plexi or acrylic.
4. Trace the inside router opening diameter onto the plexi or acrylic.
5. Using a transfer punch, mark the locations of the holes that are needed to fasten the base to the router.
6. Cut out the form with a jig saw and clean it up with files & sandpaper.
7. Drill the attachment holes
8. Drill the center hole.

Am I missing something?
 
I think [member=44099]Cheese[/member] has got it spot on.

My only additional advice to the OP is to use the OF1010 if he has one as it is easier to centre using the mandrel and is much lighter. The latter is important as one tends to be handling the router for a long time whilst doing dovetail work.

Peter
 
Last week I bought a Circle Jig from Milescraft (https://www.milescraft.com/product/circleguidekit/) that came with a clear base. I haven't been able to verify it yet, but the reseller said it should fit a Festool OF1400. Maybe that's something you could use with some adaptations where needed?
 
hdv said:
Last week I bought a Circle Jig from Milescraft (https://www.milescraft.com/product/circleguidekit/) that came with a clear base. I haven't been able to verify it yet, but the reseller said it should fit a Festool OF1400. Maybe that's something you could use with some adaptations where needed?

The nice thing about the 1010/1400 combination, is that the base plate attachment patterns are very different from each other which allows an auxiliary base to be drilled for either router without the fear of attachment holes falling on top of one another.

As an example, this is a router attachment plate sold by Micro Fence for using a Festool router off of a Festool guide rail. The holes marked red are for the 1010, while the holes marked yellow are for the 1400.
 

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Michael Kellough said:
Maybe the op could request Micro Fence make the above base in clear material.

Wish it were that easy Michael... [smile]

I contacted Micro Fence and wanted to purchase a base without any holes in it. I especially didn't want to have the 8 holes that are in the bottom of the photo. That way I wouldn't have holes intersecting holes.  [big grin]

Micro Fence was kind enough to put me in contact with their supplier. Unfortunately, the supplier doesn't stock any bases and only produces the bases on an as-needed basis when they have a PO from Micro Fence. They agreed to supply me a hole-less base when they did another production run for Micro Fence. Micro Fence however already had a 3-4 month supply of bases.

Well time waits for no one and I needed to get the job done sooner rather than later...so I had to purchase what I did.  [crying]  It still works well though.

 
Michael Kellough said:
Maybe the op could request Micro Fence make the above base in clear material.

FWIW...speaking about Micro Fence, I just received an email announcing their Labor Day sale. Use LABORDAY18 at checkout for a 10% discount. First time buyers also receive free shipping.  [cool]
 
Can't just use the existing 1400 base as a template for routing and drilling? Seems like that would eliminate sanding and any issues with locating holes. Maybe that's what was meant. I don't really need a clear base so I never really thought about it, but it doesn't seem like a huge problem to make if you  need one and want to spend the time to do it.
 
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