Custom Router Base Plates

[Brice_Arnold]

Short story long; I was trying to use my Festool routers with my Leigh dovetail jig and was running in to a couple of problems. I tried using both an OF 1010 router and an OF 1400 router with the Leigh jig and ran into problems with both routers. In the past I have used Dewalt routers for the Leigh jig without issue.  

The first was with the guide busing. You have to be able to center the guide busing with respect to the router bit. You can not do this with the guide busing adapters for both Festool routers. This relation is fixed and they are not even close to being centered (visible with the naked eye). I tried capturing the misalignment with my point-and-shoot.

The other issue I had with the festool routers is that the bottoms are not "flat" there are features/inserts that are at different elevations to the base. When you try using these routers with the Leigh jig, the router rocks around and gets snagged on the dovetail template fingers. This makes for a poor dovetail joint on the Leigh jig.

Here are some images of the OEM Festool bases

OF 1010

OF 1400

I don't know if Festool has a solution for these issues, and a quick search did not yield optional base plates. I decided to design my own base plate that would take a standard Porter Cable style guide bushing, be mostly monolithic and flat, and offer oversized counter bored mounting holes for alignment of the guide busing to the router bit. The hardest part in this little project was reverse engineering the hole pattern on the bottom of the Festool routers. The pattern on the OF 1010 seems random. The pattern on the OF 1400 was at least rectangular. My material of choice was 6mm Lexan (polycarbonate). This is durable material and not as brittle as acrylic.

Here is what I came up with. Simple yet effective.

OF 1010

OF 1400

The OF 1400 also has a center ring for the quick release Festool guide bushings. I had to machine a pocket in the base plate to clear this feature

Here are the base plates installed with a guide bushing.

OF 1010

OF 1400

Hopefully this weekend I can try out these routers on the Leigh dovetail jig with better success.

Thanks for looking

 

[nclemmons]

Really nice work machining those.

How did you insure that the new base will center the ring?  Is it just by allowing a larger center hole so you can adjust the play out?

thanks for sharing -

neil

 

[stvrowe]

Very nice solution to a real problem.  In lieu of making a custom base, I suffer with the non-Festool routers on Leigh jigs. 

 

[VictorL]

Looks nice.
Standard bushing adapter  for OF-1010 has two sets of holes: one set with tapered self centering holes, second with flat bottom holes. Flat bottom holes can be adjusted with flat head screws.

 

[Sparktrician]

Looks nice.
Standard bushing adapter  for OF-1010 has two sets of holes: one set with tapered self centering holes, second with flat bottom holes. Flat bottom holes can be adjusted with flat head screws.

It looks as though I have the same challenge with getting the guide bushing to center on the mandrel with the OF1010.  The stock mounting plate has the flat-bottom holes as mentioned, but there's nowhere enough play (as in ZERO) to use this concept to center the bushing on the mandrel, and it's waaaay off-center.  There's similarly zero play between the guide bushing and the mounting plate.  Looks like a call to Festool Service on Monday. 

[sad]

 

[Nick C]

I have the same problem with my OF1400. I called Festool service about it and was told that it was not necessary for the bit to be centered in the sub-base opening. I found that there are two small pins that fix the position of the sub-base with respect to the base. I pulled these out with a needlenose, and that provided sufficient play so that I could install a centering mandrel and fasten the sub-base with the opening centered. A quick and dirty fix, to be sure. The new sub-base looks real nice.

 

[VictorL]

It looks as though I have the same challenge with getting the guide bushing to center on the mandrel with the OF1010.  The stock mounting plate has the flat-bottom holes as mentioned, but there's nowhere enough play (as in ZERO) to use this concept to center the bushing on the mandrel, and it's waaaay off-center.  There's similarly zero play between the guide bushing and the mounting plate.  Looks like a call to Festool Service on Monday. 

[sad]

It might sounds weird, I think you checked it already, but what will happen if you rotate brass bushing by 180 degree? If there is problem with router(s) the gap will stay in place, if not, there is problem with bushing.

BTW, how did you make your plates? I love them

 

[Brice_Arnold]

It might sounds weird, I think you checked it already, but what will happen if you rotate brass bushing by 180 degree? If there is problem with router(s) the gap will stay in place, if not, there is problem with bushing.

BTW, how did you make your plates? I love them

Yes, I tried rotating the bushing on both my routers and the offset stays the same. It's an issue with the router assembly. It's understandable in my opinion due to the stack up of tolerances in the assembly. Festool should have allowed for some way to adjust for it (slop in the holes or something) most other router companies have base plates with sloppy holes so you can align the bushing to the router bit. The dewalt kit even comes with a special tool for this alignment.

I machined these on my CNC mill. They are fairly simple to make. If there is enough interest I could see about doing a batch of them but I'm not on here trying peddle these. I just saw a problem with the Festool design and thought I would share my solution.

 

[Rocky]

Festool should come up with a fix for this problem and not the comsumer. 

 

[Brice_Arnold]

I have the same problem with my OF1400. I called Festool service about it and was told that it was not necessary for the bit to be centered in the sub-base opening. I found that there are two small pins that fix the position of the sub-base with respect to the base. I pulled these out with a needlenose, and that provided sufficient play so that I could install a centering mandrel and fasten the sub-base with the opening centered. A quick and dirty fix, to be sure. The new sub-base looks real nice.

There are a couple of reasons why it would matter

1. If the router bit was close in size to the guide bushing to the point where the bit contacted the guide bushing due to offset. This is an obvious issue.

2. If you are routing with a template and creating mating parts (dovetail jig or inlay work) the offset doesn't matter if you keep the router in the exact same orientation for the two parts. but as soon as you start changing that orientation (moving your body, adjusting your grip, etc...) that offset comes into play and affects the fit of your joint. Again it all depends on how bad the offset is. For me it was enough to be concerned

The offset was also a minor issue.  For me the big issue was that the router was not stable on the dovetail jig and kept getting snagged on the template fingers.

I like your solution for the OF1400. I saw the pins but didn't try removing them.

Thanks

 

[Brice_Arnold]

Really nice work machining those.

How did you insure that the new base will center the ring?  Is it just by allowing a larger center hole so you can adjust the play out?

thanks for sharing -

neil

The guide bushing is a tight fit with the base This way you can replace the bushing without loosing your center. This only works on the 1400 though. On the 1010 you have to remove the base to replace the guide bushing because of the dust shroud. The mounting holes for the base to the router have about 1mm slop for adjustment.

 

[kfitzsimons]

I've got a 1400 and have a Leigh jig but haven't used it yet. If your bases work, I'd be interested in purchasing one. Do you just center the bit by eye and tighten the base? Thanks for bringing this issue up. It is true that Festool should look into this. Everything else is so precise with Festools, the bit should be centered.

 

[Sparktrician]

It looks as though I have the same challenge with getting the guide bushing to center on the mandrel with the OF1010.  The stock mounting plate has the flat-bottom holes as mentioned, but there's nowhere enough play (as in ZERO) to use this concept to center the bushing on the mandrel, and it's waaaay off-center.  There's similarly zero play between the guide bushing and the mounting plate.  Looks like a call to Festool Service on Monday. 

[sad]

It might sounds weird, I think you checked it already, but what will happen if you rotate brass bushing by 180 degree? If there is problem with router(s) the gap will stay in place, if not, there is problem with bushing.

BTW, how did you make your plates? I love them

 

I had the same thought and tried rotating the bushing.  No effect whatsoever.  The bushing is dead-on precise, but off-center relative to the bit, and there's no adjustment I could find.  My P-C 8529 and Bosch 1617EVSPK routers both have a means of adjustment to get things dead on concentric, so I should be able to anticipate the same degree of precision or better, I would think, given that this is a Festool. 

 

[Tim Morris]

Brice let me know what you think your price point needs to be I would take one for both routers. THANKS

 

[Brice_Arnold]

Pat Warner makes his bases for the OF1400 if you don't want to make your own.  http://patwarner.com/precision_subbase_kit.html

That's a nice little kit. Thanks for the link.

 

[rmwarren]

Pat Warner makes his bases for the OF1400 if you don't want to make your own.  http://patwarner.com/precision_subbase_kit.html

That's a nice little kit. Thanks for the link.

I enjoy noodling around on his site, the photo of the workmanship always impress me. I emailed him for one of the sub-bases for the 1400, for $32 how can you go wrong?

Thanks,

RMW

 

[RONWEN]

Pat Warner makes his bases for the OF1400 if you don't want to make your own.  http://patwarner.com/precision_subbase_kit.html

That's a nice little kit. Thanks for the link.

I enjoy noodling around on his site, the photo of the workmanship always impress me. I emailed him for one of the sub-bases for the 1400, for $32 how can you go wrong?

Thanks,

RMW

Tons of handy tools there!  [thumbs up]

 

[billg71]

Pat Warner makes his bases for the OF1400 if you don't want to make your own.  http://patwarner.com/precision_subbase_kit.html

+1 for Pat's gear! I have several of his bases and a couple of other tools from him, they're made well and EXTREMELY precisely.

Bill

 

[Sparktrician]

Pat Warner makes his bases for the OF1400 if you don't want to make your own.  http://patwarner.com/precision_subbase_kit.html

Too bad he doesn't offer one for the OF 1010.  I'd love to get this router concentric enough to do dovetails consistently. 

[sad]

 

[Sparktrician]

I machined these on my CNC mill. They are fairly simple to make. If there is enough interest I could see about doing a batch of them but I'm not on here trying peddle these. I just saw a problem with the Festool design and thought I would share my solution.

If you're interested in making some, I'd be VERY interested in one for the OF 1010 for sure, and possibly one for the OF 1400. 

[smile]