cutting a square out of ply with ts 75 and guide rail

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ericbuggeln

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Does anyone know where a post from about a year ago went that described how to cut a square out of ply with the ts 75 and a guide rail?  There is a point on the ts 75 that shows you where the blade is spinning up until.  You could plunge the saw in the middle of the ply and move the saw to the final point and then power down.  You still had to use the jigsaw to finish the cut.  Done four times and you have the square.  I'm doing this to put an access panel on the front of my router table.  Any help would be appreciated? Thanks Eric
 
If you have access to the latest edition of Fine Homebuilding JLC magazine, there is an article about a remodeler who builds cabinets in the shop and on-site.  One of his tools is a TS75 with rail and a custom square attached to the end of the rail which provides, according to him, a dead-on 90 degree cut.  It looks like the square from DeWalt that attaches to their rails, and Festool's, just bigger.

If needed, when I get home this evening, I'll get the name of the manufacturer of that rail.  Just let me know.

 
Thanks guys.  There is two marks on the side of the saw that look like they show where the blade would go to while in full plunge mode.  You have two take the splinter guard off to see the on in the front.  I am going to go experiment on some scrap and will report back.
 
Perhaps I should read the postings twice before replying.  :(

I thought you were asking how to square cut using the TS.  :-[

ericbuggeln said:
how to cut a square out of ply with the ts 75 and a guide rail?
 
ericbuggeln said:
Thanks guys.  There is two marks on the side of the saw that look like they show where the blade would go to while in full plunge mode.  You have two take the splinter guard off to see the on in the front.  I am going to go experiment on some scrap and will report back.

Your are correct that the mark is visible on the saw, but you don't have to remove the splinter guard to see it.  The engineers thought of everything...if you look closely, the splinter guard has a mark on it in the same location.  I highlighted it in red in the attached photo and point it out with an arrow.  Hope this helps.

Martin
 
I clamped some scrap mdf to some sawhorses and clamped the guide rail to the workpiece as shown in the pic.  I used the stops from Woodpeckers that slide in the groove of the guide rail for safety and accuracy.  I noticed that if you draw a perfect square on your workpiece it is hard to line up because the guide rail is covering the line.  I extended the lines so it would be easier to line up.  It is scary to fully plunge the saw at first, it just seems wrong.  The only problem I had with my first test cut was that the corners don't come out to good when you hand saw them.  The blade kerfs aren't the same and there is a lot of human error there.  The blade on the TS 75 doesn't go all the way, so you have to finish the cut by hand.  Another tip is to support the cutout while you are cutting it out so that it doesn't just fall and rip out the last corner (like I did).  My square wound up being pretty close to square but was definitely a little bigger then the initial lines, you may be able to see this in the picture.  For me, I am doing it to cut out an access panel for a router table and the square doesn't need to be perfect.  If you needed a perfect cutout an MFS and a router maybe a better way, I dont have an MFS.
 
Here is an octagon cut out with an ATF 55.

michaelkellough-albums-michaelkellough-picture1073-octagon3.jpg


You need to do a test cut at the cutting depth you'll use to determine exactly where the blade stops cutting both forward and back. Then you need to transfer marks to the saw that correspond with those cut limits. Then you can make the plunge cuts and carefully creep towards those limits. Obviously you need to mark the limits on the work piece too.
 
You should have a Limit Stop in the saw's Systainer. It is used like you used your other ones. The one in back will go  a long way to stop kick-backs when you plunge. I try to hold the base with my left hand and the saw handle with my right.

[attachthumb=#1]

Tom
 
A forum membered emailed me yesterday asking about my prior posting, eight posts back, regarding an article in Fine Homebuilding.  Seems he could not locate the referenced article.

Well, turns out I was wrong.  The actual article is in the October 2009 edition of JLC, titled "Practical Cabinet Making" on page 52.

I apologize for the misdirection.  [embarassed]
 
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