DF500 & Woodpecker Offset Base for Face Mortises

[IndyRick]

I'm building a sewing Center for my wife, so I got to add to my tool inventory. I've been wanting a DF 500 for awhile, and also added the Domino assortment, the knockdown fittings, and rhe Woodpecker Offset Base. The WP base was great for making centered mortises that I did not have to worry about reference face. I didn't find directions for using the base & wings for face work, but came up with the following solution (please excuse me if this is a well-known technique, and I just didn't discover it).

First step is to draw a line where the mortises will go:
[attachimg=1]

I then made a spacer jig by taking a piece of 1/4" plywood backed up to a thick board. I mounted a 4mm cutter in the DF 500, and the WP Offset
Base and rails as pictured in the next image, and made a couple of plunges through the 1/4" board about 18" apart.

I used the spacer to align a rail the appropriate distance from the line:
[attachimg=2]

I figured out how to only use part of the WP base and attach the rails so I could use the stop settings i used from making the edge mortises:
[attachimg=3]

I then finished up with the DF 500 knockdown fitting:
[attachimg=4]

 

[ChuckM]

Another way to set a track or batten for use with the DF500 without any third-party accessory is to draw the pencil line not on the center of where you want the mortises to go, but 10mm from the center, and then use the pencil line to position the track:

[attachimg=1]

This placement technique is based on the fact that the base of the DF500 is 10mm from the center of the cutter, and the technique can be used in other situations such as milling mortises at an angle to an edge:

[attachimg=2]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

That 10mm off-set is exactly how I use mine quite often. One of the first hurdles in the initial learning curve of the DF500 is maintaining awareness of the reference surfaces. Learning to work from the baseplate will become helpful at some point.