Chapter II - Entertainment Center Construction
Cross-Cutting the Previously Ripped Stock
After ripping the plywood sheets for the panels and ripping the 5/4 oak boards into narrow strips, I needed to crosscut these into the various lengths needed. For this I used my MFT 1080 and TS 55 connected to my CT 22E through an Oneida Dust Deputy.
Placement of an MFT 800 to the left of my MFT 1080 equipped with fence of crosscut Guide Rail provided ample support for the longer pieces to be crosscut. These two MFTs were connected using Festool's metal connectors (Item #484455). Although the longest pieces for the Console were only 52 inches long, those for the Bookcases were nearly 7 ft long. For support to the right side of the saw of the stock to be crosscut, I set up an auxiliary table by simply laying an old flush hollow core door on a pair of sawhorses. I got lucky because the elevation of that auxiliary table nearly matched that of the MFT top. Some of the strips to be crosscut were ~12 ft long and while many of the pieces to be crosscut from them were only a little more than 1 ft.
The photo immediately below shows some of the crowded conditions in my small shop. I was against the overhead door when taking this photo.
[attachthumb=1]
Needless to say, this lengthy arrangement of MFTs and auxiliary table took up a lot of floor space in my 15 ft X 25 ft garage/shop which also houses a table saw, bandsaw, Shopsmith, dust collector, tool chests, welding equipment, spray equipment, car repair equipment and much of my wood stock, including all used in construction of this entertainment center, and more for use in making substitutes for Systainer-Ports. Although I have a basic Hitachi CMS, sometimes the shop was so crowded with stock and work in progress that I had to resort to an ancestor of the Kapex.
As you can see in a photo above, to protect the top of my MFT 1080, I use a 2 ft x 4 ft piece of quarter inch plywood, which I clamp to the top. To aid in aligning the stock to be crosscut, I clamp a piece of scrap wood to the right of the MFT fence and in-line with it. This also seems to slightly improve capture of the sawdust as the saw blade passes through the far end of the stock being crosscut. I recommend using a board that is somewhat wider than is shown in the photos so the blade kerf ends within the auxiliary fence. Note also that I moved the MFT aluminum fence about an inch to the left after cutting a nice 45 degree mitre through it during an earlier project. (The picture frames came out quite well.) Such mitre cuts will be needed later when making the valences on the Bookcases.
Here's another view from the backside of the MFT:
After working with the long board and panels involved in making this project, I realized that an even better Multiple MFT setup would have positioned another MFT to the right side of the MFT equipped with the cross cutting Guide Rail. Joining a pair of MFTs would enable aligning the fences on both so the long stock to be cut would also be guided into alignment by the additional section of fence to the right of the main MFT fence. I don't (yet) own another MFT with a fence. But any MFT could be fitted with a fence, e.g. using a Squaring Arm as a fence.
There has been much discussion on this forum about squaring up the fence to Guide Rail on the old style MFT 1080 and MFT 800, and the nuisance of having to re-square it every time it is removed from the MFT and replaced. My experience confirms that a recheck of squareness should be made every time, if true 90 degree crosscut accuracy is needed. But there is an easy, quick solution to this issue. Get or make a large (12 inch or greater) precision square and keep it handy by the MFT. I chose an 18 inch aluminum 45-45-90 degrees triangle carpenter's square from Woodpeckers; although pricey at about US$ 100, I have found it useful for many tasks involved in making this Entertainment Center, and strongly recommend getting a this or an equivalent product. I found this large square invaluable for use in my unorthodox technique for use of the LR 32 and Hole Drilling set which will be discussed later.
Insert photo of Large Square on MFT - or look at Woodpeckers website.
To square up the MFT fence to crosscut Guide Rail, I lower the hinged end of the Guide Rail so that it rests on the aluminum fence, place a scrap of one-half inch plywood under the Rail for support along its length, lower the Guide Rail and adjust the height of the tab holder nearest the operator so the tab is fully engaged in the slot underneath the Rail to prevent side movement of the Guide Rail. I do not setup the Stop bolts on the side rails of the MFT to apply any sideways tension within the Guide Rail when the end near the operator is engaged in the tab, but some MFT users recommend that procedure to remove any play when the Guide Rail is down in the tab. Then I lay the Woodpeckers precision square on the MFT with the thicker side of the square against the Guide Rail and the thinner side against the MFT fence. I make whatever adjustments are needed until full contact of both sides of the reference square with the MFT fence and Guide Rail are achieved. I confirm this by slowly sliding the reference square into the inside corner defined by the MFT fence and Guide Rail after the MFT components are "locked" in position. Occasionally I find I have to readjust the stops in the Side Rails of the MFT, and the Festool clamp at the far end of the fence that clamps the far end of the fence to the side rail of the MFT. I frequently find myself completely removing all of the fence hardware from my MFT including these stops in the side rails, and I don't find it takes much time to reset. You can make marks on or within the channels of the side rails to facilitate recreating a previous setup position of the Fence and Guide Rail if you desire, but it is not necessary. When delivered, the stops on my MFT 1080 were not correctly preset for the Guide Rail so I got used to setting them right at the start of my Festool experience.
For the components to be crosscut whose cut length was within the range of the MFT fence, I used the Festool Adjustable Stop (Item #49055) supplied with the complete MFT 1080. For components whose length exceeded that of the MFT fence, I used one of the two setups shown in the following photos. One setup was a scrap wood block clamped to the top of the extra MFT 800 positioned to the left of the saw as shown in the photo below. This is not my preferred setup. If this setup is used, be sure to clamp the block down with a pair of clamps, using only one clamp may result in the stop block moving when the stock to be crosscut is slid into position. The mass of a large panel of plywood bumping even rather gently against a Stop Block held with a single clamp is enough to make it move, and thus a potential source of cumulative errors. I learned this the hard way after cross-cutting some of the plywood panels. Then I added the second clamp and had to recut the panels to a slightly shorter standard length, so my drawings and my actual construction are not exactly identical.
Here's another view of the Wooden Block as a Stop with a pair of Festool clamps holding to the MFT top.
The other setup, which I prefer for crosscutting long wide stock, utilizes a Squaring Arm (a concept from Jerry Work's MFT manual) extending across the extra MFT 800 and secured to its side rails, as shown in the photo below. After trying this idea, I preferred it because of the rock solid support that it provides all along the base of the (wide) stock to be crosscut. The reference square placed with one leg against the MFT fence and the other against the Squaring Arm can be used to make this a precision right angle setup as well as a cross-cut stop. Because the lengthwise edges of my Squaring Arms are rounded over (one fourth inch radius), a little sawdust trapped under the reference edge of the stop against which the stock to be crosscut was abutted did not interfere with getting accurate, repeatable contact with the Stop as might occur with use of a scrap of wood for a stop as in the first setup. Use of the Squaring Arm as a repeat crosscut stop also freed up a pair of F-style clamps, and was very stable. Sliding a large ripped panel firmly against this stop did not change the setting of the Squaring Arm as a stop. Note that the Squaring Arm stop can also be clamped midspan to the top of the MFT to further secure its position setting.
Here's closer view of the Squaring Arm used stop for repeat crosscuts to exact length:
The little strip of 1/4 inch thick oak positioned under the panel on the MFT 800 is to compensate for the use of a sheet of 1/4 inch plywood on the MFT 1080. I made several pieces of this 1/4 oak stock initially expecting to use them as trim around the bases of the cases of the entertainment center, but the customer (my wife) did not want that aesthetic feature. Nevertheless, they came in very handy as shim stock for many of the tasks needed to construct this furniture because their thickness corresponded to the amount of offset between the side panels of the four cases I built and the front and rear edging as viewed from the sides,
Cross-cutting Long Pieces of Ripped Stock on the MFT in a Small Shop.
To set the Stop to the cross cut length desired, I used an ordinary retractable steel tape measure (Stanley brand) and placed a pencil mark at the desired length. As a precaution, especially when cutting plywood panels, to length, I first checked the end that was about to be positioned against the stop for squareness and a good (smooth) cut end. The factory cut end of some of the plywood I was using was good enough that I could use the factory cut end. And the gross dimensions of the full sheets were about 48 1/5 inches by 96 1/2 inches, which enabled ripping 4 full lengths of 12 inches width from each sheet. (This was not true of the lower cost birch veneer plywood I purchased a year ago from HD, which came from China.) If the factory cut end was not square or was too rough or the end of a board was checked, I marked across the "bad" end then measured out a length slightly beyond the needed final length.
For shorter components, all I had to do was flip the Festool Adjustable Stop up out of the way, cut the stock a little longer than final length, flip the stock to be cut end for end keeping the same edge against the fence and against the lowered stop, and make the second cut to final length.
For components longer than the length of the MFT fence, after marking the stock to a length slightly longer than the desired final length, I lifted the factory or other "bad" end over the Shopmade Stop and crosscut the piece slightly longer than needed, then flipped the stock end for end keeping the same reference edge against the fence, and pushed the previously cut end against my Stop, and made the final cut. This was possible with longer components because they could easily be flexed enough to hold them square against the MFT fence and down against the top of the MFT. This avoided the need to first make a square crosscut on every piece of long stock, then flpping each piece of long stock (some more than 12 ft long) end for end in my small shop, then setting the Stop and making the final cut. My method meant the maximum stock length I had to flip end for end was a little less than 7 ft long. I did this because much of my garage/shop has only an 8 ft high ceiling, and this coupled with the Boom Arm on my CT 22 makes it a challenge to flip long boards end for end without opening the garage door and taking the boards outside to flip them. (I was also very thankful at this time that I paid extra to have the center section of the garage roof done with a "cathedral" ceiling to gain a little more height.)
More to come.
Dave R.
