Fritz and Franz jig with a Sliding table saw - crosscut fence at the rear

[Prizen]

Hey All

I have a Felder K500 on order and am making plans for a Fritz and Franz jig.

I saw a post on another forum from Derek from Perth, who has a K3, and I know posts here.

Derek mentioned the limitations of such a jig with a smaller slider such as the K3, where the Crosscut fence is at the near end rather than at the far end of the sliding table as with most larger sliders.

He mentioned that as the cross cut fence is at the rear, he had to make a reverse F&F jig, as the clamping action is required in opposite to the slider direction of travel.

Would making a standard F&F with lever / star clamps on both halves of the jig not resolve the issue?

I am sure this would have been thought of, so I am inclined to think that it is me who doesn’t fully understand the limitation of a slider the crosss cut fence on the rear?

 

[Mini Me]

Go to his website and all the details should be there. I did the same as Derek in a different way and he took the idea and changed it to suit him. Later on he invented his F&F jig idea which I have never looked at closely because I had no need for it having now added an outrigger to my K3. I put the CC fence at the leading end of the table which had some advantages in other ways as well including not having to reach over it as I have ducks disease where my backside is too close to the ground but a taller person might not have the need.

To move the fence I chose to buy another cam adjuster to square the fence leaving the original in place so the fence could be used at either end of the table if needed. I have never looked at a Felder so I can't comment on how the fence is squared but I imagine it is a similar idea. I will see if I can find some photos and post them for you. In the end all that is needed is a clamped block to push the F&F jig against but of course it must be square to the blade.

 

[Prizen]

Thanks for the reply, I couldn't find anything specific on his website.

To ask the question another way - why involve the Crosscut Fence at all when you have the workpiece clamped between the Fritz and Franz

 

[Mini Me]

My apologies as I thought he had put it on his website. PM Derek and ask him to post photos here. Did you look at any of the YT videos I linked to, they will explain how it works and needs to rest against a stop of some description.

 

[Prizen]

no worries at all, I am delighted to have someone try help me out! The YT links are not visible to me in your post

 

[Prizen]

See this video, it looks as though a runner of high stiffness/low friction plastic can placed in two separate sections underneath the forward half of the jig. These runners are co-linear in the track of the sliding table, with a gap in between where a lever clamp is used to ensure the front jig does not move, and a cross-cut fence is not required anywhere.

Is my thinking flawed?

 

[GoingMyWay]

Here's the video:

 

[Mini Me]

See this video, it looks as though a runner of high stiffness/low friction plastic can placed in two separate sections underneath the forward half of the jig. These runners are co-linear in the track of the sliding table, with a gap in between where a lever clamp is used to ensure the front jig does not move, and a cross-cut fence is not required anywhere.

Is my thinking flawed?https://youtu.be/OokHlPj4vqQ

No, that is exactly what it is, one half not moveable and one half slides and clamps with hand pressure. My first one cost about a dollar being two pieces of MDF and it lasted some years. I made a fancy one using short Incra fences and have used it maybe once in many years. I use the rip fence as a measuring stop so the cut off is at the length I need or mark the piece and use the end of the F&F jig to place the mark as that is flush cut with the blade. Why don't my posted links appear? Anyone know?

 

[Prizen]

thanks. I did a straight copy/paste when I posted my link.

Interesting that you don't use the F&F. I see what you mean by using the rip fence. I suppose if you had a piece that was quite narrow and wanted to take a small piece off that small piece, the you might really need the F&F

 

[Mini Me]

I do use an F&F, I was one of the first users of it after the idea escaped out of Germany. Did you PM Derek?

 

[Prizen]

not yet,  must pm him now

 

[derekcohen]

I have set aside the F&F jig. The parallel guide I built leaves it for dust.

Keep in mind that I have a shorter K3 slider with a crosscut fence on the near end. This requires a different approach to the slider with the fence at the far end.

Details here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Powered Tools and Machinery/ParallelGuideForK3Slider.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Prizen]

[eek] That’s impressive. Thank you Derek

 

[Mini Me]

As I mentioned don't overthink things prior to getting the saw. Learn how to use it and then decide what you need to make or buy for it. The learning curve requires a different approach as demonstrated by Sam Blasco on YouTube in his videos. I think Derek would admit that using and learning is the best approach.