Has anyone replaced the rubber feet of his mft?

Frank-Jan

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Sep 16, 2007
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I'm talking about the bottom ones, for the legs that don't have the adjustable foot. I ordered a bunch of spare parts a long time ago including replacement rubber feet for my CS70 tablesaw, which are the same as the ones for the cms and the mft.
The softer rectangular ones to go under the base weren't a problem. I couldn't get the lower ones off at the time so I left them in the bag, I recently found them again and now I've  cut the sides of the worn old ones to get them of, but I'm having a hard time getting the new ones on.
I'm guessing I should heat them to make them more flexible, but I can't find my heat gun at the moment. Would it help putting them in hot water? I briefly considered beveling the edges with a file or grinder, but decided against it, because IF I get the new feet on then, they won't last as long, because the end of the tubes are sharper.

Just wondering if anyone else faced this problem before and has found the easiest solution.
 
I tried the hot water, worked very well, (Boiled water, let the rubber thing soak for a bit (time it took to walk to "shop") in a soup bowl, rubber turned very soft, it slid on easily)  It isn't as tight as the old ones yet, but it's over 300C there so maybe it takes longer to shrink back fully.
 
Take a tip from cyclists who replace their rubber grips.

Spray a little hairspray into the foot, slide on while wet. It will stick like glue when dry.

Jim

 
Jim, thanks for the tip, but in this case I doubt that would have worked.
The rubber caps are tapered inwards toward the open end, and the rubber is very stiff, the ends of the legs are a bit thicker at the bottom because of paint/coating. When the rubber is more flexible (because of the very hot water), I could stretch the ends out enough to get them over the edge.

It 's been a while now, and they are like new, (it took more than a day for the rubber to shrink back fully, now they won't budge anymore when I try to turn them or slide them down. (And the ends don't have the sleightly concave shape anymore they got when I first put them on)
 
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