Indexed cutting

[osipbloonst]

This is a re-post of item #15257 and Matt Worner's response #15261.
I have a need to cut a series of kerfs @ 32mm o/c Along the long lengths
of pieces of 3/4" plywood (300mmx600mm)
Does anyone have a good system for easily indexing these cuts (3/8" deep)
using my T55 saw and 1080 MFT.?

 

[Mirko]

David,
try this, Cut a spacer 32mm wide, set your stop on your MFT fence for your first cut, after you make your first cut hold the wood down and move the stop out of the way, now without moving the piece you just cut, place the 32mm spacer were the set stop was, now slide the stop up to the spacer. Remove the spacer and slide the piece of wood back to the set stop, you just moved the saw cut back 32mm, do this as many times as you want at any incrament.Good luck! 
Mirko

 

[osipbloonst]

  Mirko:  I think I like that, tomorrow I shall try it.

  and, Perhaps if I make my original workpiece  an inch or so too long, cut off the "too long",
I could find a way to place this such that it would work as a 32mm device for other repeat cuts.
  Thanks.

 

[Mirko]

David,
I'm curious as to what your making exactly.
I'm making somthing similer its a fence with a gang of flip stops at an incraments of 32mm. It will be for drilling mounting plate holes and also the 35mm cup hole for euro hinges.This jig/fence will sit on a dedicated drill press and each fence will be aprox 4' long on each side. What I have discovered, is its very important that the incraments are 32mm not 32.034mm The reason is when you add up 6 increments it sould total 192mm and so on. Catch my drift?  So how do we make cuts this accurate, without a cnc? I was thinking of using the table saw with a sled and a location pin (similer to a box joint jig)I think I should mention that I will be using aluminum as my fence material.  Do you or anyone have any suggestions?? I also have the TS 75 and a 1080 MFT.

Mirko

 

[greg mann]

IIRC. the holes in the MFT are 96mm apart. Can you use these with some type 32mm and 64 mm spacers? You could leapfrog from hole to hole with the same spacers thus avoiding cumulative error.

Greg

David,
I'm curious as to what your making exactly.
I'm making somthing similer its a fence with a gang of flip stops at an incraments of 32mm. It will be for drilling mounting plate holes and also the 35mm cup hole for euro hinges.This jig/fence will sit on a dedicated drill press and each fence will be aprox 4' long on each side. What I have discovered, is its very important that the incraments are 32mm not 32.034mm The reason is when you add up 6 increments it sould total 192mm and so on. Catch my drift?  So how do we make cuts this accurate, without a cnc? I was thinking of using the table saw with a sled and a location pin (similer to a box joint jig)I think I should mention that I will be using aluminum as my fence material.  Do you or anyone have any suggestions?? I also have the TS 75 and a 1080 MFT.

Mirko

 

[Mirko]

Greg,

I didnt realize the holes were 96mm apart! thanks. You have given me a really good Idea.

Mirko

 

[osipbloonst]

Mirko; from Vancouver you will know Lee Valley,I am originally from the Ottawa area.
  Lee Valley have a series of 1", 2" and 3" deep slide in drawers that fit in a "U-Build-it"
carcass and I am trying for a way to simplify this carcass construction by using the T55 and MFT 1080

 

[Dave Ronyak]

This is a re-post of item #15257 and Matt Worner's response #15261.
I have a need to cut a series of kerfs @ 32mm o/c Along the long lengths
of pieces of 3/4" plywood (300mmx600mm)
Does anyone have a good system for easily indexing these cuts (3/8" deep)
using my T55 saw and 1080 MFT.?

David,

Do you have Festool's slotted guide rail (the ones designed for drilling holes with a router. e.g. Item # 491621) or an MFS system, or one of the much less expensive shelf hole drilling jigs that Rockler and Woodcraft and others offer?  Festool's hole series guide rail and some of the Rockler/Woodcraft et al jigs have a series of holes spaced precisely at 32 mm that could be used to index your workpiece relative to your saw's guide rail.  The MFS has precision markings every mm.  You could also use any of these reference devices to make yourself a pair of "indexing sticks" by stacking a pair of wooden strips and drilling a series of 32 mm holes spaced along their lengths.  Stacking and drilling them together should help improve alignment of the holes.  These strips could then be positioned under your workpiece and the MFT guide rail positioned on top of this "assembly".  The indexing strips could be secured to the workpiece with double stick tape so as to move with the workpiece and the holes indexed relative to the top of the MFT/guide rail.  Or the indexing strips could be secured relative to the MFT top and the workpiece slid along the top sides of the indexing strips from pin hole to pin hole.  Dowel pins or the reaction stops from Festool's "Clamping Elements" Item #488030 (page 90 of 2006 catalogue), depending on the size of the holes you drill in these homemade indexing strips, can be used as your moveable indexing pins for determining the location of the workpiece relative to the saw guide rail. 

An old cabinet side with a double row of shelf pin holes at 32 mm would work as well - simply lay your workpiece on it with shelf pins in your starting holes and make certain everything is aligned relative to your saw guide rail before your first cut, secure the old cabinet side to you MFT and index away from your starting position.

I wish I could draw and enclose a picture which would make this written description easier to understand, but I don't have a scanner.