MFT/3 Not cutting Square?? Need help very badly...I am very upset

[wrightwoodwork]

This is basic maths were not asking you to perform soh cah toa. If you want to check the square for square quiet simply with the blade full length and a sharp pencil mark a line on a price of wood that is nice and straight then then flip the stock of the square and mark exactly on the line you just marked before. If the lines match up the full length then the square is square. Evan though it's a starret square it is still possible to be knocked off anyway happy new year

 

[tjbnwi]

Now going back to the topic and question originally asked, any other thoughts on what might be causing the inaccuracies and frustration? 

Peter

I set up my MFT3 when I first got it a few years ago. It cut dead square then, it still does now.

If everything is set up correctly, I wonder if Saltan is introducing a side thrust on the rail as he is cutting, instead of just pushing the saw straight through.

Tom

 

[SMJoinery]

Most likely scenario is excess movement of the saw on the rail.
Redo the recommended start up of the TS55 saw, adjust the track guides, replace the splinter strip if necessary and make sure it's not moving side to side whilst on but slides easily along the track.
Plunge the splinter strip as per instructions.
That's where I would start.

 

[peter halle]

I would suggest to any new user of the MFT that they decide whether or not they want to use the dog approach or the Festool approach and not mix the two until they are comfortable.

In the dog approach everything is adjusted to the holes.  In the Festool approach the holes don't exist except for clamping, and you set your rail and then square your fence to the rail.  The rail don't need to be absolutely square to the front and rear extrusions.  The adjustment available on the protector head can compensate for close.

Dogs behind the fence are not needed and won't necessarily work with the Festool approach.  You can keep the fence from moving enough without the dogs if you use the black clamp at the end of the fence and move the protector head closer to the rail.  Yes, anything can be moved if enough force is applied, but we are talking about sliding a piece of wood along something.

Just my 2 cents.

Peter

 

[bass cowboy]

Well I think I have found my simple way to get there, Had 24x24 cnc cut for a template, and the biggest culprit was the height adjustment throwing it out. did a few test cuts and it rock and rolls.

Happy New Year for me.    Special thanks to Bkharmon for the tip of using a template to set the table.

thanks again.

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

Oh mine look at the math going on here))

Dear friends I would like to say happy NEW YEAR to every body, hope every ones Festool dreams will come trough. Thank you for the effort on this. I will be try to fix my MFT/3 Problem " Which I believe is my error'' in 2014. Tomorrow. )

THANKS EVERY BODY

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

Hello BASS COWBOY

I have called my friend which he had CNC machine. Today I called him around 11 am for cut me a piece for around 12''x12'' due to his small size CNC. But Now I am considering to pay some one to cut me a piece the size you saying, if I can not fix my rookie mistakes in this week.
Thank you though.

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

I would like to special thanks to SHANE HOLLAND

He is so awesome,helpful and he is still online))

 

[sancho57]

Guessing by your post Shane got a hold of you and helped you.

Please dont leave us in the dark.

How did you solve the problem/

we've all had issues and thats how we learn is from each other.

Happy New Year and  [welcome]

 

[wrightwoodwork]

I think a lot people when they get a new tool or learning a new task especially people starting out try too hard. They get the fit 99.9% right then try to improve it and end up going to far. I see it a lot especially with apprentices. When things are just going right ask yourself are you trying any harder or less hard than when things are not going right. I usually find by trying less hard the task becomes easier and you have tried less hard

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

Hello and happy new year  JOBSWORTH

I thanked him because he really tried hard to help me and it was enough for me). I will keep you posted as soon as I solve my problem right now I can't even touch my tools because of some physical difficulties I am having right now)

 

[sancho57]

Hey Pal I went to the Starrett web site, exactly which square did you get?

Just curious.

As Im trying to think about what is going on.

If its a combo square, It may not work for squaring up the MFT.

If its a 12" machinist square they say they are pretty accurate on their website.

 

[PaulMarcel]

Not to go back to math, but whenever I have something wide to crosscut on the MFT, I do a test cut with MDF, measure the two square sides in millimeters to calculate the hypotenuse then verify. I use the dog method and every time I verify accuracy, it's dead-on.  Also, I position the back fence relative to dogs placed in front of the fence with a spacer. The front of the fence is your reference surface and unless you know the fence is of a consistent width (likely...) using the back isn't correct.

 

[wow]

Hope this isn't a thread hijack, but it may be relevant to the OP and I'd like to know myself:

Does Festool publish or guarantee the straightness of a guide rail to any particular spec?, I.e. is it guaranteed straight to within .01mm/Meter or anything like that? I haven't yet opened the 96" Holey Rail that I got for Christmas, but have been wondering how I'll check it for straightness and what is realistic?

Thanks in advance, and now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Does Festool publish or guarantee the straightness of a guide rail to any particular spec?, I.e. is it guaranteed straight to within .01mm/Meter or anything like that? I haven't yet opened the 96" Holey Rail that I got for Christmas, but have been wondering how I'll check it for straightness and what is realistic?

There are no published specs, but we have internal requirements. Should you get a rail and it's not straight within your expectation for tolerances, give us a call.  [wink]

In 8+ years with Festool, the only rails I recall with issues were damaged in shipping.

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

  Hello everyone,

Shane Holland was right, I did test on my all combination squares and none of them was square. Now I am in search of speed square which is woodpeckers 18'' but I can not find online anywhere including their website. So I am going to do my cuts with the Qwas dogs till I found proper Speed Square or Combination Square.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Glad to hear that the mystery was solved, and better that it wasn't related to the MFT or saw.  [big grin] sorry for the frustration.

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

Hey JOBWORTH

You are right also, mine is combination square, and it is not square what so ever I spent close to $150 for that square
Thank you.

 

[semenza]

Sign up for the Woodpecker's email. That will alert you when a new run of the large squares becomes available.  They are special run pre-order items.

Seth

 

[Saltan Wood Works]

Actually I am sorry about the frustration I cause everyone. You know I replace my everything with festool and I was pretty new and I was very excited. Reason it took so long since I post this topic, I was in bad shape psychically  I feel energy last 2 hours and first thing I did the squareness test. Thanks everyone I will never jump to FOG without doing proper tests and research for problems