MFT and Guide Rail Alignment

[mhch]

Further to your mentionning of the rail T slot on its top.....

There is one underneath to install dogs .. and bingo, plug the rail dogs into the holes and it is aligned.
 

 

[Qwas]

I have thought about the slot on the bottom but then you are working blind. When the dogs are put in the holes and you bring down the rail, you can't really see what is happening. You are sort of guessing at which way to go.

For others it might work fine but I like to use the left edge of the guide rail. I find it easier to work with than the right side with the rubber. Using the left side might be another source of error but I figure we only talking about tenths of a mm versus wood movement of 1 mm.

 

[mhch]

I agree. I also prefer using the metal left side instead of the rubber side.
And I like seeing the dogs instead of having them underneath a fence.

I also noticed that the rubber might be worn when plunging the saw and it's no
longer exactly aligned along all its length, leading to positionning errors.

 

[Corwin]

I check the distance from the hat of the guide rail to the left edge on three of my rails and was impressed with just how accurate these extrusions are -- this measurement on one rail was .007" different from the other two, they were within .0003" with each other.  Not to bad, but the more important thing is that they are as perfect as I can determine with a good dial indicator when it comes to the hat being true (parallel) with the left edge of the rail.  I've always used this edge for locating/squaring the guide rail(s).  Very reassuring to find just how accurate this is.  

Corwin

PS    As to alignment of the holes, my tables are aligned such that the MDF tops (and the associated holes) are true.  My issue is with the holes being a little sloppy in my newer table, and this causes the fixtures placed in those holes to align off center and therefor do not align with the fixtures in the other table.  Items placed in these holes need to be modified to remove the slop and the item will have a chance to center properly in the hole.

 

[Qwas]

The Making of a Parallelogram

mhch came up with the brilliant idea of using the guide rail as one arm of a parallelogram. I've been thinking of making another one that allows more than 2 inches of travel so I decided to build this one.

First, I decided to use the Rail Connector Bars (482 107, 2 each) to join the parallelogram to the guide rail. I slide them into the t slot on top of the guide rail and set them to be flush with the edge of the guide rail. This gives us alot of swing for the arms and is easy to remove and put back into position. EDIT: Oooops, I'm using the FS1080 42 inch rail and most of you will have the FS1400 55 inch rail. You can look at the last 2 pictures and see where the arms end up at relative to some tables holes and align the Connector Bars close to that.
[attachthumb=1]

I removed the innermost screw in the Connector Bar and replaced it with an M6 x 12mm long screw. Any longer screw will interfere with the TS-55 motor housing when making full depth cuts.
[attachthumb=2]

For the parallelogram arms I used some aluminum bars that were sitting around. They are 1/8 inch thick, 3/4 inch wide, and 24 inches long. I drilled 1/4 inch (6 mm would be better if I had that drill size) holes in each, about 7/16 inch or 10 mm in from the ends. All of the hole placements are not all that critical as long as each bar is the same. I stacked the bars on top of each other and used a pair of vise grips to keep the bars lined up and then stick 1/4 inch bolts into the holes after drilling to keep things lined up.
[attachthumb=3]

You will want to drill holes every 4-6 inches or 100 - 150 mm. Any further apart and you won't have enough of the board holder fence on the table to be useful. I decided to go with about 100 mm spacing.

Now you can attach the arms to the guide rail. Use the M6 x 12 mm bolts and only tightened until snug. These will not bottom in the guide rail and you don't want them too tight or you arms won't be able to swing.

I decided to use a piece of 8020 Inc. "25-5013" for my board holder fence. I will probably need something thicker from their 25 series but for now it works.

To attach the board holder fence I used 1/4-20 x 1/2 inch bolts. These bottom out in the fence before getting tight on the arms, leaving the arms to swing freely. Just what we want.

When you attach the arms to the board fence, use a square to be sure the arms are parallel. After the arms have been tightened, there will be marks in the bottom of the slot so you won't have to do this every time.
[attachthumb=4]

The parallelogram is done and ready for business. Should take under an hour to build. If your guide rail has been aligned to the table holes, your parallelogram can be checked at time by simply swinging it to a set of holes and verifying they line up with the edge of the fence.
[attachthumb=5]

 

[Qwas]

This parallelogram can be reversed and used on the right side (waste side) of the guard rail also.

The drawback is after using the parallelogram you will probably want to clamp the work piece, remove the parallelogram, and then make your cut.

 

[John Viola]

This parallelogram can be reversed and used on the right side (waste side) of the guard rail also.

The drawback is after using the parallelogram you will probably want to clamp the work piece, remove the parallelogram, and then make your cut.

Steve, thanks again for drawing my attention to this thread.  I can't wait to try this out.  Just checking, though-is it easy to move the fence in tandem once it;s unclamped?  Do you unclamp both sides and move the fence with both stops, or just the main (rear) stop and then bring the front to meet it?

Thanks!!

 

[Qwas]

This parallelogram can be reversed and used on the right side (waste side) of the guard rail also.

The drawback is after using the parallelogram you will probably want to clamp the work piece, remove the parallelogram, and then make your cut.

Steve, thanks again for drawing my attention to this thread.  I can't wait to try this out.  Just checking, though-is it easy to move the fence in tandem once it;s unclamped?  Do you unclamp both sides and move the fence with both stops, or just the main (rear) stop and then bring the front to meet it?

Thanks!!

I haven't tried to use it on that side yet. I think you are referring to the guide rail clamps. What I meant by a clamp, was the regular table clamps (489 570) to hold the board from moving while you fiddle with removing the parallelogram. I would imagine it is going to be very hard to do.

Earlier I talked about a separate parallelogram (not attached to the guide rail). This one would be easier to use on that side of the guide rail.

 

[John Viola]

[/quote]

I haven't tried to use it on that side yet. I think you are referring to the guide rail clamps. What I meant by a clamp, was the regular table clamps (489 570) to hold the board from moving while you fiddle with removing the parallelogram. I would imagine it is going to be very hard to do.

Earlier I talked about a separate parallelogram (not attached to the guide rail). This one would be easier to use on that side of the guide rail.
[/quote]

OK, maybe I am confused then-when you square the guide rail to the table itself, you use dogs and slide the guide rail to the dogs, correct?  Obviously you have to release the guide rail clamps to do this, unless you are doing away with them altogether.  So, assuming you are still using the clamps, how do you slide the rail over to the dogs-do you slide the guide rail and rear guide rail clamp over, then follow with the front guide rail clamp; or do you slide them all as one unit?

Hope that was more clear-I'm trying to wrap my head around the process while at work and nowhere near an MFT.

Thanks!

 

[Dixon Peer]

QWAS, perhaps you should check the sensor in your digital camera.  It looks, from your photos, as though it needs cleaning.

Good ideas though, about the mft.

 

[Qwas]

You had quoted from the parallelogram post and I thought you were talking about that!

Yes, your thinking is correct. Simply free both clamps on the guide rail and slide the guide rail to the dogs. I like to slide the guard rail by pushing somewhere around the middle. Once it is to the bench dogs, you might want to push from the top and bottom of the guide rail and get it snug against the dogs. Now you tighten the thumb screws on the guide rail clamps to hold the rail in that aligned position.

After you do it a couple of times, it becomes second nature.

 

[Qwas]

QWAS, perhaps you should check the sensor in your digital camera.  It looks, from your photos, as though it needs cleaning.

Good ideas though, about the mft.

Thanks. It has some dirt and dust I'm sure, but I have a new Imac and had to replace most of my software. To compress my photos I'm using a shareware program called Pixelmator. Since the program is in Demo mode, it is leaving it's trademark on all the pictures.

It was really a bad time for me to find this new method of using the table. But it was too good of a method not to share with everyone else.

 

[mhch]

  This long post may appear as a repetition of previous posts in this thread, but I decided to write it down
  as a summary for myself, as a reference section to look at for new MFT users, and for all of us to trigger
  further thoughts along this line.

  I would have loved to post pictures of all of this, but I just discovered that my camera went to England with
  my wife visiting her mother.... I'll post them later. Sorry for that.

  Hope this helps ...

1) What now seems clear is to how to easily make accurate 90 or 45 degree cuts, for workpieces that are the size
  of the MFT

  a) align the guide rail with the MFT holes:
    - pick up 2 dogs of your choice, e.g. the fixed part of Festool quick clamp, or 50mm long sections
      from the 20mm PVC pipe used by electricians, and plug them in vertical holes near where
      you want to install the guide rail.
    - slide the rail brackets on the MFT side rails so that guide rail left side rests against the vertical dogs.
      For new MFT users: make sure that rail firmly sits on the pin located on bracket near you,
      and  it does not wobble.

  b) setup a 90 or 45 degree fence

- plug two dogs in horizontal holes for 90 degree cuts, and diagonal holes for 45 degree cuts.
    If fence is thin and long, more than two dogs can be used. It is recommended to secure/clamp
    the fence using at least one Festool horizontal clamp  or any appropriate device.
    You may choose not to install a fence, but simply rest the workpiece against  the dogs.

- now fence (or dogs) and rail are set at a perfect 90 or 45 degree angle. Workpiece can be installed
  and secured as appropriate. The stop which slides on the MFT fence can be used to secure the workpiece
  and to make repetitive identical cuts.

- This specially applies to workpieces thinner than the MFT fence, or of a width close to or narrower  than
  the width of the guide rail, since now you can rest the workpiece itself against a fence made from some
  appropriate thin piece of material.

2 ) When workpiece is bigger than the MFT, two MFTs may be joined. The hole technique can be used,
      particularly to install a long fence extending across the two MFTs, using as many dogs as needed
      to keep it straight. But make sure the hole patterns of the two tables are well aligned.

3) What is not yet totally clear is how to make best use of  the parallelogram idea

- Using the rail as one side of the parallelogram is not convenient since rail must  rest on the workpiece to be
  cut, while the opposite side of the parallelogram does not as a result of plugging into the holes. This is
  definitely a problem for handling a thick workpiece

- The likely most appropriate use of a parallelogram might be to make cuts on the right side of the blade,
  typically to cut narrow strips. In that case rail is resting on the workpiece to be cut, and the parallelogram
  is used as a fence that rests flat on the MFT, one side against vertical holes and the opposite
  side against the piece to be cut.

4) Other related threads/tips that can benefit from the hole aligning technique

-http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1491.0 (a jig to position the rail)
-http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=496.0  (MFT setup tips)
-http://www.festoolusa.com/Web_files/Getting_the_most_from_the_MFT_multifunction_table.pdf
-http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1585.0 (using Incra track with the MFT)
-http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=97.30 (Notes on the MFS)

I'm sure this list is not complete. Please feel free to point out any missing items you may know

 

[Ned]

Good summary, mhch, but if this is intended to be a summary in a single message, don't you need to mention at the beginning that all of this only works if you've squared the holes to the guide rail?

Ned

 

[John Viola]

You had quoted from the parallelogram post and I thought you were talking about that!

Yes, your thinking is correct. Simply free both clamps on the guide rail and slide the guide rail to the dogs. I like to slide the guard rail by pushing somewhere around the middle. Once it is to the bench dogs, you might want to push from the top and bottom of the guide rail and get it snug against the dogs. Now you tighten the thumb screws on the guide rail clamps to hold the rail in that aligned position.

After you do it a couple of times, it becomes second nature.

Yeah sorry about that!  I was at the end of the thread and the question just came to me so there I was.  

Thanks for the explanation.  Do you find that the guide rail clamps slide freely or do you need to wax the tracks?

 

[Dixon Peer]

QWAS, perhaps you should check the sensor in your digital camera.  It looks, from your photos, as though it needs cleaning.

Good ideas though, about the mft.

Thanks. It has some dirt and dust I'm sure, but I have a new Imac and had to replace most of my software. To compress my photos I'm using a shareware program called Pixelmator. Since the program is in Demo mode, it is leaving it's trademark on all the pictures.

It was really a bad time for me to find this new method of using the table. But it was too good of a method not to share with everyone else.

I refer to what looks like a dried glob of urea formaldehyde glue.  Somehow, it's in all your pictures.

 

[mhch]

Good summary, mhch, but if this is intended to be a summary in a single message, don't you need to mention at the beginning that all of this only works if you've squared the holes to the guide rail?

Ned

Mmmm I think the idea is to square the guide rail to the holes instead
(unless I misunderstood what you wrote)

 

[Qwas]

QWAS, perhaps you should check the sensor in your digital camera.  It looks, from your photos, as though it needs cleaning.

Good ideas though, about the mft.

Thanks. It has some dirt and dust I'm sure, but I have a new Imac and had to replace most of my software. To compress my photos I'm using a shareware program called Pixelmator. Since the program is in Demo mode, it is leaving it's trademark on all the pictures.

It was really a bad time for me to find this new method of using the table. But it was too good of a method not to share with everyone else.

I refer to what looks like a dried glob of urea formaldehyde glue.  Somehow, it's in all your pictures.

Yes, that's the watermark left by Pixelmator.

 

[Qwas]

You had quoted from the parallelogram post and I thought you were talking about that!

Yes, your thinking is correct. Simply free both clamps on the guide rail and slide the guide rail to the dogs. I like to slide the guard rail by pushing somewhere around the middle. Once it is to the bench dogs, you might want to push from the top and bottom of the guide rail and get it snug against the dogs. Now you tighten the thumb screws on the guide rail clamps to hold the rail in that aligned position.

After you do it a couple of times, it becomes second nature.

Yeah sorry about that!  I was at the end of the thread and the question just came to me so there I was.  

Thanks for the explanation.  Do you find that the guide rail clamps slide freely or do you need to wax the tracks?

It usually moves pretty easy. I've had my table for 18 months and never thought about waxing the tracks. It moves that easy.

 

[Dixon Peer]

Pixelmator, eh?  You can resize you pics with other programs that come with windows like Micrsoft Office Picture Manager.  No criticism intended here, just trying to be helpful.