OF 1400 w/ Guide Stop vs MicroFence

[extiger]

Has anyone on the forum made an evaluation or revue of any router using the Guide Stop on the Guide Rail?
How about the same for the OF 1400 with the MicroFence accessory fitted for the Guide Rail?

My searches here turned up empty. Pending purchase of hand-held router & system.

Thanks,

Gary Curtis

 

[Steven in Iowa]

I have both the Festool guide and the MicroFence and prefer the MicroFence.  It just seems to be more precise.

 

[extiger]

Here's my dilemma. I need a third router (after my table and in my WoodRat) to do hand routing only. Primarily Dado cuts. I've already got some Festool equipment, so I have Guiderails.

Yesterday I was reading Bill Hylton's new editon of Woodworking with the Router. He mentions near the beginning in a section on edge guides that the Festool Guide stop leaves something to be desired. That threw me.  Now the MicroFence at $200 also needs some special adapter to work with the Festool. Right?

Gary

 

[semenza]

Hi,

      I don't know about the MicroFence  or even what it is. But I use the guide stop with the OF1400 for dados and  it works great.  It is micro adjustable, and a centering markd on the router base works well with this feature for fine tuning.  I will be using it to make forty + stopped dados in a few days.

Seth

 

[Jim McFarland]

Gary, some have added an auxiliary base to improve OF1400 stability for rail guided work -- check Daviddubya's tip on this thread.

 

[bill-e]

Hi,

      I don't know about the MicroFence  or even what it is. But I use the guide stop with the OF1400 for dados and  it works great.  It is micro adjustable, and a centering markd on the router base works well with this feature for fine tuning.  I will be using it to make forty + stopped dados in a few days.

Seth

Seth,

The Guide Stop is not what you're thinking.  This is the Guide Stop

And this is the Micro Fence (I think).  It's be interesting to see how it is adapted.

 

[Steven in Iowa]

Bill,
  The picture you have posted is of the MicroFence Guide.  To use the Festool OF1400 or OF 1010 on the Festool Guide Rail, you use part of the MicroFence Circle Guide and the MicroFence Universal Router Plate along with the MicroFence/Festool Guide Rail adapter.  I've included several pictures of my setup.  It's extremely accurate, probably much more so than necessary, but I'm familiar with its' operation and trust the results.

[attachthumb=#]

 

[Jerry Work]

Hi Gary,

I do a lot of guided rail routing since many of my pieces go together with a series of interlocking sliding dovetail joints.  All the female slots are cut with a guide rail, router and guide stop.  I have yet to experience anything but supurb results with the Festool set up.  I have not used MicroFence and while it looks good, see no advantage functionally for my use.  I commonly set the guide rail edge 20mm from the intended line of cut and slide the router on the rods until the center mark on the router lines up with the intended line of cut.  From then on, the guide rail is set 20mm oiffset and the cuts are all made knowing the bit will be centered on the intended line of cut.  No fiddling.  Slick, fast and very accurate.  The only thing to watch is that you do not allow paralax to misset the center line mark with the intended line of cut.  Look straight down from the top and you can see the alignment of the mark with the line.  For stopped sliding dovetails I watch the marks on the leveling foot re the outside edge of the work piece.  Be sure to factor in the diameter of the router bit when deciding where to stop.  If you use the 14.3mm bits the tip will be a bit over 7mm beyond the bit centerline indicated by the leveling foot.  For the 20m bit it is obviously 10mm.  I like to leave at least 5mm and usually more like 10mm from the bit tip to the edge of the work piece.  My standard is to stop the cut when the 20mm mark on the leveling foot aligns with the edge of the work piece.  That leaves 13mm for the smaller bit and 10mm for the larger bit.  When fitting the male DT the length of the DT itself must be shorter than the work piece by this same amount to keep the sharp edges of the male DT from passing beyond the bit centerline on the female cut and binding in the female grove as the edges of the two work pieces align.  Same concepts apply to dados.  Hope this helps.

Jerry

Has anyone on the forum made an evaluation or revue of any router using the Guide Stop on the Guide Rail?
How about the same for the OF 1400 with the MicroFence accessory fitted for the Guide Rail?

My searches here turned up empty. Pending purchase of hand-held router & system.

Thanks,

Gary Curtis

 

[Dan Clermont]

The Micro Fence looks pretty cool and I have seen the video.

The Festool system is what I own and may have a bit of slop on the adjustment but it is good enough for me.

In other words, I don't think the Micro Fence is something I will be investing in.

Dan C

 

[extiger]

Thank you all for your input. Steven, I guess you know what I referred to here. It seems like for the few specific tasks I have for the Festool, the factory accessory would be adequate working together with the GuideRail. Semenza and Dan, you just learned something about the MicroFence. It is a serious piece of equipment, thus the $200 price tag.

It would really stand out if I was doing the kind of work I now do with my WoodRat, but I don't have the need for things such as Joinery. Jerry, I've seen your website a few times and value your experience. Thanks again to you all.

Gary Curtis
Northern California

 

[extiger]

To repeat a comment I made. Bill Hylton's book on routing is a completely reworked edition of his old title. He comments on Festool in several places. Very early in the book, he expresses his general displeasure with the 'crapola' edge guides offered by most brands. He provoked my curiosity were he says of the Festool Stop Guide:  "Festool''s edge guide has range and the semblance of micro-adjustability; backlash and slop in the adjuster reduce its precision." (cited from page 33, top)

The photo above this caption shows what looks like the OF 1100 with the Guide Stop mounted on it. This did not inspire confidence.

Gary Curtis

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Hylton is correct in noting the slop in the micro adjuster mechanism of the Festool Guide Stop, but as long as you always start adjusting from the same reference direction, this slop has no adverse effect.  Another way of dealing out this slop is to turn the dial of the Festool adjuster to remove the free play BEFORE you loosen the clamping knobs.  Then any additional turning of the adjuster results in a corresponding movement of the router itself.

Dave R.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

       I don't know about the MicroFence  or even what it is. But I use the guide stop with the OF1400 for dados and  it works great.  It is micro adjustable, and a centering markd on the router base works well with this feature for fine tuning.  I will be using it to make forty + stopped dados in a few days.

Seth

Seth,

The Guide Stop is not what you're thinking.  This is the Guide Stop

And this is the Micro Fence (I think).  It's be interesting to see how it is adapted.

Hi, Bill

      Yes, thats it- the Guide Stop.  I use that for stopped dados. Along with limit stops for the beginning and end points.

Seth