OF-FH Routing Aid
- Thread starter Eko
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You can do off center cuts - each side leg adjusts individually.
I had to go upstairs and get mine out of the box. Probably 8 years old and I still haven't gotten around to using it. [eek]
Peter
I had to go upstairs and get mine out of the box. Probably 8 years old and I still haven't gotten around to using it. [eek]
Peter
Cheese
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Peter Halle said:
Seems to me Peter, that had you made a bulk purchase of these 8 years ago...you'd be out-pacing the stock market at this point.
Hmmm, purchase large quantities of the Festool routing aid and 8 years later sell them and retire with the proceeds. Me likee...
OK, so with this painfully slow post I've completed my single post for the day...I now need to direct my energy in a more satisfying manner...
PaulMarcel
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Cheese said:
I had to wonder how that would out-pace the stock market... then I searched [eek] holy crap, I couldn't get myself to fork out the $250 back in the day when I actually needed it (and honestly should have gotten it for better safety). $405?! I should go to the local aquarium builder and get some of his thick acrylic off-cuts and make my own. It apparently welds very easily. Or make one out of ply but add murder holes for eyeballing to marks on the stock
Cheese
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PaulMarcel said:
[member=3513]PaulMarcel[/member] I'd say do it...here's a well documented tutorial by [member=37411]ear3[/member] from a couple of years ago.
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/plexiglass-router-template/30/
PaulMarcel
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Cheese said:
Ooh, nice link; thanks, [member=44099]Cheese[/member]
Short of building your own from a phenolic resin or acrylic which is obviously an option for some (though perhaps not myself) then for those of you that already own the Routing Aid do you feel it was a worthwhile investment or do you wish you had bought something else?
From what I've seen (so far) anything of similar functionality relies on balancing and pegs to keep it level and centered on the workpiece. Neither of which strikes me as particularly safe or accurate, especially on narrow stock. I have yet to find another product that appears as secure and safe to use as this one. Even so I'm finding it very difficult to justify the price so I was curious what actual owners thought.
From what I've seen (so far) anything of similar functionality relies on balancing and pegs to keep it level and centered on the workpiece. Neither of which strikes me as particularly safe or accurate, especially on narrow stock. I have yet to find another product that appears as secure and safe to use as this one. Even so I'm finding it very difficult to justify the price so I was curious what actual owners thought.
luvmytoolz
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PaulMarcel said:
I made mine out of much sturdier material than the Festool one for roughly a 1/4 of the cost. I've since sold it as I have some design change ideas for a v2.0 I'm planning. One of which is to route a shallow channel on the top edge of the side supports, and fill with some silicon filler to crown just above the top to give a super strong grip when the knobs are tightened. Of note I used the Domino to cut the slots for the T-Bolts as seen in the pic! It was perfect for it!
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luvmytoolz
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tsmi243 said:
It's such a simple exercise but amazingly useful for stopping any adverse movement under heavy routing load. I converted a 200L gas bottle to a cyclone for my CT36, and simply routed a circular groove in a melamine sheet and ran a silicon tube around it, the grip is so strong once the CT is turned on it creates a perfect seal. no need for latches at all.
luvmytoolz
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tsmi243 said:
No, it comes out the tube pretty thick, so just a wipe with a damp rag with a tiny bit of detergent evens it out and smooths it easily.
The principle being the silicon is very roughly crowned just high enough above the edge (2mm or so), so that when the clamps are tightened it compresses flat giving good surface contact to provide more grip than just perspex against perspex.
The alternate is to use thin silicon sheet strips but these will be a bit awkward in use I reckon.
Did you have trouble with them staying in their set position?
Else I think it will make it less practical, making it slide worse over the edge you are routing into.
/edit nevermind I was picturing it wrong, you will be putting the silicone on the top side of the lower pieces. But if you're not having trouble as it is now, you will have to untighten the knobs a lot more when you need to adjust.
Else I think it will make it less practical, making it slide worse over the edge you are routing into.
/edit nevermind I was picturing it wrong, you will be putting the silicone on the top side of the lower pieces. But if you're not having trouble as it is now, you will have to untighten the knobs a lot more when you need to adjust.
luvmytoolz
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Frank-Jan said:
I made mine out of 20mm thick perspex to maximise squareness and contact support, with 5/16th T-Bolts set high to give a short clamping distance so there wouldn't be any room for "wobbling", and even being that bulky and doing the knobs up with a death grip, on fairly heavy grooves it could still be forced to move a fraction just by the forces involved. Perspex wants to slide on perspex.
Granted it was with the OF2200 and a big cutter, but if it's worth doing well, it's worth dramatically over-engineering it in my opinion!
The silicon will completely solve this and make it almost impossible to shift position under load especially as I also got some M8 locking levers for the new version which will allow a fantastic clamping force.
The new one will be bigger overall with better dust extraction, and as I recently got hold of a few blocks of A4 sized awards made out of solid blocks of perspex, the side supports will be a very beefy 75mm x 40mm to allow a good surface area for the silicon and provide maximum 90 degree support without any possibility of flexing.
James Carriere
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You can make offset cuts as each side support operates independently from one another. While this is not covered specifically in the video it is easily achieved using the engraved scale on the tool.
luvmytoolz
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Eko said:
No plans as I have so many other projects on the go, but you're not the first to ask so possibly down the track.
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