OF2200 and Leigh D4R Dovetail Jig Guide Bush Problem

[Guy Ashley]

Job

Yeah I could do that, and a number of suggestions have been made that will in all probability would resolve it, and I am sure if I spent some of my time doing it instead of working on my clients commissions, I could come with a half decent resolution to the problem.

But thats the point, I should not have to. I have paid hard earned money for this additional equipment and I expect them to resolve it.

What is now beginning to jack me off even more is that I contacted them yesterday by email with a link to this thread and I have not even had the courtesy response of "we are looking in to it". Does anyboby know if there was a public holiday in Canada yesterday or an Internet failure?

Oh man, I am going for a lie down in a dark room!! [big grin]

Guy

 

[counterfix]

guy i can say that i'm equaly frusrtated regarding these issues this is way i showed  the 1400guide plate thats the way it should look like  when you pay 800.00 usd for a tool then 400.00 more for acc kit only to find out the guide plate and bushing are that sloppy
this is why i adapted the plate now i know its perfect and as much as we would like to think how company's should respond regarding
poorly enginered accessories in fact most just don't care. so you must take care of your self as for the larger base that's must if you need tight tollerances the smaller ones are to unstable and when you don't need that tight you can just remove the two screws and back to factory collers and smaller base.

Lance

 

[harry_mc]

Hi Guy,

Any update from Leigh on this issue?

-Harry

 

[Guy Ashley]

Hi Harry

Sorry for the late response, have been without laptop for a few days.

In a word no! I sent the original email to Leigh Jigs on 21/08/2010 and have had no response! [mad] [mad] [mad]

I have resent it again today to another email address at Leigh Jigs and await a response. : :

I will post again as soon as (if) I get a response.

Guy

 

[Guy Ashley]

Breaking news!!

Just received the following reply from Leigh Industries!

"We understand the issue with the Festool adaptor and as a result we have redesigned our 711TP guide bush to include a shoulder equal in diameter to the thread diameter. This is a recent change to the guide bush and the part number remains the same. All Leigh adaptors have machined recesses to prevent guide bush movement however we do not have an adaptor for the 2200 because of the proprietary mounting.

For older style guide bushes, the addition of an ?O? ring will keep the guide bush centered in the Festool adaptor. See the picture of the older guide bush with ?O? ring and the redesigned guidebush.

So the issue now is do we as Festool owners have to make these adaptions ourselves or fork out for the "new updated" guidebushes.

What do you reckon chaps??

 

[greg mann]

Get an o-ring that fits. They are cheap and I will bet just as effective as a new adapter.

While on this subject, it should be pointed out that any system that relies on a good fit between an adapter hole and the minor diameter of a thread is subject to problems. The proper fit should be between the ouside diameter of the flange on the guide bushing and the inside diameter of a corresponding counterbore in the adapter. This means the adapter needs to be machined and not just stamped.

 

[chrisrosenb]

The O ring sounds like a simple fix.

I will be doing that to my 2200 when I need to use guide bushings with it.

 

[harry_mc]

Guy,

Unfortunately it sounds like you will procure an o-ring yourself, but hopefully it will be cheap. 

I hope Leigh is changing the shoulder on all of their guide bushings, not just the 711TP.  They should also update their website chart to note the possible problem with the OF2200 guide bushing adapter. 

That said, I would agree with Greg that the adapter should rely on the outside diameter of the flange rather than the threaded area.  Perhaps Festool should consider a redesign of the adapter?

-Harry

 

[Guy Ashley]

Harry

Last update from Leigh Industries re guidebush chart and size of O ring required.

"Thanks for the suggestion. I?ll have a look at the guide bush chart and see how we might add a good footnote.

The ?O? ring we have tried is 23mm O.D. x 1.5mm thick."

 

[spikfot]

I would expect Leigh will eventually remedy the problem- the O-ring fix is temporary at best. I've used the 0F 1400 and the VGS snap in but I found that it only centers properly mounted one way(it only mounts two ways- 180 degrees rotation) I marked the tab and the correct position on the bottom of the router and I check it every time with a mandrel to make sure.
I would hate to be pushing around the beast of a OF2200 on my D4R, that is *slight* overkill... I use the OF1400 when I make Joints with a depth of over 19mm, but mostly I use a 1100W Makita for everything else, it's light and has plenty of power for even hardwoods up to 3/4"
I have an oak countertop job coming up in two weeks and will be using the OF 1400 -D4R + fingerjoint jig combo to make 40mm deep 12mm FJs in 600mm wide stock, pushing the limits of both the tools, but with good spiral upcuts, it won't be a problem.

 

[counterfix]

i stand corrected this is the of 2200 guide plate. this is how we take it from its production tolerances as a piece of stamped steel to a match set of guide plates.
here's what a 1400 looks like

and what we all think we should expect a festool to be.

this is one thing i don't like the distance from the guide plate to the top of the base. as you see if your bushing isn't 1/2 or 12mm its to short.
heres average price bushing set.

the large brass piece is a giude plate blank and this is how to adapt it to the of2200 plate

Found this
using a centering mandrel to center it is a must
to achieve perfect placement.

using cyano or superglue will hold it for the the next few steps

this is nice to have when working with cyano(excelerator)

once the glue is dry you can drill  this should be done with a drill press.then be sure to countersink both plates together this will maintain a perfect fit.

now tap the holes i did 10-24 coutersink  so bolth plates aline when the screws are in place

then measure and cut the screws to the right depth.

this is the finished plate .

as you can see this a perfect fit please note the line scored on the plate for the corect placement if i rotate it 180 deg its not centered.

now you can use both plates together or apart depending on what tolerance is needed.remember to stamp both plates one one side so it is allways assemble corectly.
i hope this helps some of you.
Lance
Counterfix Inc

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Lance,

Why not just use the real Porter Cable template guide set that appears to be deeper than your set?

 

[counterfix]

I used this because I can center it perfectly in the base every time

 

[PaulMarcel]

Nice modification and documentation, Lance.  I have the D4R as well, but usually use the OF1400 instead.

I just browsed FestoolUSA.com and didn't see Festool equivalents to those guide bushings; too bad; I hoped we would have a full set of imperial sizes, but not close.

 

[Jerry Sitton]

Guy the o-ring will work. I had both the D4R pro Leigh and the Omnijig 24. The Omnijig bushings come with o-rings and worked fine in my OF2200. I used them with the Leigh to make it work as well and it did well. I've sold the Leigh and kept the PC. Since Leigh gave you the correct size for the o-rings, I was going to say just purchase the PC o-rings.