Opinions of the Festool CMS Router Table please

[tjbnwi]

I have a question for the router table owners. I am unable to secure the clear plastic fence. I tighten it and it still moves quite a bit. Am a missing a washer or something else?

Easy fix.



You’ll also find videos on modifying the fence with the Crown Plate and Woodpecker micro adjust on my YT page.

Tom

 

[MMCO]

Easy fix.



You’ll also find videos on modifying the fence with the Crown Plate and Woodpecker micro adjust on my YT page.

Tom

I am glad I am not the only one that has this issue..... Thanks for the video, Tom, very helpful. Wouldn't it be easier to drill a hole from the outside into the sleeve so the thumb screw makes contact with the rod?

 

[tjbnwi]

I am glad I am not the only one that has this issue..... Thanks for the video, Tom, very helpful. Wouldn't it be easier to drill a hole from the outside into the sleeve so the thumb screw makes contact with the rod?

You do not want the end of the thumb (grub) screw to come in contact with rod. The metal end of the screw will dig into the rod causing burs on the rod. This is definitely not something you want.

The design is just about perfect, The ring acts as a clamp around the rod which applies pretty even pressure. It was the execution of the design that failed. Honestly, I would have designed the parts exactly as Festool did.

There are times you will find grub screws in direct contact with a shaft. This is dealt with in two different ways.
The first being the grub screw has a soft tip. The soft tip material I’ve seen the most is Delrin.
Second choice is machine a flat on the rod where the grub screw will make contact. This puts any rod distortion from the grub screws contact below the rod diameter.

Tom

 

[Cheese]

For those that have inquired about the ease of assembly:

1. Here the stainless rods are installed connecting the Festool fence directly to the Woodpeckers Micro-Adjust.
2. Here the stainless rods have been removed and reinstalled to the rear side of the Woodpeckers Micro-Adjust.
3. Here the Micro-Adjust and the Festool crown stop base have been removed from the CMS and can be stored as a compact assembly.

The overriding advantage of this set-up is that the 2 foot long fence is not directly attached to the Micro-Adjust which becomes very cumbersome when you have a small shop to work in. Every thing can be broken down into small units and they are easily stored.

 

[Hawkeye0001]

Love it! I threw out the micro adjust feature on my current setup because on the v1 version of my CMS insert it took too much rearward space away, was too cumbersome and I rarely needed it (most of the time I just did the old-fashioned light taps with a little hammer instead anyway). The crown stop is such an elegant solution to this, I'm gonna go back to the drawing board to incorporate this! Talk about working in the system

 

[Cheese]

Love it! I threw out the micro adjust feature on my current setup because on the v1 version of my CMS insert it took too much rearward space away, was too cumbersome and I rarely needed it (most of the time I just did the old-fashioned light taps with a little hammer instead anyway). The crown stop is such an elegant solution to this, I'm gonna go back to the drawing board to incorporate this! Talk about working in the system

FWIW...there is entire thread on adapting the CMS to work with the Micro-Adjust including magnet part numbers and magnet locations.

 

[Coen]

It happens when the following conditions are met:
1. Router plug-it not connected yet but switch still / already in the locked position
2. CMS already connected to the wall outlet and green button pushed after the fact that the circuit became live
3. if you NOW connect the router's plug-it cable with the CMS' pigtail: voila, flying bits and mashed fingers ensue

Yes, but in general you shouldn't hold the router by it's bit in one hand while attaching the cord with the other hand...

 

[Vondawg]

@Cheese is/was that your thread - Im looking for it

 

[MMCO]

FWIW...there is entire thread on adapting the CMS to work with the Micro-Adjust including magnet part numbers and magnet locations.

Please send a link, I did a few searches and couldn't find any matches.

 

[GoingMyWay]

Is this the thread in question: https://festoolownersgroup.com/thre...-micro-adjust-using-crown-stop-updated.34372/ ?

 

[Cheese]

Thread 'CMS router table fence improvements ( micro adjust using crown stop) "updated"'

Aug 20, 2014

Just like JohnymanyB  me and a friend wanted to figure out how to improve on his cms fence and add a micro adjust to it,
so this is what we did.

first we wanted to make it very light and simple so we to ordered the Wood pecker micro adjust as it is proportional to the rest of the cms table, rather then the larger possibilities . Next we wanted to be able to install it to the fence in a very short time period or I knew we wouldn't of used it or it would be to bulky to carry around, so we bolted the micro adjust to a festool crown stop . Next was to get around the hose connection at the...

• Benjamin
• Replies: 123
• Forum: Festool Jigs & Tool Enhancements

My part starts at #84.

 

[MMCO]

If anyone is looking for a CMS Router Table that connects to an MFT, there is one for sale in Denver. I have no affiliation. https://www.facebook.com/share/1AzdwENv3S/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[ElectricFeet]

I have a question for the router table owners. I am unable to secure the clear plastic fence. I tighten it and it still moves quite a bit. Am a missing a washer or something else?

Yeah, it doesn’t really get that tight. The clear fence’s purpose is to push the work inwards, with the knob giving a little(!) positioning help. In use, it works a bit like bench hold-fast clamps do (the ones you hit with a mallet). They stay where they are and hold the stock down because when you hit them they shift into being at an angle in the dog-hole. In the case of the plastic fence, you push it up tight against where the stock will be. Then when you feed the stock through, the stock pushes the plastic fence out at the bottom, away from the main fence, hence creating an inward force at the top, towards the main fence. The bushing is then at a slight angle and holds fast. At least, that’s how mine works — maybe I have a faulty one too

To be honest, I no longer use mine much and it sits in a cupboard most of the time. Since getting the jessem clearcut flex guide thingies , I use those instead to pull the work towards the main fence. They work really well and fit the Festool CMS fence perfectly, straight out of the box.

Edit: Well that was stupid of me — I replied before realising I was only on page one (of two) and others have already replied with the incredibly useful video. I was imagining that Festool’s engineers had worked out a clever mechanism that I just didn’t get along with. Now I know it’s just not a good design I still think my fence will spend most of its life in a cupboard and the JessEm guides do a better job.