Parallel guides for cutting narrow stock

[rmwarren]

Winter finally arrived in Brigantine, and the boss is in Europe, so I spent the day in the shop making a prototype of another gadget. This is intended to mount to a guide rail for accurately & repeatedly cutting stock up the the width of the guide rail itself (+/- 7.25"). They can be used with the rail attached to the MFT.

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I ordered a couple of self-adhesive scales that read metric and imperial, every since I got my TS55 I find myself using metric more frequently. The ruler is just there is illustrate the idea. The plate has a 1/2" wide groove just over 1mm deep for the scale to sit in.

After making the slotted plate from Acetal I realized it was a bit too flexible, I will be making another set from aluminum. I had wanted to use plastic to simplify zeroing them in, I was planning to make them a little long, adjust it to zero and then cut off the excess plate. I guess I can still do that with an aluminum plate.

The plate is 6mm thick so you can use them with stock that thick on up to the limit of your TS.

Comments or suggestions are welcome.

RMW

 

[ajones]

I will take a set [big grin]

 

[Alan m]

looks great.  im sure fellow fogers would buy them
id agree about the aluminium . the plasteic is a bit flexable.

im interested too

 

[Theshipstore]

I like the idea, so yes on a set for me too

Sal

 

[fritter63]

Nice "prototype"!

The black rail mounted blocks are acetol as well?

 

[lumbajac]

Can you shoot and post a short video of how they work?

I'm interested once you get any bugs worked out and finalize your prototype.

Thanks,
Corey
U.P. of Michigan

 

[rmwarren]

Nice "prototype"!

The black rail mounted blocks are acetol as well?

Yes, the blocks are Acetal. It costs as much as aluminum & is about as tough, but easier on tooling and it machines beautifully. I can take .040" cuts rather than nibbling away in .010" bites. The only negative is that in thin sections it is nowhere near as stiff, hence the problem with the slotted plate flexing as designed. Poor design.  [embarassed]

I use it to "prototype" or flesh out ideas because it is easy to work with. You get what you pay for...

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

Can you shoot and post a short video of how they work?

I'm interested once you get any bugs worked out and finalize your prototype.

Thanks,
Corey
U.P. of Michigan

Corey,

I will try to whip up a video. My only video camera is my phone so I will have to rig something to hold it. I will give it a try the next time I am in the shop.

thanks,

RMW

 

[John2532]

Looks like a nice set up RMW.  I was working on a similar idea a while back but had to shelf the idea basically due to lack of time.  Here is the thread if it gives you any ideas: http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/idea-for-ripping-narrow-stock/

As far as suggestions, how about a delrin tip on the proposed aluminum slider? It would allow the user to "zero" the scale and then cut the tip to length instead of trying to move the scale for zero.  It would be additional machining but you might be able to attach the tip with something as simple as a half-lap joint with some small screws.  Realistically the aluminum slider could be cut with TS-55 and standard blade but I think most users would be hesitant to do so.

Good luck on your jig, it looks like a great start!

John

 

[John Stevens]

Very nice.  One suggestion:  bevel the "outboard" edge that runs parallel to the guide.  I think it would be a little easier to read the scale accurately that way.

Instead of beveling the edge, would it be possible to attach one of those "hairline cursor" gadgets that Rockler sells?

Regards,

John

 

[rmwarren]

Looks like a nice set up RMW.  I was working on a similar idea a while back but had to shelf the idea basically due to lack of time.  Here is the thread if it gives you any ideas: http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/idea-for-ripping-narrow-stock/

As far as suggestions, how about a delrin tip on the proposed aluminum slider? It would allow the user to "zero" the scale and then cut the tip to length instead of trying to move the scale for zero.  It would be additional machining but you might be able to attach the tip with something as simple as a half-lap joint with some small screws.  Realistically the aluminum slider could be cut with TS-55 and standard blade but I think most users would be hesitant to do so.

Good luck on your jig, it looks like a great start!

John

John, Thanks for sharing the link, I somehow missed this thread although I did see your thread on the original parallel guides with the Empire rule. It looks like you spent a ton of time developing the same idea!

I agree with you about the hesitancy of cutting the AL with the TS and I like your suggestion. That idea makes the slotted plates "renewable" if anything ever happens to damage the end. I will give that a shot.

Thanks again.

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

Very nice.  One suggestion:  bevel the "outboard" edge that runs parallel to the guide.  I think it would be a little easier to read the scale accurately that way.

Instead of beveling the edge, would it be possible to attach one of those "hairline cursor" gadgets that Rockler sells?

Regards,

John

You could attach the cursor to the rear of the block, the slotted plate just needs to be a little longer. I will make the next set that way, thanks for the suggestion.

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

Looks like a nice set up RMW.  I was working on a similar idea a while back but had to shelf the idea basically due to lack of time.  Here is the thread if it gives you any ideas: http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/idea-for-ripping-narrow-stock/

As far as suggestions, how about a delrin tip on the proposed aluminum slider? It would allow the user to "zero" the scale and then cut the tip to length instead of trying to move the scale for zero.  It would be additional machining but you might be able to attach the tip with something as simple as a half-lap joint with some small screws.  Realistically the aluminum slider could be cut with TS-55 and standard blade but I think most users would be hesitant to do so.

Good luck on your jig, it looks like a great start!

John

John,

I read back thru that entire thread and there was a lot of attention focused on how to support the left-hand side of the rail. I had assumed that it would be as simple and low-tech as using a scrap of the same material being cut under each end of the left edge of the rail. It appears that the folks who chimed in wanted something more substantial built into the jig. What are your thoughts on this today?

I revised the design of the slotted plate to include the sacrificial Delrin tip held in place with (2) M4 flat head screws. Here are the latest renderings.

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I also made this version a little wider, 60MM, the prototype I made was 40MM. I am thinking of widening the the 32MM guide plate to 40MM to beef it up.

As an afterthought I added an 8MM tapped thru-hole to the block, this could be used with a small threaded furniture-type leveler to act as a stabilizer for the guide rail. You could also just screw a small block of material to it to act as a support.

Any other comments or suggestions?

RMW

 

[Lucky Dave]

RMW,

First the RIP dogs.

Second the "Incra" Accessory Blocks.

Third the parallel guides.

I think you have used up your quota for inventions of very clever little thingies which attach to a guide rail.

BTW: You do need some clever, memorable names/acronyms for 2 and 3.

 

[rmwarren]

RMW,

First the RIP dogs.

Second the "Incra" Accessory Blocks.

Third the parallel guides.

I think you have used up your quota for inventions of very clever little thingies which attach to a guide rail.

BTW: You do need some clever, memorable names/acronyms for 2 and 3.

Dave - you made me laugh. My 1080 rail is getting a bit crowded...

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The last piece of the blankety-blank Rip Dogs are SUPPOSED to be shipping tomorrow and I am anxious to get them out into the wild and get some real-world feedback. I am also anxious to recoup those $$ I have tied up in them and re-purpose them for the Incra guide blocks. Hopefully they will not take as long.

My problem is having too many ideas rattling around in my head, it keeps me up at night thinking "hey, if I made this thingie then I could (fill in the  blank)...".  The encouragement I get on the FOG doesn't help matters any... [big grin]

In any case, I do expect to be packing up Rip Dogs for shipping by next weekend.

Thanks,

RMW

 

[Emer Construction]

can you combine the two concepts so that the rip dogs can be used as an adjustable stop for repetitive cuts?

 

[John2532]

RMW,

You asked my thoughts on the support block for the jig,  I considered a threaded assembly that could be adjusted to any height but finally came to the conclusion that the best method was a using a piece of similar stock, most everyone has scraps around. Even if you made spacers sized for the common plywood sizes they most likely wouldn't work if the user was working with solid stock.  The "keyhole-slot" method of mounting the scrap pieces seemed to work well but there are plenty of other options, using magnets also crossed my mind.

Of course, if you use the jig with the MFT mounted rail, no support will be necessary.

John

 

[Lucky Dave]

RMW

OK, here is a suggestion for the "Incra" accessory blocks/guides.

Festool-Incra Guides aka FIGs

Pardon me, but possibly "Dick's Figs" as an alternative.

Still working on something for the narrow stock guides.

 

[rmwarren]

RMW

OK, here is a suggestion for the "Incra" accessory blocks/guides.

Festool-Incra Guides aka FIGs

Pardon me, but possibly "Dick's Figs" as an alternative.

Still working on something for the narrow stock guides.

I will, uhmn, refrain from continuing that line of discussion...  [unsure]

I am going to take the plunge and order a batch of these, final configuration is 60mm long, 50mm wide and 12.7mm (1/2") thick. The pocket fits the Incra track (32mm wide) and is about 26mm long. I left 1/4" underneath the protrusion.

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Lead-time is quoted as 3.5 weeks.

Thanks,

RMW