REPLACING SPLINTERGUARD

mastercabman

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2007
Messages
1,854
I decided that it was time to replace my splinterguard on my fence.
I removed the old one clean it with lacquer thinner,and let it dry.
When i try to put the new one on,the sticky part was not sticking to the fence.
Is there something else that i'm suppose to do or use to make it stick?
It's sticking in some places but not the whole fence.
And yes,  i got all the gunk of the old one off.
I'm thinking about using that double sided tape that FASTCAP makes for laminate.
Does anyone think it would not work?
Anything else that you know that i could use?
 
MC,

Is it possible that there was some lacquer thinner residue remaining that might have dissolved some of the adhesive on the new splinter guard?  I know that I heard somewhere (don't remember where) never to use solvent to get the old adhesive off.  I know sometimes it seems that when you apply a chemical to metal to clean it it is very difficult to really get it "all" off.

Good luck.

Neill

 
Neill said:
MC,

Is it possible that there was some lacquer thinner residue remaining that might have dissolved some of the adhesive on the new splinter guard?  I know that I heard somewhere (don't remember where) never to use solvent to get the old adhesive off.  I know sometimes it seems that when you apply a chemical to metal to clean it it is very difficult to really get it "all" off.

Good luck.

Neill
Could be,but i try to stick it on a different location that the lacquer never touch,and was the same.
 
I wonder if maybe there is something wrong with the guard.  I have changed out my guards several times and always had a really good bond. 

JJ
 
If the new splinter guard is real old or has been subjected to a lot of heat (in storage) the adhesive can degrade.

Tom
 
I doubt the use of lacquer thinner to clean off residue from the old splinterguard is the cause of the problem, unless some silicones were present and were left smeared on the surface.  If it was mine, I'd try dampening the a small spot on the adhesive coated surface of the new splinterguard with the lacquer thinner to see if it causes it to become tacky as it dries.  If it does, treat the whole strip.  If it does not, try your double stick tape, some spray adhesive or get a new strip.

I used to work as a development engineer for Goodyear.  It was common practice to revive the tack of adhesives and rubber coated components by wiping a surface with an organic solvent.

Dave R.
 
someting else to consider is temp. I would try to find a warm section of house and let the guide rail and strip warm up...even  use a hair dryer.
 
I've had this problem and it was because the alcohol I used to clean the gunk off the rail had not dried.

Dan Clermont  

 
Tom Bellemare said:
If the new splinter guard is real old or has been subjected to a lot of heat (in storage) the adhesive can degrade.

Tom

Yes, my Festool dealer was specific about this when I wanted to buy spare ones for use maybe 6 months later.

Thomas
 
Anyone find a commercial double stick tape that works? I think there is stuff they use in the glass industry but it might be too permanent. I used and old splinter guard that was probably 2+ years old and the adhesive was toast. I ended up using Goop E6000 which works but is messy.

Any good recipes out there?
 
I was just at a Festool event in St. Paul, MN. Steve Base the Corporate trainer was very clean how to do this. NEVER USE SOLVENT TO REMOVE THE RESIDUE. Use either a plastic scraper,putty knife, or razor blade to scrap off the residue. He has never had good luck when using solvents.

The old black Splintergurds are hard to get off.  The the new clear/whitish ones come off clean and can be reused. Just keep moving them out a bit to get a new line.

I have yet to replace mine and was glad to hear the tip. I would have used solvent.

Cheers,
Steve
 
I'm still managing with old splinter guards. This past year I adjusted all of my splinter guards (eight I think, and all black) out so they correctly indicate the saw cut. Some of them are from 2003 and they still stick good enough for me.

I warm up the guide rail and rubber strip with a heat gun then gently peel up a few inches and more it out a mm or so and stick it back down. I peel it up just enough to make a hump in the rubber strip so I can easily get a grip on the next section and lift some more. Don't stretch it too much and let it shrink back before pressing into place. Working this way also minimizes contamination and oxidation which will degrade the adhesive.

As everything cools down it becomes harder to lift the rubber off the adhesive without tearing the adhesive. The adhesive when warm releases from the rubber easier than from the aluminum and if it starts coming off the aluminum with the rubber you'll end up with a double layer in spots when the rubber is put back down. So, when it becomes difficult to lift the rubber cleanly from the adhesive you have to warm everything up again.

When the whole strip has been moved out to the new position I heat everything up again to reactivate the adhesive then clamp a straight strip of wood (about as wide and thick as the rubber strip and also at least as long) with a lot of closely spaced spring clamps. I leave them on as long as it takes to get the next rail up to be point of needing the clamps.

Clamp the ends of the strip especially well and often. The residual stretch in the rubber will affect the ends most and they'll loosen. So clamp them again later. Also, there is more air intrusion at the ends so the adhesive is less active. However, just because the ends of the rubber strip get a little loose doesn't mean the rest of the strip is unreliable. The ends rarely even matter. The saw blade can't reach there unless the rail is joined to another and you don't use that uncut section for registration either. So, if the end looseness bothers you there is no harm in adding another layer of fresh adhesive there, but only there.

If you replace the adhesive keep in mind that Festool uses a very thin matrix of paper. Get something that is also thin, no thicker than 3M double stick tape. I wouldn't use anything that doesn't have a consistent mechanically controlled thickness. That is, don't use something that has to be spread or sprayed. Thick tape will throw off the effective bevel of the saw (slightly) but you don't want to have one rail that requires you to adjust the saw bevel.
 
Back
Top