Router base materials?

[ElectricFeet]

Phenolic-covered baltic birch is also great

Ach. I never thought of that. Though with the price of baltic birch these days, it probably costs more than any other option

 

[ElectricFeet]

Opting for linen or fiberglass versions is probably a waste of money.  Fiberglass is used in high heat environments (I’ve been told).

Good to know. I'm not planning on moving it fast enough to generate fibre-glass-level heat

 

[Sparktrician]

Phenolic-covered baltic birch is also great

Ach. I never thought of that. Though with the price of baltic birch these days, it probably costs more than any other option

As an aside, I used phenolic-covered baltic birch when I made my planing sled.  Dust just isn't a problem due to the slickness of the phenolic, and my OF 2200 just glides on the phenolic.  [smile]

 

[Cheese]

Aha! Well spotted. Seems weird that they included a TS saw switch-blocker in the scope of delivery of the CMS-GE and CMS-OF — especially as Festool is always a bit parsimonious with extras (just two sheets of sandpaper with my sander: really? really??) I didn’t have a TS at the time and never bought the CMS-TS, so I couldn’t have acquired it any other way.

That's the reason I added the "Also possibly the router?" statement. I ordered the router set-up ONLY and the blue thingie came in the box of goodies.  [huh]

 

[squall_line]

Wrong thread, I think, [member=44099]Cheese[/member] .

 

[Cheese]

Wrong thread, I think, [member=44099]Cheese[/member] .

Thanks for that...a Senior Moment.  [big grin]

 

[Packard]

Phenolic-covered baltic birch is also great

Ach. I never thought of that. Though with the price of baltic birch these days, it probably costs more than any other option

As an aside, I used phenolic-covered baltic birch when I made my planing sled.  Dust just isn't a problem due to the slickness of the phenolic, and my OF 2200 just glides on the phenolic.  [smile]

I’ve been told that Formica (and other high pressure laminates) are just phenolic sheets over decorative papers.

Formica has been pushing out some neat new products and they have a “blog” to promote those.  Included are Formica over copper and other metals, no black line at edges, and others.  Some of the materials are available to commercial accounts only.  The copper looks particularly nice.

I’ve read recently that copper is now the second most coveted metal on the metals market, behind only gold. 

These sheets use real copper (but very thin).  I can imagine it for a range hook.
https://www.google.com/search?q=copper formica sheets&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Do you happen to know the item number for the chip catcher? I can't seem to find it.

From EKAT:
[attachimg=1]

From my parts supplier's invoice:
466885 COVER,LEFT KSF-OF 1010      €1.78
466389 BEARING RING OF 1400 EBQ      €8.45
467877 RETAINER KSF-OF 2000      €7.00
466390 HOOD OF 1400 EBQ      €2.57
770273 COUNTERSINK DIN 965-M4X8-8.8      €1.39
228568 OVAL HEAD SCREW DIN 7985-M4X12-4.8      €1.39

So for an OF 1010 you can make the whole thing for $25 or so, plus the cost of the base material that you decide to use.

Interestingly, my parts supplier lists 2 of the parts as OF 1400 parts:
- 466390 The hood: Seems to be used for both. Makes sense to use the same part for the same function.
- 466389 The bearing ring: According to EKAT, this is not an OF 1400 part, so I don't know why they list it as such (in English and Dutch, but not in Italian and Spanish: go figure). I'm now debating whether to write an email to the supplier before they ship it out to me in a couple of weeks. Sigh. Don't think I can be bothered. It's the most expensive of the parts -- all of $9 or so -- so I presume it's either aluminium or -- this would be awesome -- contains the magnets already.

Will update when the parts arrive.

That's great, thank you for doing all of that.
FWIW, the magnets are imbedded into the phenolic part of the table widener. The holder (#3 in the drawing) is steel. I assume the #5 item is the entire assembly, rather than individual parts?

[member=74278]Packard[/member]  Yes regular countertop laminate (Formica is just one brand name) is essentially the same thing, minus the cloth weave. It's the same resin, just mixed with craft paper, rather than the woven fiber mesh. I have taken the tour of Formica's manufacturing facility in Cincinnati. It's a very interesting process. They actually make the stuff in 16' sheets, then cut it down into two 8s.

 

[Packard]

The thicker sheets of phenolic that we used for welding fixtures used many layers of paper instead of fabric.

They used the phenolic because it was an excellent electric insulator. I explained that electricity always travelled the path of least resistance and a steel fixture would be just as safe, but no one felt safe with the steel fixtures, so it always was the phenolic, even though working with steel was easier for our tool room.

 

[ElectricFeet]

FWIW, the magnets are imbedded into the phenolic part of the table widener. The holder (#3 in the drawing) is steel. I assume the #5 item is the entire assembly, rather than individual parts?

I think #5 is the assembly for just the chip catcher, which is/was available as a separate catalogue item #493180. It’s listed on Amazon in the US with the steel wings for the magnets:https://www.amazon.com/Festool-493180-Chip-Catcher/dp/B003KN3RGI, while Festool USA site shows the plastic version without wings:https://www.festoolusa.com/accessor...ssories/dust-extraction/493180---ksf-of-1010.

It’s strange that while this was shown in the UK catalogue in 2013 and 2015 in pretty much the form it arrives with a 1010 today (plastic, no wings) it’s shown in the US in 2014 catalog with the wings for the magnets, under the same part number:

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

I can presume the Amazon photo is wrong, but I don’t know what to make of the current Festool site not being in line with the current Festool catalog, which shows the metal, winged version:https://online.flippingbook.com/view/946289425/140-141/

Odd.

Who knows what you get if you order part #493180. It’s cheaper to order the bits in EKAT in any case. But who knows what will arrive? Maybe my clever project will fall on its face before I start it  [blink]

 

[woodferret]

Festool Canada has it showing as the all-plastic screw version.  Considering we both use the same stock as the US and even the second pic in the US site shows that ver, and my recent (but not most recent) OF1010 REQ US has the plastic ver, it's safe to assume the US website pic #1 is wrong.*

* It's not the first/last time the website hasn't been updated correctly.  The DF700 special kit now shows the wrong domino kit

PS> thanks too for listing the ekat parts list.

 

[BigDan]

493139 was fabricated from phenolic.

I order my phenolic in 12x12 sheets from Amazon and have always been happy with them.  The cool thing about polycarbonate or Lexan is that you can see better.  At this point, it's about machinability and both are pretty good for a router base.

Cheers
D

 

[Cheese]

I order my phenolic in 12x12 sheets from Amazon and have always been happy with them.  The cool thing about polycarbonate or Lexan is that you can see better.  At this point, it's about machinability and both are pretty good for a router base.

Cheers
D

I like polycarbonate, it's a great material but scratch resistance is not one of its attributes. Use it as a router base, slide it against other materials and after 6 router sessions that beautiful clear base will be turned into something less than clear. It'll be a mess. That's where phenolic shines, like they said in the old Timex commercials, it takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  [big grin]

 

[woodferret]

I wonder how the Festool routing aid holds up.  They do make MR-10 polycarbonate these days that's somewhat abrasion resistant.  I wonder if the added cost of that jig is part of that.

 

[demographic]

Pbenolic sheets at about 6mm (guessing as I've never measured it) thick often get used in industrial errm... fuse enclosures or busbar backing boards. Not sure what they get called cos I'm not an electrician but I keep finding bits on the floor.
Anyway, linky.
clicky here.

 

[rst]

Cheese, I always made my bases from acrylic as it can be polished.  I've also made bases for my Fes routers from 3mm phenolic as it is available from my plastics supplier.

 

[ElectricFeet]

Do you happen to know the item number for the chip catcher? I can't seem to find it.

From EKAT:
[attachimg=1]

From my parts supplier's invoice:
466885 COVER,LEFT KSF-OF 1010      €1.78
466389 BEARING RING OF 1400 EBQ      €8.45
467877 RETAINER KSF-OF 2000      €7.00
466390 HOOD OF 1400 EBQ      €2.57
770273 COUNTERSINK DIN 965-M4X8-8.8      €1.39
228568 OVAL HEAD SCREW DIN 7985-M4X12-4.8      €1.39

So for an OF 1010 you can make the whole thing for $25 or so, plus the cost of the base material that you decide to use.

Interestingly, my parts supplier lists 2 of the parts as OF 1400 parts:
- 466390 The hood: Seems to be used for both. Makes sense to use the same part for the same function.
- 466389 The bearing ring: According to EKAT, this is not an OF 1400 part, so I don't know why they list it as such (in English and Dutch, but not in Italian and Spanish: go figure). I'm now debating whether to write an email to the supplier before they ship it out to me in a couple of weeks. Sigh. Don't think I can be bothered. It's the most expensive of the parts -- all of $9 or so -- so I presume it's either aluminium or -- this would be awesome -- contains the magnets already.

Will update when the parts arrive.

OK. Parts have arrived. Everything looks likes it does in EKAT. The chip catcher (hood #466390) clips easily to the tri-wing steel piece (holder #467877) with the help of the bearing ring (#466389), which allows it to swivel. It then looks just like the photo on amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Festool-493180-Chip-Catcher/dp/B003KN3RGI )

I hadn't realised when I totted up the cost that the screws are single, not a set of six. Must be the most expensive screws I've ever bought.

The "oval head" on my supplier's description of the M4x12 screw (#228568) is listed in EKAT as "raised head" in EKAT. "Raised head" is more correct. I would call what arrived as an M4x12 "button head" screw. Why it's a button head and not a countersunk like the screws it replaces is a question I asked myself. I presume that this gives them more flexibility when it comes to the thickness of the material they use for the extended base. Or maybe it's because button head would always be the screw of choice for stability reasons, but the standard base thickness doesn't allow it, so they had to use countersunk on the standard base (whereas on this thicker base they had more depth to play with). It works in my favour anyway -- I can be flexible on the material thickness I use; I'll just drill the wider hole for the screw head to the exact depth I need. BTW, there's nothing special about this screw at all. Buy it elsewhere more cheaply.

Also, I don't understand why the parts diagram from EKAT lists the countersunk M4x8 (#770273) screws at all. You already have these on your old base. I presume they think you might want to replace them, but I don't really get it. The screws in my current base are a torx/slotted combination, which is better (for me) than the PZ screw that came as the spare part. Anyway, the takeaway is that you don't need to order part #770273 at all.

For now, I'll put everything in a bag and get round to making something later in the year. I just made a list of all the projects I'm working on right now and got to 17 before calling it a day. So it'll be a while before I get to it, procrastination permitting. I'll post back with details of the base I make when I do.

Thanks to everyone for your help.