Splinterguard woes

[TheTrooper]

Is there build up of foam on the sides of the blade? Sometimes it will leave a plastic type buildup and that could be causing the blade to drift or even if that buildup clears it could be clearing where you notice the curvered spots in the guard

 

[mo siopa]

I definitely get some splinter guard movement on my rails.  I have seen about 4mm lateral movement during periods of hot weather (always away from the rail so far).  In extreme cold, I have had the guard peal off several inches from the end.  Curiously, my original rail that came with my 1080 table has the old black splinter guard which has never moved or detached.  It is worn and inaccurate now, I assume from lateral play, but I have been kind of experimenting to see how long it will outlast its "progeny" with clear splinter guards.

 

[rst]

Bill, I usually use a folding carpenter rule.  I'm one of the few tradesman in my area, Central Pa, that still carries a folding stick rule.  Of course I'm older than dirt also.

 

[Holmz]

Holmz - Fortunately, my guide track and saw base are both dead flat.
...

The saw base and tracks are appearing to be practically the same. Which they pretty much have to be, as there are finite number of ways to make it work.
On mine the width between the contact 'pads' is pretty much the whole saw, and more importantly... I cannot get it to rock.

I suppose once you've found this out, then you just keep the pressure on and it always works the same.

 

[JonSchuck]

Holmz - Fortunately, my guide track and saw base are both dead flat.

The Festool saw bases are made of cast aluminum or similar alloy and they sit completely on the guide track.  The saw base is cast such that it has a lengthwise, male groove in the base that fits over a female, lengthwise extrusion on the guide track.  Thus, the saw is guided by the interface of these two.  The saw base has cams which are part of adjusting dials (2) which bear against the extrusion and these provide the user with the ability to dial out all slop in the fitting of the saw base to the extrusion.  The saw base rides on two glide strips on the guide track.  The saw therefore glides easily but the distance between the two strips is a bit less than the width of the saw base.  Therefore, some rocking can be induced if there is no downward pressure on the saw against the base.  Consistent, downward pressure eliminates this tendency.

rst - so, do you just use a ruler or other measuring device to position the guide track to cut to a mark, rather than the splinter guard?

JonSchuck - are you setting the toe with the adjustment cams?  I adjust mine by pushing the base evenly away from the cams and then adjusting them for zero slop.  Didn't realize there is a recommendation other than dead-straight

Bill - To check the toe-in clamp a piece of wood to the rail and make a cut slightly longer than the saw (or cut the board all the way off).  Have the saw set to cut as deep as it can.  Unplug the saw. Plunge the saw all the way again and, using feeler gauges, check for any gaps between the blade and the wood on the left side of the cut.  The front of the blade should be right up against the cut.  The back of the blade should have a gap of five to ten thousandths of an inch.  I think six thousandths is recommended.  As I recall the back of the blade is kind of hard to check because the riving knife gets in the way.  I'm 1500 miles away from my saw right now and can't remember what I had to loosen to adjust this but Rick C probably covers this in the supplemental manual.  This may not have anything to do with your problem but according to ccarrolladams (one of the forum gurus) everybody should check their toe-in.
Anybody, please correct me if I made any mistakes in the above paragraph.

 

[peter halle]

By the way the reason that I posted what I did earlier was because the only thing that has changed between happy cuts and now is the fact that you changed your cutting environment when you went from the grid table with clamps to cutting on foam.  The saw is the same.  The guiderails are the same.  Clamping really won't make a difference.

So in my mind it came down to ergonomics and the way that you and I move the saw along the track - or (and I didn't write this) your blade needs to be sharpened.  Blades may feel sharp but they might not really be.  A less than sharp blade might wander when exposed to the wood.  Just something else to think about.

Toe in usually doesn't sneak up on you as an issue - although it is totally possible for things to slip.

Might want to look at an extra blade and then send your old one in for sharpening.

Peter

 

[Bill Waters]

Trooper - no, the blade is clean, fortunately

Mo Siopa - I, too have the old black splinter guards on most of my guide rails.  Since mine have always been in a climate-controlled shop, I have not had any temperature-induced slippage, etc.  Mine are completely sound and immoveable.

JonSchuck - I'll check it out.  Thanks.

Peter - I think the lack of ergonomic inconsistency is the answer (see me earlier comments).  My blade seems sharp (I'm used to judging this, having myriad devices that use carbide-tipped blades), but two things make me think that that's not a contributor in this case.  One is that the shards of splinter guard it cuts are too thin to be able to feel - probably 1-3 thousandths of an inch.  Doubt these could be cut like this if blade were dull.  Second, the blade just has not had much use.  I will, however, keep this in mind if my ergonomic fixes don't do the job.

Thanks, everyone.

Bill