Square cuts on the MFT

[John Viola]

Good evening.  I'm sure this has been done before but I didn't find much through the search.

For the past hour and a half I have burned through about 48" of cheap plywood trying to get nice, square cuts using my TS 55 and MFT 1080.  I get nice, clean, slightly out-of-square cuts each time.  I've gotten it from "really out of square" to "maybe a sixteenth".  I have removed the angle head, loosened all the screws, checked it with no fewer than 4 different squares (a Starrett 12" and 24" and a Bridge City TS-2 and a framing square, all true) and I just cannot get this thing to give me cuts squared to the reference edge.

Maybe I am overdoing it but I don't think so.  I also think it shouldn't be taking me this long to get it right. 

Anyone have the same issue before?  Do you have any tips on fixing this?  I could just use my tablesaw and sled (definitely square) but I want to get this right-it's the whole reason I purchased the setup and I'm a little frustrated now.  I'm sure it's me but I don't know where else to look.

TIA.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

  This topic has come up several times. So you are not the only one.  Try this thread http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=459.0  And also  this enhanced manual  Getting the Most From the MFT    by Jerry Work http://www.festoolownersgroup.com/CoppermineMain/thumbnails.php?album=40. 

Seth

 

[Mahogany Man]

John,
Check out Woodshopdemosdotcom.http://www.woodshopdemos.com/box-test-1.htm
He has a nice square cutting guide over there that may help you.
Don't give up, it works great once you get it set up.
HTH
John

 

[Qwas]

I think this is something we all struggle with for awhile. I think some of it comes from the radius on the bottom of the guide rail and a portion from some flex in the fence if it is in the tall position.

What I did was use a piece of 1/8 inch plastic under the square to raise it above the radius. If you have the clamping elements, I would use the "stops" and position them on the back side of the fence to reduce any flexing.

Once you can get a square cut , use  some 1/2 inch plywood to make a square that you can use in the future to align the rail. After I made this my problems went away.

We are discussing some new ideas on making square cuts here.

 

[graphex]

While I still lament the fact that I have no MFT yet, I have been able to make some really perfect cuts just by drawing a line on the wood, setting a guide rail down on the line, and clamping. Not very fast, but I did about 8 cuts tonight and all of them split my pencil mark the whole way. This wasn't plywood either, I ripped and crosscut pieces of 5"x2" maple and 2.5" square maple and was really happy to have nice shiny edges.

I can't speak to any of the techniques for relying on the MFT to do all this for you, but marking up the wood sure works!

I think the thing that made me so happy with my results tonight was my new metric Incra t-rule and and bend rule. Accuracy to 1/4mm is great! (of course, it is only 300mm so maybe not the best for large sheets of plywood)

 

[jo041326]

Hi John,
my observations are:

1. when you are sliding the front bracket for the guide rail, it's pushing the dust and chips inside the T-slot. Clean it with your vac or a brush
2. adjust the height of the rail to perfectly sit on your material (fore and aft). If the material is too narrow, use some scrap of the same thickness to support the rest of the guide rail.
3. don't push too much your material against the fence
4. clamp your workpiece
5. adjust green knobs on your TS to slide freely but without clearance
6. during cut gently press your saw table against the rail in the front left corner
7. check if your guide rail is not squeezed in place where it sits on the front bracket (if so, slightly slide the rail back or forth).
8. make a piece about 50x50cm which is deadly square and adjust the rail and fence before every commission
9. always check the squarness after sanding (I don't know why, but I have my rail always out of square after sanding even if everything is tightened)

Josef

 

[John Viola]

We are discussing some new ideas on making square cuts here.

Wow, how did I miss this discussion?  Thanks so much for pointing me in that direction.  I had some thoughts about that method but I really wanted to try and get the angle guide to work.  I'll geive it one more shot tonight, then if that doesn't do it, out come the dogs!

 

[Daviddubya]

One other tip - when adjusting the MFT guide rail for the thickness of the material, I adjust the rear bracket first.  If the material is narrow, place a piece of scrap near the front of the guide rail.  Loosen the front bracket clamp, push down on the guide rail, and pull the front bracket up into the slot as firmly as possible, then close the clamp on the front bracket.  This method minimizes play between the guide rail and the front bracket.

 

[Ned]

One other tip - when adjusting the MFT guide rail for the thickness of the material, I adjust the rear bracket first.  If the material is narrow, place a piece of scrap near the front of the guide rail.  Loosen the front bracket clamp, push down on the guide rail, and pull the front bracket up into the slot as firmly as possible, then close the clamp on the front bracket.  This method minimizes play between the guide rail and the front bracket.

I do this too, in exactly the same way.  So obvious now I forgot to bring it up.  Good thing David did.

 

[John Viola]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback.  AS I was struggling last night, I thought of doing what Graphex mentioned and just plop the rail on the panel.  But I wanted this to be a repeatable cut, so I kept up with the rail.

Now that I've seen Steve's new method, I'm excited by the possibilities.

 

[Steveo48]

I would suggest you KEEP the table saw and sled.  ;D

I don't own an MFT or any Festool accessories other than what you get when you purchase a power tool.  My expectations are for the money, it should work out of the box, OR you should have a good written set of instructions on how to set it up square.  Heck, we don't need any help cutting things out of square, do we! 

I hear it does make one heck of a good assembly table though.  After you get it level.

When I use my TS55 I measure, scribe and trust the guide rail.  That pair work as well together as advertised.  I cut a solid core door this week with an audience of maintenance men and they clucked over the finished cut edge like a bunch of fussy hens.  Rockler will probably make a couple of sales this week.

Steve
In Soggy Warren County, Ohio