Squaring up the MFT rig, and a good square

[sancho57]

hey wheres the love?

 

[peter halle]

As promised:



Peter

 

[GarryMartin]

Thanks Peter. Great video and very much the way I'm thinking, although I'm still unsure of the benefit of the angle unit and fence when you have dogs (obviously only if you're cutting 90/45 degree or some other combination of triangulation that allows you to use the holes and dogs) as they become somewhat redundant...

It looks like you've already done this judging by where the kerfs are in the table, but if you don't want to cut across the MFT holes, one thing always to hand is the fence, and it's pretty accurate. You can use the fence in between the dogs and the guide rail; that way your kerf won't be far off the factory default.

 

[peter halle]

Thanks Garry.  The one thing about using the fence is that mid job if you want to check you need to disassemble.  Prior to this I used a framing square as a spacer.  I ultimately opted for no spacer so that I wouldn't grab something uneven in thickness. 

Peter

 

[mouppe]

Good concise video, thanks Peter. I like the straightforward process and I think I will give it a try next time.

 

[Brian Livingstone]

Hi Peter,

I really enjoyed your video, it was very helpful.  I have to ask what you were drinking at the end.  It appeared to be green kool aid ?

Brian
Fall River, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

[Qwas]

Very well done video Peter, thanks. I also like that you showed how to check a square.  [thumbs up]

Like you, I test framing squares before buying. It only takes a few minutes to test all of them and it seems 1 out of 10 are actually square.

The only thing I would add is when you have everything nice and square, cut out your own square (or more) to use for squaring the table. It can be as thick as need and as long as need and should easily last 6 months to a year. Let it get beat up in the back of your truck instead of a good square. You can also make a large speed square in just a few minutes too. As long as we have these accurate tops, we might as well put them to use.

 

[peter halle]

Brian - Festool Nectar [poke].  Send me a PM with your mailing address and you'll get a surprise.

Steve - as I said that was just one of many pieces of knowledge I have picked up from Carroll Adams.  I was actually shocked to see that mine was that accurate.

Peter

 

[rrmccabe]

The only thing I would add is when you have everything nice and square, cut out your own square (or more) to use for squaring the table. It can be as thick as need and as long as need and should easily last 6 months to a year.

LOL, never really thought of that.  Great idea. I think I will make myself a Baltic birch square.

 

[dicktill]

Thanks Peter.

And the licence plate on your pickup truck is ...TOOL? Wonder what the first three letters are.  [tongue]

 

[sancho57]

Peter,

You and that Green Kool Aid..

to funny…..

Great video. Dont know if I would ever use your method. But It sure is nice to add something new to my "tool box"

 

[barnowl]

Great video Peter.  8)

The only thing I would add is when you have everything nice and square, cut out your own square (or more) to use for squaring the table. It can be as thick as need and as long as need and should easily last 6 months to a year.

LOL, never really thought of that.  Great idea. I think I will make myself a Baltic birch square.

Rich, when needing to glue up raised panels, each panel had 13 pieces, and I needed to find a way to make sure they glued up squarely.

So I did exactly that...made two squares out of Baltic birch, using a tongue and groove set to cut the connecting corner.

Strong and square...I faced the edges with shipping tape so that glue couldn't stick to them.

 

[RedDog]

Very helpful Video Peter. Thanks.

P.S. love the sly sense of humor and the drink at the end!