TS55 Garage

[moofie]

I took a hard look at that bridge the last couple of days.  Not a good idea for the MFT.  Festool got it right to begin with.  And I think this garage idea is just icing on the cake. 

[/quote]

I'm curious, what makes you say that?  Seems like a pretty simple parallelogram linkage to me.  Seems like the only concern might be that the Festool guide rail isn't as rigid as the EZ rail.  Was there something else that causes you concern?

The hinge arrangement of the MFT3 is my only gripe with the Festool system.  Seems like I only just get my guide rail dialed in with minimal preload on the tooth on the front end, and I have to take it all apart to make a long cut.  The alignment issues would still be an issue with a parallelogram hinge, but at least it'd be easier to adjust for stock thickness.

Yeah, I should buy another guide rail.  I should also have a wheelbarrow full of cash delivered to my house.  : )

 

[tbellemare]

I don't see any issue with the Festool MFT's and alignment.

First of all, people are making it too hard and introducing too many error prone elements. There are all sorts of efforts to align or square MFT components using extraneous gear, like REALLY expensive third party squares.

All one needs to do to square an MFT/3 is turn the fence parallel to the guide rail, wherever one desires whatever guide rail one desires. Loosen the adjustment screws on the angle unit and make the fence and guide rail parallel. Tighten the adjustment screws on the angle unit and Voila! You are done.

As long as you set the stops in the profile t-tracks to return to the same position and don't set the angle unit in a dirty v-groove, you are Golden.

Tom

 

[Corwin]

I'm curious, what makes you say that?  Seems like a pretty simple parallelogram linkage to me.  Seems like the only concern might be that the Festool guide rail isn't as rigid as the EZ rail.  Was there something else that causes you concern?

The hinge arrangement of the MFT3 is my only gripe with the Festool system.  Seems like I only just get my guide rail dialed in with minimal preload on the tooth on the front end, and I have to take it all apart to make a long cut.  The alignment issues would still be an issue with a parallelogram hinge, but at least it'd be easier to adjust for stock thickness.

Yeah, I should buy another guide rail.  I should also have a wheelbarrow full of cash delivered to my house.  : )

I see Tom had responded while I was typing this, and his points are spot on if you have the newer MFT/3.  If you are like me, and have the older MFTs, then the following that I was about to post remains relevant:

I agree with your conclusion, in that the Festool Guide Rail is probably not rigid enough for those EZ brackets, and that even if they were, it wouldn't help with your alignment concerns if you remove the Guide Rail from the brackets when needed for longer cuts.  I also agree that you would be best off with the purchase of an additional Guide Rail.  So, until you can afford another Rail, why not simply leave the hinged bracket installed on your rail when you need to take it off the MFT.  Yeah, it may be a little awkward with the bracket hanging off the end, but it should be doable -- you do need some overhang at the end of your cut, so the bracket could be left on without eating up precious rail length.  I leave the hinged bracket installed on my Guide Rail when I need to remove the Rail from my MFT.  To make that process a little easier, I have swapped my Stops to the other side of the brackets so that I have less distance to slide the combination down the profile.  The Stops will work equally as well on the right side as they do on the left, so there is no issue with swapping the location of your Stops.  Try this, and maybe you will find that it resolves your issues with the hinged bracket.

 

[tbellemare]

Good point, Corwin - the older MFT's require a different approach. There are distinct advantages to the MFT/3...

You can easily square it without any extraneous tools, just put the guide rail wherever you want it, set the t-track stops, and use the angle unit as your friend. Once squared, you can break it down and reassemble it knowing it is still square wherever you choose to put the angle unit/fence assembly as long as it is on the same profile.

Of course, you can break down the older tables and reassemble them knowing they are square also. It just takes a different process to square them.

Tom

 

[Rick Christopherson]

I'm curious, what makes you say that?  Seems like a pretty simple parallelogram linkage to me.  Seems like the only concern might be that the Festool guide rail isn't as rigid as the EZ rail.  Was there something else that causes you concern?

The concern is that the longer the linkage of a parallelogram pivot, the farther the lateral deflection will be for a pivot pin. This was the same concern I raised with the DeWalt track saw that got DeWalt so fired up that they called a woodworking magazine (that I used to work for) and tried to get me fired.

A very, very tiny tolerance at a pivot point will translate into a very significant lateral deflection at the end of the link-arm. Because this linkage controls the position of the guide rail, this deflection will have an impact on the squareness of the cut.

 

[Corwin]

Good point, Corwin - the older MFT's require a different approach. There are distinct advantages to the MFT/3...

You can easily square it without any extraneous tools, just put the guide rail wherever you want it, set the t-track stops, and use the angle unit as your friend. Once squared, you can break it down and reassemble it knowing it is still square wherever you choose to put the angle unit/fence assembly as long as it is on the same profile.

Of course, you can break down the older tables and reassemble them knowing they are square also. It just takes a different process to square them.

Tom

Uhm, not exactly.  The concern Moofie brought up is a valid one for the older tables, as if you remove your Guide Rail from the hinged bracket, you will need to square the Rail again after you reinstall it onto your bracket.  That's why I suggested leaving the bracket installed as I do, so that it will remain square when reinstalled against the Stops.  Also, any time you want to place it at another position (other than where you have set your Stops) along the profile, it will need to be re-squared.

 

[tbellemare]

I agree completely. All of those caveats are true with the MFT/3 as well.

When I said "break it down" I didn't mean that you can take the guide rail off its mount. As well, with the MFT/3, if you move the guide rail mounts from the beginning stops, you have to square the table again.

Tom

 

[vulcan]

hi all,
I made my own version, and I did a video aver what you think, (traductor google).
Garage TS55

 

[peter halle]

That is cool!

 

[nickao]

That vid made me dizzy. Nice concept and implementation, but the vid does not work for me.

 

[Sparktrician]

Really clever!!!  The music was nice, too.  Turning me on my nose to see part of it didn't work too well, though. 

[smile]

 

[Kevin D.]

Anyone done this for a TS75?

 

[vulcan]

thans every body  ;D sorry about the video so moved will try to improve it. [crying]

 

[GPowers]

simple and effective.

 

[bermuda]

Great refinement Vulcan,  the dock idea is great, being lazy has gotten some creative
thinking going.  The saw dock and RonWen's domino domiplate are worthwhile ideas
and appreciated by me.  Thanks

 

[Wood_Junkie]

Nice vulcan,  very minimalist and effective.  I especially like that it is so low-profile.

Any chance you could post just a few photos?  The video is informative, but hard to see your details, which clearly were well thought out.

 

[PeterK]

I really like the minimalist approach that vulcan did. Thank you all for these ideas. Really got me thinking about doing something similar soon.
Vulcan - it is the quality of the ideas that matter, not the quality of the video!

 

[vulcan]

Wood_Junkie has the photos I put in a few days, thank you all for your compliments, I thought that this contribution would go unnoticed in the forum, what you need here for a friend.

                          Antonio (Google translator machine translation).

 

[sgryd]

Stumbled upon this old post. A really great idea! I went straight out to the shop to make my own TS55-garage.
Thanks.
//Michael