Updating an OF 900-E

[Timtool]

I purchased a used old Festo OF 900-E from 1997, i already have an OF1010 but wanted a second small router one for dedicated tasks like dovetailing.
And then these old Festo tools have a certain charm, so i just wanted to have one!

This one is in pretty good shape, only used by hobby users. Comes in a classic Festo systainer, no mention of Tanos as it didn't exist yet i suppose.
The systainer has turned yellow on the outside, not dramatically but i tried to clean it with no luck.
My goal is actually to upgrade this router for everyday use.

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First thing i did was take it apart entirely, the person i bought it from told me it had been revised entirely and gave me a bill mentioning they just replaced the rod that holds the spring. So no revision was done as the bottom bearing sounds like a rattle snake when you shake it!
Apart from that the interior looks like new, brushes are good and there is practically no dust inside.
Yesterday i ordered all the parts from ekat , gonna replace all the bearings but also all the dark plastic housing. It's not that expensive so what the heck.
I also ordered a plug it conversion kit, i am going to try to build the plug it into it. If not possible just add it to the cable outside the tool.

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Another thing i want to update is the systainer, this is my first classic systainer ever. But i had a spare T-loc 3 laying around for over a year unused.
Because it's a Festo and not Festool i cut away the "ol" on the systainer with my fein, then sanded it clean and made it porous again with some acetone and dabbing with a hard brush. the result is pretty ok if you don't look with a magnifying glass. Also painted the letters blue!
I ordered a blue latch as well.

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I also needed labels to identify the tool, so i remove the sticker from the classic systainer and scanned it. I cut out the info, pictures and even bar code in gimp and re arranged them Festool style on a blank label that i downloaded from the Festool website! I printed these out and glued them on the systainer with the contact glue i use to glue HPL edge banding.

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I trimmed the insert to make it fit in a T-loc and also trimmed the lid backing image using a T-loc backing image as template.
And also glued the foam block from the old systainer in place.

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Now i am waiting for the parts, and if they are all still available as this tool is 16 years old.
I will keep this updated as i get along!

 

[festooldude]

awesome dude,

u Rock!!

 

[NERemodeling]

Really cool project!  I like what you have done so far,  The systainers came out awesome.  I wonder why they used blue for the systainers but had the green on all the tool functioning pieces?      Can't wait to see it when it's all finished up

John

 

[Kev]

A loving effort so far - I hope you get the parts [wink]

 

[GPowers]

The systainer looks great, but it was a lot  of work.

 

[mouppe]

For the base, one idea is to drill and counterbore the holes on a new piece of phenolic, mount it to the base and use a flush-trim bit to make it the right size.

Good project!

 

[Timtool]

Thanks for the idea on the phenolic, but i don't have any!

While waiting for the parts i managed to fix a problem with the depth lock. Before dismantling it i noticed it didn't lock properly. With the knob tightened i could still push the top down. I searched the forum here and a fix was to lube the columns, but that made it worse in my case.
Then i noticed the thread on the knob was dirty and full of metal dust. I cleaned that and also the threaded hole and that fixed the problem. The dirt and metal shavings were preventing the rod to go deep enough.
But because of that i made a mistake by inserting the knob too far while the base plate tubes were not inserted in the upper base, because of this i bent the inner tube and could not insert the base tubes in it anymore!

This inner tube is compressed by the rod of the knob, this squeezes the tubes and locks the router height. This inner tube can rotate freely so i couldn't drill out the bend as it would turn with the drill.
So i inserted the knob to block this tube and then took a 12mm drill and drilled out the bent part (which was hardy noticable with the eye, but with such tight tolerances a .2 mm bend is enough to block the whole thing). And it works like a charm now, it locks like my new OF1010 you can easily tighten the knob and it it won't move, even with my whole body weight on it.

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So for those having problems with the router not staying locked, cleaning out the knob thread and hole is one of the possible fixes.

 

[ScotF]

What an awesome project!  Love this kind of thing.  It will be cool when you get it all finished.

Scot

 

[NERemodeling]

any updates?

 

[Timtool]

Still waiting for the parts, but good news is that everything is still available.
The only thing they couldn't get is the plug it conversion kit, doesn't exist anymore?

Instead i ordered a pigtail that i will try to incorporate in the OF900.

 

[NERemodeling]

Nice!!   Thanks for the update.  Looking forward to seeing it all finished up!

 

[Timtool]

I finished it months ago but never got around taking pics!

I replaced all the black plastic parts and added a plug-it conversion, next to replacing the bearings.
All i had to do was replace the cord with the plug it cord.
Initially i wanted to try and incorporate the plug it into the body but it would have been difficult, the rear of the handle is much thinner than that of the OF1010.

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It's really nice to have two smaller routers, this one is permanently set up with a quarter round trim bit. it's the bit i use most often. This leaves my OF1010 available for all other tasks without losing the setting on the 900.

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[Sparktrician]

Very nice job!!!  There's something really special about the smaller Festool routers. 

 

[NERemodeling]

very cool, turned out great!!  thanks for sharing

John