Thread: guide rails and thin cuts?

Spacefly,
it sounds like a job for a sawbench to me. Or at a pinch use a circular saw with a guide. If you are insistent on using your guiderail, may I suggest you mark out all your cuts at once in pencil, allowing extra for the sawblade kerf of course. You could then cut them all individually (the long way) or in sections (the easy way). By this I mean start at one end and start all cuts by moving the guide rail across the sheet. When completed, move the rail and saw along the board to the end of cut 1 and repeat until all strips are ripped. That way, you can use the saw's plunge cut facility to restart each cut, and you can easily and safely support all partially ripped strips with a sawhorse or similar.

Thanks Ratbag,

Actually I made my MFT3 a saw bench. I fliped my TS75 and screwed it to the mdf and then I cut through it. I drilled an on/off switch on the side of the MFT3 and then we made a lot of dust, cutting those boards, so much for the CT22 and boom arm, LOL.
Do you know if there is a way to take the safety lock off the TS75? So it be easier to become a bench saw, for the moment until I get a real one.
Peace.

Welcome Spacefly

how thick is the MDF?
how long is your guide rail 140 cm or 280 cm?

you should be able to arrange the tables so that the 8ft length of the MDF spans across both tables with not too much sag between the tables or on the overhang both ends
if the sag is too great, use a much thicker sheet of MDF as a false table

if you don't have a 280 cm guide rail, you can join two 140 cm rails together — there's a special joining bar

take the time to set up a trial cut the width you want, cut in an inch or so to check.
then make up two L-shaped spacer blocks that fit over the edge of the MDF sheet where the L is the right length for the 1" cut-off plus the saw kerf. This will alllow you to set both ends of the guide rail without measuring

when the sheet of MDF gets to narrow, place one of the off-cuts under the part of the guide rail taht is overhanging the last of the MDF sheet to keep the guide rail level.



hope this helps

ian

Have you considered fitting the TS 75 to a CMS?

Ian,

The MDF is .015 thick. and I had to cut 6 strips that where .025 wide and 1.700 long.

Now what I should of done first is as you well say and stand absolutely correct is cut the block measuring the .025, a "story stick", then all of my set ups would be faster. But in a way this is a bit of a contradiction with all the high tech carpentry of the future festool offers.

I think they should develop a parallel fence to the guide that can extend your guide outward to the width you want, like the one Incra has for their table saws, http://www.incra.com/product_tsf_lsts.htm
This way you wouldn't spend time on trying to make a straight cut (I also bought the angle unit item#491588, but then again you have to square the angel unit to the guide rail) and more time on making story sticks, or measuring every cut.

I have three 1080, and one 1900 guide rails with connectors, but the splinter guard wears off different on each cut so you could end up with variations.

So I'll probably end up buying a 2800.

But the guide rail system helps when I can't lift the MDF sheet, a .030 or .050 or MDF sandwich, and I cut it on the floor.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by spacefly

Thanks Ratbag,

Actually I made my MFT3 a saw bench. I fliped my TS75 and screwed it to the mdf and then I cut through it. I drilled an on/off switch on the side of the MFT3 and then we made a lot of dust, cutting those boards, so much for the CT22 and boom arm, LOL.
Do you know if there is a way to take the safety lock off the TS75? So it be easier to become a bench saw, for the moment until I get a real one.
Peace.

Sounds like you've got the job in hand then. In regard to your question re. "hardwiring" the switch: be careful! Circumventing any safety apparatus has attendant risks. In the light of these litigious times, I couldn't possibly recommend any such procedures, so the following is hypothetical only and in no way to be construed as a recommendation, instruction or suggestion! However, this is what I and many others have done: use a cable tie/ziplock strap or whatever they're called in North America. I'd do it up tight enough to keep the switch depressed, but able to slide off the trigger and along the handle out of the way for other manual cuts. To start, I'd still need to press the safety lockout, and then slide the cable tie over the trigger to keep it running. If I was really smart, I'd plug a no-volt release switch into the circuit, and plug the supply into that to provide independent and easily accessible switching.

Ratbag,

Yep, I used a plastic tie/zip lock thing to hold down and press the ignition trigger, and that's how I got the saw going and turning it off with a light switch drilled to one of the sides.

But I can't start to imagine how does the CMS station work or for that matter how does it make the TS75 function?

Maybe MR. Hoppoz knows something about it.

But what I appreciated in a catalog was that the CMS table would not suffice to work with whole MDF sheets. That's why I'm using the new MFT3 convert it your self 2008 saw table. Since I got two miter gauges, I used both on one aluminum extrusion to make a more steady fence.

But I did one guide rail cut today. Took me forever to set up the guides perfectly straight but at the end I used this ruler http://www.incra.com/product_bendrules.htm and it helped me out setting up the guide rails.

I guess I just need more practice.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by spacefly

Hi,

I'm trying to find out how to make straight cuts on a 4 by 8 MDF board with a TS75 saw and a guide rail. The piece I want must measure 1 inch times 8 foot.

And I need 10. How can I make this as simple and accurate as possible?

First problem I've got is that any piece that is half or less of the width of the guide rail gets pretty complicated. Second the set up takes forever, I am not sure how I can make a stop with that measure.

I own 2 MFT3 tables and 4 clamps.

I hope someone can help me out.

Thanks.

Hi,

This accessory for your 75 is supposed to be pretty good for doing what you describe.

http://www.idealtools.com.au/prod3925.htm

Rob.

Couple of things. First of all, your offcuts can go right back under the rail for support. You can cut thin strips all day long. I use two cheap combination squares to set the guide rail for repetitive ripping.

On the subject of the table mounted TS75, I'll fill you in on what no dealer would want to tell you, for the aforementioned legal reasons.

There are a few 'replacement parts' you could order to make it work a bit better. For mounting in the CMS, there is a quadrant with locking knob that attaches to the saw to control depth. Set the depth to deepest setting, attach that add'l depth stop before mounting under the table.

There is also a clip that holds the trigger down. A squared "C" profile. There's some other stuff, but that's basically what makes the TS75 table mounted. These parts are available but not identical to the TS55 ones, so make sure you get the right ones if you're going for that.

As mentioned above, use care. Using the saw in a way not intended like this definitely voids your warranty, not to mention the potential for danger (I haven't seen your setup, so I won't comment on how safe I think it is).


PS- they do make a parallel rip fence for the TS75.