Can't afford a Festool saw? (could be a jig)

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Me neither

Well, I got to thinking :-k Festool saw and guide is probably more-or-less essential for a pro woodworker who cuts lost of sheet material, but what about someone like me who rarely cuts sheets AND can't spend £400+ on a saw + guide that will only be used every 3 or 4 months?

Inspired buy Aragron's photo of Festool cuts in another thread, https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4538&start=15 I thought a zero clearance mod was in order :wink:

The saw - B&Q performance power pro circa £50
The blade - Trend 40 teeth - £15 from local shop
Chopping board £2
Guide - el cheapo axminster aluminium

I cut up what was left of a polythene chopping board I used on the finger joint jig a while back. Backsaw was used and worked great
I routed the edges to form a rebate on the router table and then pared to fit the saw base using a small chisel and the backsaw again

TOP

Insert_top2.jpg



BOTTOM
(needed a few bits cutting out to clear casting on saw body)
insert_bottom.jpg


With some holes drilled in and tapped 4mm and then screwed into the base we have:

Base_tilted.jpg


underneath.jpg


Here are two test cuts in 3/4" ply - ZERO breakout (Jorden can confirm this :wink: )

cut1.jpg



Tools used were as follows (could use the chisel inplace of shoulder plane quite easily):

All_tools.jpg


Needless to say, I am chuffed to bits and it only took a little over an hour :lol:

Before anyone points it out, I cannot remember using a circular saw at anything other than 90 degrees in the past 20 odd years. If I do need to cut with the blade at an angle, then I will simply unscrew the insert and remove it first
 
Well done!!
Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

Going to market that unit? :wink:
 
A very cunning ploy, Tony, good work 8)

p.s. Why the photo of your local tool shop at
the end of the thread? [-X

TX
 
Hi Tony

That is brilliant, well done.

I must say that I was wondering how long it would take you to come up with a jig as competition to the Festool. :roll: :wink:

Cheers
Neil
 
Splendid work Tony!!!
And maximum gloatage-well done that Man! :lol:
Cheers
Philly :D
(My work here is done :whistle: )
 
A good one Tony
I take it you have no major problems with the saw itself?
 
Hehe!
Excellent. Very good mod Tony - you're a genius at these things.
So obvious, so simple... =D> \:D/
 
Tony,
That is terrific - well done.

A question- at what stage did you cut the slot for the saw blade? On my table saw, I raise the spinning blade into an uncut piece of wood to form the zero clearance slot but not being familiar with your saw, I can't figure out if this method was possible. Assuming it was not - how did you assure parallelism between a pre-cut slot and the blade?
 
Thanks guys

TX

The 'toolshop' shot was included to show that I didn't use many tools and it is easy for anyone to make with basic handtools should they wish

Philly

I can't hope to compete with the gloat meister :da

Chris

I fitted the finished guide to the base plate in the position shown in the third picture and then ran the saw and slowly move the baseplate down into position (it pivots at the front), thus cutting the slot exactly to size.
Saw was clamped upside down in a vice at the time :wink:
 
Nice one, Tony \:D/

Next you'll have to make a better guide rail, and it MUST include the rubber strip along the edge so your guide rail edge corresponds to your cutting line - positioning the guide is SO much faster & more accurate with this, and it is excellent for work-holding too. Also a couple more strips set underneath the guide rail so that there is no chance of it slipping sideways would be an excellent idea.

Looking forward to seeing it after the weekend :p :lol:

Cheers,
Neil
 
Tony, outstanding. =D> Oh and the insert's not bad either... <boom, boom> :wink: It does make me chuckle every time you use hand tools in order to make power tool jigs. Somehow ironic. :lol:

Cheers, Alf
 
Ingenious, Tony.

it MUST include the rubber strip along the edge so your guide rail edge

You can buy the festool ones as spares, both the rubber edge strip and the grippy ones. I think I saw them on Healys Tools' Ebay store.
 
Neil":1glbk4f2 said:
Nice one, Tony \:D/

Next you'll have to make a better guide rail, and it MUST include the rubber strip along the edge so your guide rail edge corresponds to your cutting line - positioning the guide is SO much faster & more accurate with this, and it is excellent for work-holding too. Also a couple more strips set underneath the guide rail so that there is no chance of it slipping sideways would be an excellent idea.

Looking forward to seeing it after the weekend :p :lol:

Cheers,
Neil

No need mate, I have two 35mm blocks of wood (edge of base to blade) that I space between the line and guide to clamp in position and then remove the blocks :wink: Works for me :lol:


Alf, I am getting worried. 80-90% of my woodwork now uses handtools in preference to power. Helllppppppppppp...........
 
Where's the post I made earlier? Have I been moderated? If so, I'm extremely upset that the moderator who did so hasn't had the decency to send me a private message advising me of this.

Gill
 
Hi John

I hope you don't mind me saying that I'm not going to repeat it; I wouldn't want to do anything to cause unnecessary antagonism. Nevertheless, I thought it was quite a gentle post which applauded Tony's jig and commented that for a hobbyist it offered much more value for money than a regular Festool setup.

By the way, the mods have been in touch with me privately about this matter so it will probably be resolved off-forum. Quite rightly so.

Gill
 
I'm surprised by that Gill... sounds like a post we could all have read?
But hey, the "Way of the Mod" is far over my head :D
 
All I said was that I liked Tony's jig and thought it represented very good value for money for hobbyists who can't justify the expense of a commercial Festool setup.

Can we put the mystery of the missing post to bed now, please? Most of us seem to be agreed that it's just one of those things that sometimes happen and which can't always be explained. It's nice to know that I hadn't upset anyone, though (this time... :twisted: :D ).

Gill
 
All the mods have pleaded not guilty as charged! I'll blame it on a software glitch/bug #-o

Sorry that you had to re-write it Gill, but we didn't want Tony to miss out on any comments.

Hey Tony, how come you can afford a snazzy souped-up Audi and not a festool? Where are your priorities? [-X

Adam :D :lol:
 
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