Do I have the wrong Festool part or something wrong?

[Mike Holbrook]

I just set up the angle fence for my Festool 1080 table and I can not seem to get the fence rail clamp (suppose to clamp the rear end of the fence in place) to lock the fence down. The ridge that looks like it should register in the slot in the fence does not quite reach the slot after tightening the knob. The picture of the part in the manual and the pictures I have seen on the internet look different than mine.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/BoCRon/Design/EPSN1067.jpg

[Rob Blaustein]

I just set up the angle fence for my Festool 1080 table and I can not seem to get the fence rail clamp (suppose to clamp the rear end of the fence in place) to lock the fence down. The ridge that looks like it should register in the slot in the fence does not quite reach the slot after tightening the knob. The picture of the part in the manual and the pictures I have seen on the internet look different than mine.

Mike,
Not sure I fully understand, but I will say that when I first tried to use the clamp I was confused with how it works. Maybe you know this already, but you have to keep the clamp very loose on the MFT, then engage it into the fence, and only then can you tighten it down. I actually think this design is not optimal because if you have squared your fence and lock it down, and want to slide the fence rail you have to loosen the clamp, slide the fence, and then resquare the fence again and tighten the clamp. Hope this helps.
Rob

[Dave Falkenstein]

Mike - That photo looks like the correct part. The black plastic flange slides into the fence slot and the metal piece at the bottom slides into the table side rail slot. When tight, the black plastic flange contacts the bottom of the fence slot. In practice, I never use the fence to cut angles, but simply as a right angle fence. I have added a piece of 1/2" MDF at the end of the fence to give support to cutoff material beyond the end of the fence. The saw blade cuts into the MDF at the end of a cross-cut.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks for the input Rob and Dave.

I have played with my clamp for quite a while. I even had the wife, who tells me she is the smartest person in the world, to mess with it. The protrusion, on the black top portion of the clamp, is fitting inside the slot in the side of the fence. It looks like the ridge on that protrusion should engage the bottom of the slot and prevent the fence from moving. However, the ridge is not quite making it down far enough to grab the bottom lip in the slot. Even when tightened down the clamp only prevents the fence from moving any futher in its direction, the fence can still move away from the clamp. Is that how it is suppose to work?

I am trying to lock the guide on the fence and pull it slightly toward the outside of the table to get the fence square, but since the guide is not engaging in the slot in the fence it want pull the fence towards itself. I can put the clamp on the other side of the fence and it will engage the groove in the top of the fence and hold it perfectly still, but then the guide is on the wrong side of the fence. I can also leave the gide on the "correct" side of the fence and just raise it all the way up and set it on the top of the fence, but the clamp is not in any slot and it looks like it is designed to make contact in one of those slots.

Is there a small ridge on the protrusion on the black top element of the clamp you guys have? Does that little ridge engage in a slot in the fence and keep it from moving in either direction? In the only close up pictures we found of the clamp on the net the bottom piece of the clamp, the aluminum block, is something different with what looks like a washer between the two.

[Dan Clark]

I just use a 12" Swanson Speed Square with a guide rail installed on my MFT. Just press the lipped edge against the long side of the board, square the other side against the guide rail, and cut. It's very fast and very accurate.

In the last few months, I haven't needed too many mitered cuts. When I do, I just use my miter saw.

Dan.

[Steven J Corpstein]

Mike,
That looks quite different from mine. I have a flat oval shaped piece in place of the one that appears to be silver in your photo.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I printed your photo and compared it to my fence clamp. They are not exactly the same. The center piece on mine is black plastic and is shaped a bit different. Yours could be a newer one, since mine is about 2 years old.

Here's how I square the fence. Set the fence where you want it on the rear table rail and install the fence clamp on the side rail of the table, but leave the clamp loose. Tighten the two bolts on the angle unit, which secures the fence in one direction. Square the fence to the tool rail, and tighten the fence clamp.

The lip on the top black piece of the fence clamp engages the top of the fence slot, not the bottom, and locks on the corner of the fence slot. The clamp is installed on the rear of the fence in the side table rail.

Did this help???

[Mike Holbrook]

My picture is a little fuzzy, but if you look close, I think you can see a slight ridge on the bottom of the protrusion (black plastic top piece of clamp). I think that protrusion is suppose to go into the edge of the angle unit fence (that is the smaller side with a slot in it).

If I am understanding you Dave, you are saying that the black, top piece of your clamp is moving up to the top of the slot and engaging the lip or corner of the slot. The same piece on my clamp moves in the opposite direction, down towards the bottom of the slot. If you look again at the picture you will see a small ridge on the top rear of the aluminum part of my clamp (bottom piece). That aluminum ridge forces the protrusion on the black top piece to go down not up. You may see that the black top piece is leaning away from that aluminum ridge in the picture. It does the same thing except more when you tighten it.

Apparently other peoples clamps engage in the slot in the small edge of their angle fence. I do not think my part can engage in the slot the way it is.

[Dave Falkenstein]

Mike - Apparently I was not clear in my description. The top black plastic piece on the fence clamp moves down when the clamp knob is tightened. The black plastic top is slid into the slot on the back of the fence. The "slight ridge on the bottom of the protrusion" hooks on the top edge of the slot in the fence and clamps the fence at that spot. The bottom of the "ridge" does not touch the bottom of the slot in the fence. The clamp prevents the fence from moving parallel to the side rail and the bolts on the angle unit prevent the fence from moving parallel to the back rail. I hope that helps.


My picture is a little fuzzy, but if you look close, I think you can see a slight ridge on the bottom of the protrusion (black plastic top piece of clamp). I think that protrusion is suppose to go into the edge of the angle unit fence (that is the smaller side with a slot in it).

If I am understanding you Dave, you are saying that the black, top piece of your clamp is moving up to the top of the slot and engaging the lip or corner of the slot. The same piece on my clamp moves in the opposite direction, down towards the bottom of the slot. If you look again at the picture you will see a small ridge on the top rear of the aluminum part of my clamp (bottom piece). That aluminum ridge forces the protrusion on the black top piece to go down not up. You may see that the black top piece is leaning away from that aluminum ridge in the picture. It does the same thing except more when you tighten it.

Apparently other peoples clamps engage in the slot in the small edge of their angle fence. I do not think my part can engage in the slot the way it is.

[Neil Clemmons]

Mike

That stop is for the LA-650 fence. The 1080 is similar but has a different base. I have both of them, and just checked. You can call Festool and I'm sure they'll exchange it.

Neil

[Mike Holbrook]

Thats it!
Thanks Neil!

I have no idea where the clamp for the angle fence might be, but since I just had the table in the garage sawing plastic tiles for the garage floor it may have gotten shoved in a box with all the wifes stuff that had to find a temporary home during the project. I have not actually tried to use either fence before today as the garage tile cutting project did not require a fence.

Please forgive the ramblings of a Festool newbie, but with your help the puzzle is solved. It never even occured to me that the LA-650 fence might have such a dievice.

[nic obie]

Just saying :D

on the FT suff.........