EFSTS part 10 of ???

[Paul B. Cresti]

Hello all. It has been a while since my last installment for European Format Sliding Table Saws (EFSTS) been real busy here and plus I took a little vacation ;). Some of you that have followed my past posts hopefully remember some of what I have already talked about....for all the new members or the ones that just plain forgot :eek: just check the archives or my posts for the lasy 9 installments. Well here it goes....pull up a chair, grab your coffee enjoy......

This use for my EFSTS I kind of stumbled upon by sheer dumb luck and maybe just a bit of head scratching (now i know where all my hair went to). I needed to cut some very odd angles on some stock and each cut was at no particular angle. I was fitting some pieces in a very special piece I was making and each part was marked as I was holding it in place. Now at this point I sold my Festool saw because I just did not use it due to the fact that I have been avoiding field installations like the plague plus after all I do have a slider...right? Well one of the best features of a guided saw system is the ability to cut right to a line at any crazy angle you can come up with.

Soooo here I am trying to figure out how to quickly cut these odd one off angles without doing any measurement at all. Then all of a sudden...whamo...it hit me like a brick wall. I said to myself, "self there has got to be a way to do this with this slider of mine, hey maybe if I can figure out how to mark where my cut line is". This is what I came up with

In the first picture you will see (for demonstration purposes of course) the lowly culprit with a pencil mark across it at no particular angle.

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In the next three pictures you will see my bright idea of using a scrap piece of none other than Luan. I clamp it to my slider via the back (closest to me clamp) but let it hang over the slider in the path of the blade. You will notice in the close up picture the black plastic piece on the end of the crosscut fence...this is a sacrificial zero clearance end piece, it is exactly where the blade cuts.

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The end result you will see in this picture is what happens after I slide the Luan past the blade. I now know exactly where the blade will cut. This is my edge guide!

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continued in next post......

[Paul B. Cresti]

Now that I know where the cut line is I simple take my marked stock, flip it over and place the cut line on this reference cut edge. I place it against the crosscut fence and clamp it in place for safety.

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I now begin the slide into the blade. Do you notice were my hand is? and where the blade is? The blade is completely cover by the overhead guard which not only provides DC but is clear so I can see the cut.

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So here is the finished cut....what angle is it? I have not a freakin clue :D

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So there you have another installment complete. Oh and Jim remember that email I sent you about not needing you Festool saw anymore? Well do not tell Bob I told you so but this is why ;)

[Dennis Peacock]

Hello Paul. Good to see you again. Thanks for an excellent write up. Looks pretty slick!!! :cool: :D

[Jim Becker]

Interestingly enough, the very first "project" that I was playing on Sunday was creating a small sled to do exactly the same thing. It's primary purpose intended to be for tapering table legs, but as you illustrate, you can do this for any angle on any shaped workpiece. Knowing where the cut line is...is the key.

For folks using N American style saws, you can accomplish this in a similar fashion using a sled that "rides the rails". The clamping is a little more complicated however, as you don't have the native adaptation of the cam-clamp that the sliders come with as standard.

The one bottom line thing about this that you should notice is that your hands are not anywhere near the blade when the cut is being effected. That's good!

[Mark Singer]

Paul....nice vacation! Where did you go?:rolleyes:

[Jeff Wright]

Paul, have you done any more design work on your jig to rip narrower hardwoods? I read your previous posts on your original jig and am interested in making one for my MM 410 Elite.

[Paul B. Cresti]

Paul....nice vacation! Where did you go?:rolleyes:

Lets see I visited you while visiting my sister-in-law.....I got a new job.....I did some new jobs....

[Paul B. Cresti]

Paul, have you done any more design work on your jig to rip narrower hardwoods? I read your previous posts on your original jig and am interested in making one for my MM 410 Elite.

No nothing new yet but...I was thinking about possible adding a hollow aluminum tube to the edge and possible drilling holes in it and then running a vacum pump through it...kind of like a CNC machine holds done sheetgoods. This way you could hold anything at all....but there are many things to work out logisticly...