[LittleBlackDuck]

Shelf pin holes for track routers - Festool LR32 alternative.

Shelf pin holes for track routers
Festool LR32 alternative.

I am planning to make a bookcase wall for my allotment house and would like moveable shelf's, so it was time to take up an old project idea:
Making a jig that can be used with my Festool tracks and router, to make repetitive shelf pin holes for cabinets.
Yes Festool makes one, but you have to buy the jig, a special track and so the price is close to madness, unless you make cabinets for a living.
Here a video in French with the LR32 system in use:

So let's make one!

The router has a base (the black part) that runs on the tracks, I will make an attachment for it, that can reach the T-track part of the saw track.
Then put a hard wood strip in the T-track, with holes that are spaced out, with the type I want, it can be Ikea standard or what ever, here I use some standard aluminium bookcase Shelving Strip that I was lucky to get, years back in Paris of all places, it fitted right into the T-track and had a good spacing for book shelf's.
You will understand all this later. ;-)

A piece of plexiglass cut to size are marked up, so it will fit over the T-track router attachment.

Removing the marked up part.

Now you can see it fits.
Also I cut a strip of plexiglass and put under, on top of the T-track part, this will be glued on, with CA glue.
Finally the two pieces of aluminium are the start of a locking mechanism.
(More about this later).

Btw - you can cut aluminium on your standard table saw, I do that a lot.

Ok removed the plastic and a knob on the jig, so you can get a better view.

Found a good spot in the Festool router attachment, to drill holes for the new part and then it was just to go for my drill press (did I tell you guys I got a new old drill press and love it).

Drilling.

Bolts.

Washers and wing nuts.

We are connected!

So fare so good. ;-)

Out of focus…
Working on the lever arm, making it from a square aluminium bar.

Trying out different ideas, no plan really, just knowing I need an arm, a spring, something to hold it in place.

The lever arm is a good place to start, making an arm that can click into the spacer slot, a hole for attachment, a cut out for the rocking and I put a rubber thing on for a soft finger spot - and because it looks sexy - and I had a bunch of them in a drawer… Laughs.

The pin that goes into the track are shaped and cut to length.

Like this.
(Yes I have now attached the mechanism and was so much into it, that I forgot to take pictures, but you will understand).

Here from the back a counter sink hole for holding the mechanism and one for the pin to go through.

From the side:
1. rubber thingy for soft finger touch and sexy effect.
2. Spring under the lever, that makes it pop back down.
3. Round furniture bolt with threaded hole in it, that locks down the hold for the lever.
4. Lever arm, the centre hole, needs to be made wider, so the arm can move freely, just rock the arm in the drill press.
5. Rubber washer so it can move, then normal washer and nut with locking (blue inside).
6. Pin is made of bolt with nut.

Here riding on the track with the spacer put in the track.
You can easily make these your self, just make a hard wood strip that fits the track and drill holes in the desired spacing.

Other side.

Lever arm clicked into a hole.

When pushed down it pops up and you can move the router.

That's it we got a shelf pin jig!
Happy monkey I am.
As long as the pin is riding on the spacer insert, it's up and will then click down into the next hole.

Video will come here, but at the moment LJ, will not work when I post videos…
Link:

Hope it can be to some inspiration, it takes a little twisting, but it can be done.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

I probably would not have the use for such application, however, I do love your indexer design… top of my plagiarism list!

 

[LittleBlackDuck]

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes - reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes
reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

I bought some new dogs for my worktable a few weeks back, some 3D printed plastic and some in precision made aluminium and wanted to make a short review and share some thoughts on this.
Nope it was not Chihuahua…
Wrrooouuuffff!
The plastic version was mainly bought to use for fixture of jigs and other stuff to the table and because I was curious to see them. ;-)

Here they are.
Green 3D printed plastic dogs, from a seller called Yumiland on E-bay UK, price 20GBP for all of them, including the low spacers.
Aluminium dogs and extenders, from the Danish tool company https://www.dorchdanola.dk , 44GBP for 4 low dogs, two extenders and two FS track washers that converts the extenders into guide rail dogs.
All dogs are threaded with M8.

Just a closer look, to see the quality.
I screwed the extenders on top of the aluminium dogs here, they can be screwed under also or you can put the nuts you see in the plastic bag and use them to lock a FS track saw track or a Festool fence to the table, for fast and easy removal.
The black dog on the left is one from a workmate type table and the one on right Festools original dogs.

Close-up of a 3D printed dog, quite amazing what can be made today on a printer!

Here some of my early home made fixtures.
20mm aluminium rod with a rubber top.
Jig holder, with plasterboard fixture that goes through the holes.
The most simple one, bolt, washer and wing nut.
The problem with the holds, was they were not centred up with the holes, when I needed that, otherwise they are more than enough.

I'm impressed that you can 3D print this stuff, but not impressed that there were an edge on the top, this made the things you put up against it off centre… Grrrrr, why did they not just do like on the bottom made a little rounding, so the edge would not be a problem…

Ok, it can be fixed easy, just a short piece of 8M rod in the drill press.

A washer and the dog.
Spin it and with sandpaper or a file remove the edge and round it a little.

Like this.

Now we only have the small lines on the sides that stick out a wee, these also have to be filed off, to make sure the dog are flat to the work piece.
Also the part that goes into the bench, otherwise you risk making damage to the holes in the MDF when pulling them out.
So yes a wonderful value for money, but not ready out of the box - I still think the price are so fair, that spending 20 minutes fixing them are well worth it, so I can recommend these.

Here the aluminium dogs, I'm pleased with the quality.
The flat side on the dogs will help you not make marks in the things you put against them, but they can also be the opper side if you bang into the sharp corner… so a matter of taste - with this type you need to make sure they are flat against the workpiece, when using flat side.
The extender can be used in many ways.
(I have a feeling the dogs are a tiny bit too small since they moves almost too easy in the holes… but it's so little that it's almost nothing).

I found a big washer and a M8 finger bolt to match, so I could tighten them down.

This can also be used on the plastic dogs.

Sawing with dogs.
Put the wood on the table against the dogs - a dog with extender on top and one further up the table.

Now the track can be put against the extenders.

Now you will have a perfect 90° cut.
This is fast and functional if you don't have the track mounted on the table or 45° cuts where you position the back extender in the 45° line of the holes.

I quickly found some bigger finger screws, the small were a pain in the some where dark.

That's it, no more ramblings about dogs, big smile.

Hope it can be to some inspiration, wrrrouuuffff.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

---------------

bench dogs, festool bench dogs, rail dogs, mft3 dogs, festool dogs, festool, mft3

Love the whole Fe$tool MFT concept with dogs. Love that fact that you are prepared to track saw across your tabletop.
NO idea how you made it but by the look of it, it may need a new transplant. I made my first one with a ruler, tape measure, a set square, hole punch, 20mm TCT forstner bit, drill press and free hand drilling for out of drill press reach holes. With that method, there would be no way I'd have faith in an accurate 90° using dogs only.

I used the Parf Guide Sytem (that has now been improved by the new Parf Mk II Guide System),

to build a MFT clone(s) for myself and friends… I have made over 1/2 doz. of them and from table recipients, I have recovered cost from generous friendly donations. Helluva more reliable than my initial attempt.

I have a 3D printer, however, have shied away from making dogs due to tolerance reliability. You need to take care when filling,

as wrong pressure may (repeat may) disproportion two diameters… probably a fools excuse but as we strive for 101% accuracy, all has to be considered.

I have a swag of stainless dogs

which are nowhere as tool friendly as plastic and aluminium… I have blades/chissels to prove it.

While on the topic of dogs, have you/viewers been exposed to the Super dog?

they are great for that flush dog… seated by a twist of the knob… does need a chamfer on the dog hole but the displayed tool or a large countersink.

 

[LittleBlackDuck]

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes - reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes
reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

I bought some new dogs for my worktable a few weeks back, some 3D printed plastic and some in precision made aluminium and wanted to make a short review and share some thoughts on this.
Nope it was not Chihuahua…
Wrrooouuuffff!
The plastic version was mainly bought to use for fixture of jigs and other stuff to the table and because I was curious to see them. ;-)

Here they are.
Green 3D printed plastic dogs, from a seller called Yumiland on E-bay UK, price 20GBP for all of them, including the low spacers.
Aluminium dogs and extenders, from the Danish tool company https://www.dorchdanola.dk , 44GBP for 4 low dogs, two extenders and two FS track washers that converts the extenders into guide rail dogs.
All dogs are threaded with M8.

Just a closer look, to see the quality.
I screwed the extenders on top of the aluminium dogs here, they can be screwed under also or you can put the nuts you see in the plastic bag and use them to lock a FS track saw track or a Festool fence to the table, for fast and easy removal.
The black dog on the left is one from a workmate type table and the one on right Festools original dogs.

Close-up of a 3D printed dog, quite amazing what can be made today on a printer!

Here some of my early home made fixtures.
20mm aluminium rod with a rubber top.
Jig holder, with plasterboard fixture that goes through the holes.
The most simple one, bolt, washer and wing nut.
The problem with the holds, was they were not centred up with the holes, when I needed that, otherwise they are more than enough.

I'm impressed that you can 3D print this stuff, but not impressed that there were an edge on the top, this made the things you put up against it off centre… Grrrrr, why did they not just do like on the bottom made a little rounding, so the edge would not be a problem…

Ok, it can be fixed easy, just a short piece of 8M rod in the drill press.

A washer and the dog.
Spin it and with sandpaper or a file remove the edge and round it a little.

Like this.

Now we only have the small lines on the sides that stick out a wee, these also have to be filed off, to make sure the dog are flat to the work piece.
Also the part that goes into the bench, otherwise you risk making damage to the holes in the MDF when pulling them out.
So yes a wonderful value for money, but not ready out of the box - I still think the price are so fair, that spending 20 minutes fixing them are well worth it, so I can recommend these.

Here the aluminium dogs, I'm pleased with the quality.
The flat side on the dogs will help you not make marks in the things you put against them, but they can also be the opper side if you bang into the sharp corner… so a matter of taste - with this type you need to make sure they are flat against the workpiece, when using flat side.
The extender can be used in many ways.
(I have a feeling the dogs are a tiny bit too small since they moves almost too easy in the holes… but it's so little that it's almost nothing).

I found a big washer and a M8 finger bolt to match, so I could tighten them down.

This can also be used on the plastic dogs.

Sawing with dogs.
Put the wood on the table against the dogs - a dog with extender on top and one further up the table.

Now the track can be put against the extenders.

Now you will have a perfect 90° cut.
This is fast and functional if you don't have the track mounted on the table or 45° cuts where you position the back extender in the 45° line of the holes.

I quickly found some bigger finger screws, the small were a pain in the some where dark.

That's it, no more ramblings about dogs, big smile.

Hope it can be to some inspiration, wrrrouuuffff.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

---------------

bench dogs, festool bench dogs, rail dogs, mft3 dogs, festool dogs, festool, mft3

.... I feel it s expensive for just some plastic stuff I don t need.

LittleBlackDuck,

I have been looking at one of these, it s precision made stainless, like this you can make half a table in one go and don t get the repetitive mis position factor. It s just over 100 usd.
- mafe

Two thing mafe,

1. Open up your creative juices… you would be surprised at what you can 3D print (outside the workshop). Most stuff I print is small (135mm x 135mm bed) and the printers nowdays are not super shekels… also if you are engineering minded, they can be fabricated for virtually bugger all… many internet feeds to walk you through.
2. That stainless looks cool, however, how do you drill the holes… If it's "hand" feed of a forstner bit, misaligned bits can become expensive replacement. Whatever system is adopted, if you send out feelers amongst your local woodie buddies (and maybe combine that with any "men's shed" clubs in the area) you could amortise the cost of that "one of use" jig to pennies.

 

[LittleBlackDuck]

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes - reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes
reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

I bought some new dogs for my worktable a few weeks back, some 3D printed plastic and some in precision made aluminium and wanted to make a short review and share some thoughts on this.
Nope it was not Chihuahua…
Wrrooouuuffff!
The plastic version was mainly bought to use for fixture of jigs and other stuff to the table and because I was curious to see them. ;-)

Here they are.
Green 3D printed plastic dogs, from a seller called Yumiland on E-bay UK, price 20GBP for all of them, including the low spacers.
Aluminium dogs and extenders, from the Danish tool company https://www.dorchdanola.dk , 44GBP for 4 low dogs, two extenders and two FS track washers that converts the extenders into guide rail dogs.
All dogs are threaded with M8.

Just a closer look, to see the quality.
I screwed the extenders on top of the aluminium dogs here, they can be screwed under also or you can put the nuts you see in the plastic bag and use them to lock a FS track saw track or a Festool fence to the table, for fast and easy removal.
The black dog on the left is one from a workmate type table and the one on right Festools original dogs.

Close-up of a 3D printed dog, quite amazing what can be made today on a printer!

Here some of my early home made fixtures.
20mm aluminium rod with a rubber top.
Jig holder, with plasterboard fixture that goes through the holes.
The most simple one, bolt, washer and wing nut.
The problem with the holds, was they were not centred up with the holes, when I needed that, otherwise they are more than enough.

I'm impressed that you can 3D print this stuff, but not impressed that there were an edge on the top, this made the things you put up against it off centre… Grrrrr, why did they not just do like on the bottom made a little rounding, so the edge would not be a problem…

Ok, it can be fixed easy, just a short piece of 8M rod in the drill press.

A washer and the dog.
Spin it and with sandpaper or a file remove the edge and round it a little.

Like this.

Now we only have the small lines on the sides that stick out a wee, these also have to be filed off, to make sure the dog are flat to the work piece.
Also the part that goes into the bench, otherwise you risk making damage to the holes in the MDF when pulling them out.
So yes a wonderful value for money, but not ready out of the box - I still think the price are so fair, that spending 20 minutes fixing them are well worth it, so I can recommend these.

Here the aluminium dogs, I'm pleased with the quality.
The flat side on the dogs will help you not make marks in the things you put against them, but they can also be the opper side if you bang into the sharp corner… so a matter of taste - with this type you need to make sure they are flat against the workpiece, when using flat side.
The extender can be used in many ways.
(I have a feeling the dogs are a tiny bit too small since they moves almost too easy in the holes… but it's so little that it's almost nothing).

I found a big washer and a M8 finger bolt to match, so I could tighten them down.

This can also be used on the plastic dogs.

Sawing with dogs.
Put the wood on the table against the dogs - a dog with extender on top and one further up the table.

Now the track can be put against the extenders.

Now you will have a perfect 90° cut.
This is fast and functional if you don't have the track mounted on the table or 45° cuts where you position the back extender in the 45° line of the holes.

I quickly found some bigger finger screws, the small were a pain in the some where dark.

That's it, no more ramblings about dogs, big smile.

Hope it can be to some inspiration, wrrrouuuffff.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

---------------

bench dogs, festool bench dogs, rail dogs, mft3 dogs, festool dogs, festool, mft3

Yes it could be fun 3D printing some stuff.
The stainless thingy has 30mm holes. So it s used with a 30mm copy ring and 20mm spiral bit in the router. Quite clever idea.
- mafe

Just in case you were one of the few thousand+ LJ members that missed my 3D post, being near Christmas, here's a collection of 3D printed Stocking Fillers (lots of pictures, easier to view downloaded).

Now I do like the concept of that stainless thingy as you described. The copy ring would fit snug and if you used a 20mm (or 3/4" for you tragic USA misguided wretches) router bit, plunging would give a good toleranced hole and you wouldn't have to face that crappy forstner bit bottom out or delaminating ply which stops the plunge.
Downside $100 (US$) to buy and with the weight (and size) of stainless, probably $500 (US$) to ship to Australia…

 

[LittleBlackDuck]

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes - reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

Bench dogs for the 20mm holes
reviews, 3d printed, upgrade and ramblings.

I bought some new dogs for my worktable a few weeks back, some 3D printed plastic and some in precision made aluminium and wanted to make a short review and share some thoughts on this.
Nope it was not Chihuahua…
Wrrooouuuffff!
The plastic version was mainly bought to use for fixture of jigs and other stuff to the table and because I was curious to see them. ;-)

Here they are.
Green 3D printed plastic dogs, from a seller called Yumiland on E-bay UK, price 20GBP for all of them, including the low spacers.
Aluminium dogs and extenders, from the Danish tool company https://www.dorchdanola.dk , 44GBP for 4 low dogs, two extenders and two FS track washers that converts the extenders into guide rail dogs.
All dogs are threaded with M8.

Just a closer look, to see the quality.
I screwed the extenders on top of the aluminium dogs here, they can be screwed under also or you can put the nuts you see in the plastic bag and use them to lock a FS track saw track or a Festool fence to the table, for fast and easy removal.
The black dog on the left is one from a workmate type table and the one on right Festools original dogs.

Close-up of a 3D printed dog, quite amazing what can be made today on a printer!

Here some of my early home made fixtures.
20mm aluminium rod with a rubber top.
Jig holder, with plasterboard fixture that goes through the holes.
The most simple one, bolt, washer and wing nut.
The problem with the holds, was they were not centred up with the holes, when I needed that, otherwise they are more than enough.

I'm impressed that you can 3D print this stuff, but not impressed that there were an edge on the top, this made the things you put up against it off centre… Grrrrr, why did they not just do like on the bottom made a little rounding, so the edge would not be a problem…

Ok, it can be fixed easy, just a short piece of 8M rod in the drill press.

A washer and the dog.
Spin it and with sandpaper or a file remove the edge and round it a little.

Like this.

Now we only have the small lines on the sides that stick out a wee, these also have to be filed off, to make sure the dog are flat to the work piece.
Also the part that goes into the bench, otherwise you risk making damage to the holes in the MDF when pulling them out.
So yes a wonderful value for money, but not ready out of the box - I still think the price are so fair, that spending 20 minutes fixing them are well worth it, so I can recommend these.

Here the aluminium dogs, I'm pleased with the quality.
The flat side on the dogs will help you not make marks in the things you put against them, but they can also be the opper side if you bang into the sharp corner… so a matter of taste - with this type you need to make sure they are flat against the workpiece, when using flat side.
The extender can be used in many ways.
(I have a feeling the dogs are a tiny bit too small since they moves almost too easy in the holes… but it's so little that it's almost nothing).

I found a big washer and a M8 finger bolt to match, so I could tighten them down.

This can also be used on the plastic dogs.

Sawing with dogs.
Put the wood on the table against the dogs - a dog with extender on top and one further up the table.

Now the track can be put against the extenders.

Now you will have a perfect 90° cut.
This is fast and functional if you don't have the track mounted on the table or 45° cuts where you position the back extender in the 45° line of the holes.

I quickly found some bigger finger screws, the small were a pain in the some where dark.

That's it, no more ramblings about dogs, big smile.

Hope it can be to some inspiration, wrrrouuuffff.

Best thoughts,

MaFe

---------------

bench dogs, festool bench dogs, rail dogs, mft3 dogs, festool dogs, festool, mft3

Hmmmmm I can t make the link work…

Perhaps you can find a lazer guy there, who can cut you one…
- mafe

1. Which link… Hope it's not the missing one the missus accuses me off.
2. No need for another item that makes me contemplate which tool I should use. My redundancy bin is bloody redundant.