Heavy metal update

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john verge
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sat Jan 20, 2018 10:41 pm

I have experienced the same. The sacrificial tape alignment is not cheap either. You really need the stuff though for accurate cutting. When I put the two together I pretty well have to apply new tape every time. Probably best to leave them together and buy a shorter one.

Shop looks great by the way. Nice job.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sat Jan 20, 2018 10:47 pm

john verge wrote:
Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:34 pm
Brian, I saw your festool saw track on the wall, wondering what you think of the accuracy of the two part system?
Years ago I had two of the 1080 Festool sections and the connector kit. i found that when i joined them up the were not in alignment. Checking them over carefully, i found that the cuts on one end of each extrusion were off of 90˚. A chop saw at their factory was possibly out of alignment I guess. There was no way to talk to anyone at Festool USA outside of the sales department who could take the information and actually fix the problem (I tried, in vain). A simple fix if only i could get the message to someone at the factory.

I agree with Brian that it is better to get one-piece longer track for those longer cuts.
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john verge
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 12:31 am

Wow, nice job for identifying the problem and attempting to fix it. Did you ever adjust your track or just shelve it?
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Chris Hall
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:34 am

Both. I ended up filing the ends until I got them to 90˚. Shortly after that however Festool announced they were coming out with a new model of track saw, so i decided to sell mine while I could, intending to buy the newer model (which i never did). Last year I sold my Festool track storage bag with two track sections, plus the connector kit in Systainer, as it had all been collecting dust for years. This doesn't mean i won't buy a track saw at some point in the future mind you. Matt J showed me his Mafell track saw a year ago or so (and let me use it once or twice), and that looks to be a pretty tasty option...
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Brian
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:51 am

Ah, interesting. They must have gotten that feedback more than once as they recommend maintaining a gap between the tracks now.

I have an 8’ straightedge but I’m not sure how they expect people to align them. Stringline maybe? It would be easier and more reliable to butt them up.

Anything I’ve learned about Festool is that they have some loose ends left untied. Overall pretty decent though.

I break down through sawn material a lot, it’s good for that. My other option is to apply a line and cut freehand on my bandsaw.
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 4:02 pm

Great pics and shop Brian, thanks for posting!

Re: Festool track alignment, there's a 3rd party tool for that, called the Betterley StraightLine Connector. It costs $99 but I suppose its cheaper than buying a long rail. I've never used one though... I liked the Festool saw well enough but was underwhelmed with the tracks. I like the Bosch/Mafell "F style" rails much, much more, one reason being that the (one piece) rail connector is self aligning.
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 4:32 pm

@John Verge- another problem I had with the Festool tracks is that the sacrificial strips would squirm around on the rails when they got warm in my van, and I could never rely on them unless they were freshly cut. I tried attaching them with double stick tape with better adhesive but that increased thickness at the lip of the rail and led to the blade eating away the strip when cutting bevels.

The strips on F-rails attach mechanically with a bead into a slot [swoon].
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Brian
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:46 pm

So, the motor on this lathe functions but in either the conversion to US electric or by someone who used the machine at some time it was outfitted with what I consider to be a fairly dangerous setup of a handy box bootstrapped to a one-off switch and a series of capacitors one normally attached and the other strapped to the motor with band clamps. It's a pretty horrid setup and one of the capacitors blew apart and was either repaired or something. The motor starts, but I hesitate to run it for any length of time or under any kind of load.

Unfortunate part is that the motor must be able to work forward and reverse, so that eliminates a more simple swap of just buying a new one or repairing this one and installing a normal machine switch. The reason for this is that the operator is on the motor side when working with lathe tools manually, but on the opposite side when working the duplicator. This was changed in future models of the machine, but of course I did not get a screaming deal on a later model :)

So, given how much needs to change I decided to see what other options are available, only annoying bit being that everything is metric and what I have access to is standard.

I had made a belt sander when I was a kid, and went and sourced a Lesson DC permanent magnet 1.5hp motor for the machine, along with a variable speed controller. This motor runs forward, reverse and is infinitely adjustable in speed from zero to 1750rpms. Only annoying bit is that these motors are physically longer, so in this case it is 15" compared to the machines motor which is 9". Big difference. On the plus side the motor is considerably smaller in diameter but amazingly has a similar bolt pattern. Fingers crossed that it actually bolts up.

The motor of course will be in the way when using a spur chuck. I can offset this nuisance by simply switching to a four jaw chuck which puts the working area further away from the headstock by about 4". The remainder of the difference I will simply live with.

I had wanted to use the machine as is, being that it is 115v, and the new motor is 230v, but it may be worth the additional headache to bring the machine into a more modern age assuming that this DC motor works as wanted.

From what I've read a permanent magnet DC motor works much better than the typically retrofitted DC motors that people take from treadmills and so forth, I'm going to take a chance and see if that is the case. If not I can always return the machine back to what it was previously or go a more typical route of using a three phase motor and inverter.
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Brian
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:47 pm

Thanks Matt and John!
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Chris Hall
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Re: Heavy metal update

Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:10 pm

Could you convert the machine to a 3-phase motor? That would give you forward/reverse without issue.

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