Larry W wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
I wonder if he has yet noticed that his results are an inherent result
of using the work bench surface for indexing the plate joiner?
Actually, I've successfully indexed off the bottom rather than the
fence by placing the joiner and work on a large, flat piece of MDF.
This also allows me to offset a joint (as in making a reveal with an
apron joined to a leg) by using flat "shims" or spacers under the
joiner without changing any of the settings.
You can also easily produce those offsets by placing the shims between the
work and the joiner fence depth stop also.
I also used this technique with my Festool Domino.
I have probably cut seven to eight thousand mortises with my Domino, on my
third case of replacement tenons. I have not yet indexed off the bottom of
the joiner, I quite doing that when I upgraded my PC 556 plate joiner to
the PC 557 plate joiner. The whole purpose of the fence depth stop is so
that you don't have to use the bottom of the tool as the reference.
I use my workbench all probably 85-90% of the time to index against my
plate joiner & workpiece and never have had any issues. In fact I have
a few fixtures and clamps made specially to assist in holding and aligning
the work while I cut the slots. What is the problem with using the work
surface if it's flat & the work is flat too?
problem supposed to be?
And just as a follow up, you should easily see the problem with indexing
off the work surface in the video. The joints were not properly aligned.
Too many possibilities for alignment problems , use the fence depth stop
and you reduce the possibility of face misalignment.
Because the face is placed down on the work surface you have to lay out the
frame backwards and upside down to make your index marks. If you use the
fence depth stop you can lay everything out as it is going to appear when
assembled before placing the marks. I greatly reduced marking errors and
reduced alignment problems when I quit using the work surface for indexing.