President, Veritas Tools Inc

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/new-product-veritas-planing-stops-for-your-mft/

Introduction

This report is loosely organized in sections, and covers a lot of territory. The “voice” changes from section to section, for clarity – but also to allow for my own editorial comment. We’ve had several people working on the production of data, drawings and photo’s for the last few days and they’ve done a remarkable job. The word’s below are primarily mine – so if you find any sort of error or quibble – I’ll take ownership of it.

One of the “unseen” elements in much of this discussion (which I guess I’m now addressing here) is the inevitable comparison with other products – QWAS, PARF, Festool etc. I would like to make it very clear that each of these products are excellent alternatives to what we have chosen to do (which of course, is something different) – and each expresses a different design intent, and offers real utility to any number of customers. Aside from Festool components (we are a dealer after all) we have no examples of any other product, and cannot comment on their measurements, tolerances, or performance.

Rob Lee

President, Veritas Tools Inc.

25 April 2013

Background:

We have a tremendous amount of experience in designing and manufacturing bench accessories, and work holding products in general. As amateur woodworking in North America uses primarily Imperial measure, most of our products have been built for use with ¾” holes. Recently, we began to produce accessories to be used in the Festool MFT, as well as metric based benches, many of which incorporate 20mm dog holes. Our MFT clamping kit was designed for positioning and holding work, both on an MFT, and on any user-made work-surface that uses 20mm holes (which is one reason we supply a bit with the set). It has been designed to complement the tools offered by Festool, while staying consistent with the implicit methods of work – extending the features/flexibility of what Festool has developed. We also have to ensure our accessories that are backward- and forward-compatible with existing and future Festool elements (tough to guess at that last one), as well as other 20mm devices.

Having designed and produced our own matrix-based clamping solution for more than 13 years now, we have a considerable amount of experience with these types of products. Sometimes – having a lot of experience makes it easy to miss explaining some design intent, and design choices.

The Problem – “What we've got here is failure to communicate” – Cool Hand Luke, 1967

Right up front, and before we get to conclusions, discussion, and data – we (I) will accept that we have made a number of mis-steps in how we have released this product. There are explanations for each – but ultimately – it’s our fault, and we will learn from it.

1) We pushed the release - As I noted in my FOG post of March 27th, while the product was ready to go, we were still producing and releasing internal information. Generally – we do pre-production releases to fine-tune presentation and communication. In this case – we decided to release early to a wider group of knowledgeable customers (you guys and gals), as customers were already starting to consider re-purposing Imperial sized product (which was available) before we could supply the metric product. You were keen to have it – and we were keen to ship it.

2) We have not completed an instruction manual – As a byproduct of not planning the release, we released without full instructions, and explanations. Normally, much of this detail is developed and produced to support the release of individual products, and we released the sets first. Absent information to the contrary, users made a number of assumptions about the system, the components, and their use.

3) We did not implicitly guide customers to set reasonable expectations. – Our model has always been to set an expectation, and exceed it. We strive to always deliver the context and scope of a product as part of the marketing message. That way – you know what you’re getting when you order it. That was not the case here. Your expectation of what a “dog” is in the Festool-MFT context is completely different from the “dogs” in the hand wood working world. We did not recognize and deal with that.

From the lengthy discussion on the board at www.festoolownersgroup.com , and various emails/messages I have received, here are what I’ve heard the “issues” to be:

1) Root diameter of dogs (“loose feel”)

2) Tolerances on root diameter

3) Lock knobs on pins, tilting… (bearing surface)

4) Using Bessey clamps without lock knob.

5) Waiting for a “perfect fit”

I will address each, but closer to the end of the report, once we’ve covered more background on the design and development of the system, and had some discussion of the measurements and testing (don’t cheat by skipping ahead!) .

The System

Now we jump back in time to early 2012, when we were conceptualizing the clamping system. Part of any R&D project here is the development and discussion of a product brief. Below are two which you can see for yourself (slightly edited for confidentiality, over-typed in yellow) .

http://www.leevalley.com/home/temprl/Breif1008.doc

http://www.leevalley.com/home/temprl/Breif1008dogs.doc

The ultimate goal of the system as designed was to extend the clamping, work holding, and work positioning capabilities of the MFT and, for customers without an MFT, provide a way to use many of the same components. Additionally, we wanted to provide some new work holding options that complement the use of the MFT for site work. Since the system would be marketed in a Systainer, not only did the products inside have to be portable, they had to be products the user would want to haul along.

Here is a more detailed discussion of each of the elements, and the rationale for including them into the system

Surface dogs

These precision turned on head and shaft diameters for concentricity. Two head diameters. The dogs can also be used as locator pins for jig boards, or custom dogs fences with the appropriate sized holes (25 or 30mm). They have threaded bottom holes to lock the dog to prevent rotation, or to hold the dog in place while transporting the MFT. In normal use – no clamp knob is needed. Use wide heads for setting fences – you can then still use the locating holes with the smaller head dogs, with no interference. Note that registration for fence setting purposes should be done on the turned part of the head only – do not use the milled flat face. Flat faces provide extra surface contact area for clamping thin material. Compatible for use with the Festool clamping knobs. Materials – aluminum – avoids damage, keeps the weight down for portability. Priced economically, they can be recycled if damaged, at minimal cost.

Work Stops

Initially developed as planning stops for hand woodworkers, we have changed the name for the MFT system, as the MFT (as a standalone work surface) is not optimally rigid for planning. The main advantage the work stops have is their low profile, and the ability to span the gaps between system holes, allowing users to register material less than 96mm wide (hole spacing) against a fence. Low profile keeps the stop away from sanders for all but the thinnest material.

Surface Clamp

A flexible hold-down clamp that can be used in any 20mm hole, on any surface, in any orientation, as long as it’s at least 5/8” deep. The clamp arm (which slides easily on the post when tilted, but locks at 90°) has a 2-1/8" throat depth and can grip anything from veneer to material up to 3-3/4" thick (3-1/8" when the post collar is used as a depth limiter). Anchor wedging is controlled by the brass knob on the post and clamping force by the knob at the arm tip. Used horizontally, the post collar acts as a material support. Used vertically, the collar is a rub ring that protects workpieces from accidental damage by the post rings. Precision machined from brass, steel and anodized aluminum.

Bessey® Auto-Adjust Toggle Clamps

To eliminate the need for frequent adjustment, these toggle clamps from Bessey are designed to automatically accommodate material thickness changes of up to 1”, without altering the clamping force. The high-profile and low-profile horizontal clamps have capacities of 2-3/4” and 2” thick respectively; the in-line clamp has a center height of 7/8” and a 1” throw. Each has a knurled screw to adjust the clamping force to a maximum of 550 lb. The clamps are 0.100” (just over 3/32”) thick plated steel with generously sized handles for easy operation. The swivel feet have non-marring caps. Convenient and versatile, these clamps expedite production and jig and fixture work. The mounting plate, available separately or paired with a clamp, lets you easily position the clamp in the dog holes of the Festool MFT/3 multifunction table instead of permanently attaching it to a surface. The 20mm diameter post on the plate is 11/16” long, just less than the table top’s ¾” thickness. To secure the plate, it is threaded internally for use with an MFT accessory clamping knob. The thickness of the aluminum plate adds 3/8” to the maximum capacity of the horizontal clamps, but doesn’t affect their minimum; you can still adjust the clamps to hold materials as thin as a sheet of paper against a surface. The center height of the in-line clamp is increased to 1-1/4”.

Forstner Bit

Economy Clamping Knob

Partner agreements preclude us from shipping Festool components across borders, so we’ve sourced an inexpensive knob is used for securing our toggle clamp plates and surface dogs through dog holes in ¾” thick material. The 1-5/8” diameter star-shaped knob is easy to turn. With a M8 x 1.25 thread, it is also compatible with any Festool accessory that uses a clamping knob.

Systainer liner

Using a two-tone foam give you immediate visual confirmation that a part has been left behind, or has grown legs. Kind of a fingerless counting system for careless carpenters J. Also designed to hold the Festool Clamping knobs I don’t use with my Festool clamping elements.

Black/Yellow Systainer

Besides being cool, you can tell right away that it’s got our stuff inside!

Testing Measurement Methodology

In an initial response to a post April 27th I wrote the following:

“Yes - we designed the dogs for a looser fit than others have...based on feedback we had from several testers, with varying ages of MFT's.
There will always be a degree of variability in hole diameters of the MFT table - yet the placement of holes should be accurate from a CNC router/mill that made them, so the positioning of the hole matrix is the "precision" inherent in the system, and not necessarily the hole diameter.
Dogs will still register on the sides of the holes, no matter what the clearance is.... and precision is preserved. Now - if the user has to modify the hole diameter for dogs that are too snug - then inaccuracy is actually introduced to the table surface... it is difficult for a user to precisely (and concentrically) ream all table holes by the same amount. So - a bit of a double edged sword here - we can make them as snug as we want - but it will not add accuracy...
It has concerned me to read where people have had to modify MFT holes to get accessories to fit - and we sure want to avoid that. We recognize the utility of the precision matrix afforded by the table surface, and wanted to respect that - which is one reason we have no "toothed" shaft accessories for the MFT, as we do for regular benches (like the Bessey plates).... we don't want to wear the sides of the holes.
Then too, we want to ensure forward compatibility with other possible Festool items - and did not want to vary significantly from what Festool themselves do on similar products. “

Of course, we don’t expect everybody to take those statements at face value, and said we would back up our assertions with data.

Here’s what we did:

1) A brand new MFT surface was taken from stock

2) In order to fit on our CMM (coordinate measuring machine). We cut the surface into two equal size pieces, with the cut line parallel to the axis the saw would run along. We had to “waste” one row of holes (a vertical row – parallel to the cut line) as the second piece would not otherwise fit on the CMM

3) Each piece has two datum pins installed, to provide an absolute reference for the orientation of the piece. The piece was bolted to the CMM table to ensure it did not move during measurement)

4) Hole diameters were measured and entered on a spreadsheet (multiple measurements on the perimeter of each hole define the center, and diameter)

5) Hole location deviation from a common axis was measured (perpendicular and parallel to the axis of saw travel)

6) Angular variance from 90 and 45 degrees to a chosen line of holes, using different hole pairs, was measured

7) Measurements for angular accuracy (based on hole pairs) was measured for different diameters of dogs, and dogs with differences in diameters

8) Direct measurement for each surface section (two sections per piece) were plotted and detailed on PDF’s

9) Relative positional data (stitched using fixed reference points) was entered on a spreadsheet

Test Measurements

We took pictures of the test equipment, and testing in progress, that you can see here: