Stanton Dog Locks

[reible]

I would guess that some people here may have watched watched a video or two of his on youtube. I have no connection to Dave, have never talked to him nor ever corresponded with him, and certainly have no financial incentives related to him or the subject of this thread.

I don't faithfully watch his channel but once in a while I see something that interests me. This is one of those times. I have a lot of interest in the 20mm hole system on 96mm spacing and have built several work tops using that concept. I also like being a guide saw user and have several different set up that make use of a work top and rail and saw to cut work pieces. I tend to gravitate towards like minded presenters.

So if this is not something you are interested in then please skip this thread.

First it might be worth while for those interested to view this video as it shows the concept and even gives information on building your own. I was planning on do that but I have way to many other things going on to take the time so I ordered mine off etsy. Anyway the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzLPbqU ... vidStanton

My parts arrived and I got to do a set up today to see how they worked. I have a different set up then Dave shows but is something that I'm presently looking at for some cuts I want to make. This is and Dave's setup are not the only ones that can be done by any means. In my case I have a narrow top and was looking at doing some cross cutting across the narrow way. This is almost to short for what I need but I went ahead looking at the setup anyway.

If you have watched the video you see how the dog locks work. They can be used as a pair as I have done here:

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I have a collection of dogs and these are the mid-sized ones. I have shorter which will not work at all and taller which then start to potentially cause possible interference. Easy work around are yet another topic. The dogs shown have a threaded hole so a knob can be added below the table to secure the dog and to stabilize them, they are required for use in this case. This next pictures shows the underside of the dogs and the knobs.

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There is another style of dog that uses a chamfer and o-rings with a top thread that can be placed from the top of the table. The ones I have a taller and would limit the depth of cut located as they are.

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If the dogs can be placed farther away from the cut then this is no issue. How ever in this case a simple solution would be to add some waste board under and this effectively places the work piece higher on the dogs. As seen here:

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I was a little unsure how well this idea would work but now I'm convinced it works fine. My idea of a narrow location however doesn't look like it will make the cut...... It would work but would confine the width too much for general use.

I have also seen the pair used facing in the same direction and so long as it is placed the right way so the saw tightens the notch I see nothing wrong with that idea. These can do that by flipping one of them over. I have not tried that but it make sense.

Links to purchase them are in Dave's comments. Current price is $29.50 plus tax and free shipping. This is quite a bit more then the UJK dog rail clips which I also own but I think I like them better, at least for now.

One thing that I want to try next is to put knobs in place of the allen screws. It would be nice to have tool less changes. I think I might have some of the correct size, will check in the next couple of days and also also attempt a better way to do these cuts that I want to do. Either a different top or change directions by 90 degrees??

I may come back with some revisions or just let this lay but if you have questions feel free to ask.

Ed

[SteveMaryland]

I do not own or have used a track saw guide, but they look useful. I take it that a dog lock device is not available from the track saw mfgr?

I saw the Stanton video. He used a circular saw that cuts in both push and pull directions. How does that saw work? Special blade? Reverse rotation?

[reible]

This idea was Dave's, he did an earlier version with plywood as well. No one else has come up with this particular solution but UJK has a rail clip which can be seen here:

https://tsoproducts.com/accessories/ujk-dog-rail-clips/

The saw maker doesn't offer such a product, yet anyway.

The name of the game is to keep the rail against the dogs, the hole pattern then allows for precision cutting. A third way is to try and hand hold it but that takes a lot of concentration and or luck. A slower way would be to clamp the track in place for each cut, they do make clamps that fit the track from underneath or the use of the dog holes. For certain operations, like routing you do need to clamp the track. This is another experiment I hope to play with ie the use of a router with the dog locks.

The saw he used is a standard model, he is just doing a scoring cut but doing it backwards. Doing a scoring cut is not unusual but doing it backwards is. I personally have never tired it that way nor found the need to do so but it is another trick to keep in mind in case something different comes up while cutting.

Ed

[RCZ]

Ed, thanks for pointing out the good video from Dave Stanton. I have enjoyed watching his stuff for several years. These things that he has made remind me of something someone made and (I think) had posted on the Festool Owner's Group forum a few years back. I recall I tried to buy a set but then the manufacturer closed down production.

I used to have numerous track saws for work, and I also had a variety of dogs and other goodies that were designed to work with a track saw and rails. One thing I had that was similar to the function of this offering from Dave Stanton was sold on Ebay. It was a small rectangular piece that fit in the slot under the guiderail, and inside the rectangle was a slot that mated up with the tab on top of the mechanism that rides along the front of an MFT. I will have to find the pics on the Festool site because I don't recall the name of the part on the MFT. But the result was the same as what Dave has developed: once the rail dropped down into place it effectively locked it so there was zero lateral movement.

I might still have one down in the shop and if I do I will get a picture of it.

[RCZ]

I had to search around to discover the name of the part on the MFT "support unit". The part if was describing above locked in to the small metal tab that's sticking upward (above the black handle).

https://www.mmtoolparts.com/festool-support-unit-497022

[RCZ]

Ed, Steve,

If you're interested in the scoring cut technique, go to about the 8:45 mark in this video and you'll see Boris Beaulant (France) using the track saw to cut thru veneers to prep of inlays.


https://youtu.be/GIIFsQSnvIk

[reible]

I started my day by finding some knobs, M6 x 12 I think. If someone needs the details I can look up my order history on Amazon. I seem to recall paying about $10 for a bag of maybe 10??

The holes were slightly undersized for the M6 hardware so I took them to the shopsmith and drilled with a 6mm bit. Perfect!

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The knobs really do make adjustment much easier and faster. These knobs could have been a little shorter in the knob area, they limit cutting depth to 1-1/2". If I need to cut deeper I can put the screws back in I guess but that is deeper then I normal cut.

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I'm not sure if yesterdays post made it clear how you can stay out of the way of the dogs. I have the tall dogs installed and in this photo you can see the saw is past the dogs for the start of the cut.

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When the cut is finished you still have not reached the other dog as shown here:

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I actually did some cutting today and am well pleased with how things are working.

Ed