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DEPTH STOP FOR THE FEIN MULTIMASTER

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A while ago I laid some 18mm thick chipboard sheets over a fine laminate floor, to protect the laminate from getting marked or damaged.
I built a stud wall on one of the chipboard sheets. Later, to my great dismay, I realised I needed to temporarily lift the chipboard!

I had to make a cut through the chipboard, very close to the stud wall, and also avoid marking the laminate floor underneath the chipboard.
I made a holder and depth stop to precisely hold the Fein Multimaster, and allow me to make a controlled cut in the chipboard.

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↓ The Depth Stop Holder.
I was in the middle of moving the workshop, so I had to make this tool using a drill press and hand tools.
It is not pretty, but it does the job with precision. The cut length was about 2 meters long, and it took a while to do as the Fein does not cut quickly. Because the Depth Tool was reliable and precise I did not cut into the laminate, even when my attention wandered during the long cutting session.

 

 

↓ The Square Plate is bolted between the two lengths of Base Angle.
The Square Plate has a slot milled down the middle. Luckily the previously milled Square Plate (with slot) was in the 'to use again' box, and saved me a long filing job.

 

↓ The two lengths of Base Angle are fastened with wood screws to a Chipboard Base.
The Chipboard Base slides nicely and is big enough to prevent the Depth Stop Tool from tipping and affecting the height of the cutting blade.

 

↓ The two M10 studs are used to set the height of the Top Angle.
The two M10 nuts that are resting on the Base Angle are pinned to the M10 studs with 4mm pins. You can just see the ends of the 4mm pins in this picture.
A short piece of stud protrudes from the each nut and loosely locates in a plain 10mm hole in the Base Angle. This arrangement locate the studs in position.
When the Top Angle height is set, the M10 studs are secured to the Top Angle by tightening the two nuts at the top of each stud.
When the two studs are secured to the Top Angle, and the Top Angle is secured to the Square Plate, there is no way the height of the Fein can alter; and so the depth of cut is guaranteed.

 

↓ The slot in the Square Plate is used when adjusting the height of the Top Angle. When the Top Angle height has been set, the Top Angle is secured to the Square Plate by the nut and bolt in the slot.

 

↓ The Fein has 2 holes tapped M6.

 

↓ I cut 2 short M6 studs out of some All-Thread and screwed them finger tight into the Fein.

 

↓ I drilled two 6mm holes in the Top Angle of the Depth Stop.
I filed an arc in the Top Angle, to fit around the output shaft casting of the Fein.

 

↓ I attached the Fein to the Top Angle, using the M6 studs and two nuts.
The Top Angle also bears nicely against a ledge in the Fein casting.
The fit here is very precise and there is no way the Fein will move in relation to the Top Angle.

 

 

The tool is well balanced and stands up safely on its own, which was an unexpected bonus.

 

 

 

↓ I used a 2mm thick piece of aluminium to help set the blade height.
I did the first cut in the chipboard at this height. I then set the height to 1mm and made a second pass through the cut in the chipboard.
I did a lot of test cuts on some waste material, to satisfy myself that the Depth Tool would do its job and would NOT allow the blade to cut into the laminate floor under the chipboard. Those tests lead me to modify the design a few times, until I settled on the tool that you see on this page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

↓ Lifting the chipboard.
After making the scoring cuts, I carefully lifted the chipboard sheet, to break the uncut portion of the chipboard. There was only 1 or 2mm thickness of chipboard that was uncut, so the sheet lifted and broke away without too much effort at all. Happy days!
That is a 2.4m sheet.

 

 

 

 

The process left a rough edge so I had a little bit of tidying up to do, which was easy.
The rough edge underneath the stud wall will be covered by a skirting board, so no worries there.

 

 

Most importantly, the laminate flooring was unmarked.

 

I removed the ragged edges of the chipboard by nibbling away at them with a sharp half inch wide wood chisel.
I placed the bevelled surface of the chisel against the floor and carefully levered up to remove the ragged edge.

 

The Depth Tool would only go into the corner from one direction, so I had to use the Fein free hand to cut an 8 inch length into the corner.
When using the tool free hand without the depth stop, I kept the blade up high and well away from the bottom of the chipboard; hence the bigger pieces that are left as you can see in this picture.

 

 

 

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