festool guide rail issues/questions/techniques

[abram godshall]

i have 2 festool 55" guide rails that i link together with the two connectors. i cannot get accurate long cuts using this setup. i made 2 cuts, put the 2 cut edges against each other and expected close to a glue ready edge. instead both ends were flush and the was a smile between the 2 boards of about 1/16"! what am i doing wrong? it seems as if there is too much flex where the 2 rails connect.

have others encountered this problem with not straight cuts? does anyone have/use the 118" single rail? how does that work for you? i hate to spend $300 for it and find out it is no better than what i have.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE,
ABRAM GODSHALL

[Brice Burrell]

Abram, try using a straight edge to align the rails. I use a 4" level. I'd offer this is regards to what you are trying to do. How many long pieces would mate perfectly after being run through the table saw?

[Bob Marino]

Abram,

I will second what Brice said and check out his helpful link regarding conecting the 2 rails.

http://www.burrellcustomcarpentry.com/gpage4.html.

There is also another link from the FOG that has another method that I can email you.

Bob

[robert micley]

i have the 110 inch rail. connecting the two never was perfect for me.years ago the long rail was much cheaper. also make sure there is no play in the saw when it is on the guide rail. i use this rail a lot for long boards and plywood casings for cabinet sides and backs. it is unusual for me to get totally perfect identical plywood pieces. it is usually off by 1/32 to 1/128. but this is because my plywood is not totally flat. unless wood is really flat with 0 cupping you cannot get identical meaurements.

[Jamie Buxton]

Yes, I found the same issue. Those connector things don't keep the two 55" rails aligned. I found that the joined rails would get banged around in the shop, and eventually I'd find that the screws had slipped, so my straight cuts were no longer straight. To be blunt, I think it is a bad design. I eventually sold one of the 55" guides, and bought the 110" one. It is expensive, but it does hold its shape.

[Erik Frederiksen]

I have a long rail and shorter rails that I sometimes connect together. I have not had an issue with straightness with either setup.

Sounds like your short rails are defective. If you contact Festool they should replace them.

[Brice Burrell]

I have a long rail and shorter rails that I sometimes connect together. I have not had an issue with straightness with either setup.

Sounds like your short rails are defective. If you contact Festool they should replace them.

I don't think his rail defective, I've got in the neighborhood of 10 rails and most won't make a perfectly straight when butted together. They aren't off by much but still not perfect.

One long rails is an improvement but as Robert noted you can still have a very small error.

[Jamie Buxton]

The problem is not that you can't set the things up to be straight. The problem is that they don't stay straight in normal use.

[abram godshall]

yes the problem seems to be that they start off straight but then move with use and are very prone to being askew with the slightest bump.

[Chris Tsutsui]

To make two 55" guide rails straight, you need to follow the Festool directions exactly and then some.

You need to space the guides 1-2mm apart from eachother and use a feeler gauge or precision measuring technique that makes them spaced apart equally on both sides. Then you tighten down the connector screws and remeasure.

If it goes out of wack after tightening the screws then repeat.

In the beginning I thought you were supposed to butt up the ends of the guide rails to each other, but after the directions said to space them apart 2mm, it made sense and I've had great success ripping 8' lengths with connected guides.

[Dan Forman]

To make two 55" guide rails straight, you need to follow the Festool directions exactly and then some.

You need to space the guides 1-2mm apart from eachother and use a feeler gauge or precision measuring technique that makes them spaced apart equally on both sides. Then you tighten down the connector screws and remeasure.

If it goes out of wack after tightening the screws then repeat.

In the beginning I thought you were supposed to butt up the ends of the guide rails to each other, but after the directions said to space them apart 2mm, it made sense and I've had great success ripping 8' lengths with connected guides.

I don't understand this. What is the difference between butted together and measured 2mm apart? Seems like the two would be in exactly the same relationship to each other.

Dan

[Steven J Corpstein]

I don't understand this. What is the difference between butted together and measured 2mm apart? Seems like the two would be in exactly the same relationship to each other.

Dan

I use Festool guides and I think the reasoning for the space is to accomodate any amount that the ends may be out of square. I always leave a gap, use a straight edge to hold in line, and never have any issues with the guides being lined up straight.

[Frank Martin]

Not trying to start a long winded discussion, but this comparison is certainly not a reasonable one. I personally have never had any issues with my table saw in terms of long pieces (up to 8 ft I needed to cut so far) not mating up. Most times, I don't even bother to clean up with the jointer.

I think people sometimes go overboard with creating unreasonable expectations relative to some Festool tools. I do own a lot of them too. But, some of the portable tools (e.g., MFT, linked together rails, etc.) are useful if you are working onsite and don't have access to the stationary tools. I did buy an MFT several years ago when lots of Festool fans we saying how it is a great "replacement" for a table saw. My experience was the exact opposite. I had bought it only for wide cross cuts to supplement my table saw. It required constant checking/adjusting to make sure the rail remained square. When I did more research I found I was not the only one with these problems and ended up selling the MFT. Not sure if this issue is fixed with the new MFT3. If you don't have access to stationary tools, you can make do with these, but they are no replacements to stationary tools and marketing them in that way I don't think benefits anyone, including Festool as a company.

Sanders, vacuum, Domino on the other hand are just great.

Abram, try using a straight edge to align the rails. I use a 4" level. I'd offer this is regards to what you are trying to do. How many long pieces would mate perfectly after being run through the table saw?

[Chris Tsutsui]

I don't understand this. What is the difference between butted together and measured 2mm apart? Seems like the two would be in exactly the same relationship to each other.

Dan

I'm not exactly sure but Festool says to space it like 2mm apart.

What happened to me when I butted them together is after tightening, one side would be spaced a little furthur than the other, or the two guides wouldn't be perfectly flush, so you could feel a "bump" when the saw rides from one guide to the other.

Spacing them and using a straight edge would probably be the ideal method. I actually don't have a straight edge, I just have an old metal ruler that I wouldn't trust to use as a straight edge. So what I have to do is space them as equally apart on the sides of the guide joints as possible.

[robert micley]

i agree with frank about the mft table. the alignment is not perfect and difficult to get perfect and when perfect does not stay perfect. but i do love the festool circular saw and rail system in general. i use it all the time for plywood for cabinet casings- sides,back ,shelves and bottom.i do not use my table saw for big pieces of plywood. i do not like setting up outfeed or infeed tables on my tablesaw.but i do not use my festool saw for regular wood much at all- i use it to get a straight edge on wood wider than 6 inches that is long because the rail is around six inches wide and needs six inch wood to rest on. i also use the rail system to make a taper on wood instead of using a taper jig on the table saw.