Has anyone thought about making your own holes in a longer guide rail by using the LR32 and router set up with the 1080 rail?

Just a thought, since I have a few rails kickin around and would love the longer rail with holes. I am just not in love with the price to get one at the moment. It seems as though the right bit would make quick work of this.

Eiji

Great minds think alike!

I was just noodling over this very thing earlier today. I have a rail with the holes, why couldn't I use it to put holes in my other rails.

Let me know if you figure out a good way to do it.

Scott W.

This has been discussed before. The consensus, if I remember correctly, was that the holes in the LR 32 rail are not round but oval. This makes using the locating pin impossible without alterations. I purchased a second 1080 LR 32 rail and used the longitudinal stops, 485760, butted end to end in each of the 2 rails to locate them for the correct spacing, then used the rail connectors to lock them together. I was able to drill a row of holes over 6.5' long. It would be handy to have an extra set of the stops, $10.70.

Can't remember who originally posted this solution but it works quite well and is much cheaper if you already have one of the 1080 LR 32 rails.

To get oval holes, why not tilt the rail by 30-45 degrees?

Poto,
I was thinking the same thing. This could be accomplished by moving the rail out 1 mm or so and re-routing. I think the router operation would work better than a drillpress operation due to the speed of the cutter.


James,
If you take a closer look at your rail you will notice that the holes are not oval but oblong. The pin in the LR32 plate is round. The oblong holes make it easier for the pin to locate the hole, since the holes only have to be accurate on the longetudinal axis of movement. The other axis is controled by the plate riding on the rib of the guide rail.

Eiji

Guys that metal is a breeze to cut with a drill press. When I get to mine I will post pictures. It should only take 20-30 minutes using a drill press max. The speed of the router may be faster, but on that guide it is not going to make a difference at all.

Nickao

It will come out great I am sure of it, you  have it all worked out.

Nick

Compound error.

Just buy the rail.

Ned

Is Incra metric? I think(?) the notches are 1/32". Close enough for a couple of holes but for a long series of holes adjustments will need to be made.  For an LR 32 the holes spacing is supposed to be 32mm even, as in 32, 64, 96...

But, who says you can't make an LR 1 3/16" if you want to?

Guys all  I can say is good luck. I was a Tool and Die Maker and I wouldn't try it. If you're going to go forward, instead of making oval/oblong holes, make the holes round and use a diamond locating pin. A diamond locating pin, for those who are not familiar, is a pin shaped like a baseball diamond. 2nd base and home plate are the radius of the pin and 1st and 3rd base are ground to a relief. The arc of the radius need not be more than needed to give you the longitudinal location.

So you would clamp the LR 32 rail on top off (sort off) the plain rail? The rail to be drilled/routed will be upside down (spines captured in the dados) so the rails are flat to flat? I think the rubber strips won't be a problem.

I think this would work, what do you think Les?

Mirko's scheme is what I've used to make drilling jigs, it's very fast and no worries about routing aluminum. Just be sure when you measure for the 1st hole it's from center to center and not from the edge of the pin to the center of the 1st hole. DAMHIKT.

I doesnt make alot of sense for the first one. But if you need more or if another Fezaholic needs one the set up is there and the cost per rail goes way down.

Eiji

Beca;use the holes the router "drills" are offset off the LR-32 Guide Rail, it should be possible to butt the end of an LR-32 Guide Rail and butt the end of the Guide Rail into which you want to cut indexing holes against stops to ensure correct positioning of the holes you are machining relative to the end of the rail.  I own only a short LR-32 holed rail, and when I need to make a row of holes that is longer than the guide rail, I simply join it to another non-holed rail and slide the holed rail lengthwise using at least one of the already drilled holes in the workpiece for registration, reclamp the guide rails and resume drilling holes with my router.  But I don't make my living doing this.  If I did, I'd simply buy a longer holed rail from Festool.  I do wonder why Festool simply doesn't provide the holes in all their Guide Rails.  I note in the new catalogue there is a big discrepancy in the cost differential of the longer guide rails with and without holes, compared the cost very small cost differential between the short rails with and without holes.  Makes no sense to me.  Once setup, the machining should be fast and easy.

Dave R.

True, Greg, but why not put holes in all rails that are 95" and shorter such that any two rails joined end-to-end would present a continuum of perfectly registered holes?  Since the 75" and shorter rails are supplied with MFTs and TS 55 and TS 75 saws, why not simply put the holes in these rails and then encourage all these Festool owners to add a Festool router and the hole drilling plate and side stops?  I would rather not have to have any more rails than absolutely necessary and have that money back to spend on other Festool products.  Of course, by now, I already have more than enough rails for anything I am ever likely to tackle, although I will have to index my LR-32 holed rail to drill for shelves in any tall closet system, and probably in shop-made Sysport substitutes. 

Dave R.