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Author Topic: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails  (Read 2506 times)

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Offline Pnw painter

  • Posts: 170
Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« on: January 23, 2018, 07:29 PM »
I'm about to start building some cabinets for my shop and I'd like to connect a router to my Festool rails to use for Dado's.

Obviously, my Bosch 1617 router doesn't have a guide rail adapter that will work with Festool rails. Micro Fence sells something called the "Interface Essentials Package" that allows you to mount just about any router to the Festool rails. At $250 its not cheap, but it would work.

Another option I'm considering, is buying a Makita or Triton router using their guide rail adapters to mount them my Festool track. Since I've heard the Festool, Makita and Triton tracks are virtually identical, I'm curious if anybody has had luck using Makita or Triton routers with a Festool track.

Any advice would be appreciated. In a perfect world I'd buy an OF1400, but since I don't think I'll use this setup very much, I'm having a tough time justifying the purchase of an OF1400.
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Offline Pnw painter

  • Posts: 170
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2018, 01:52 PM »
BNA, thanks for the advice and the links. For certain application I think a Dado jig would be very practical. There are a ton of different Dado jigs, but are there any that you think work particularly well?

I thought that attaching the router to the guide rail would be the most practical approach for making 8' Dado's in sheets of ply.
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Offline Dick Mahany

  • Posts: 395
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2018, 02:38 PM »
You could also do something like this with threaded rod, a home made adapter plate and Festool guides.  Works great.
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Offline android

  • Posts: 35
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2018, 03:56 PM »
Quote from: bnaboatbuilder on January 23, 2018, 07:35 PM
You are overthinking this. Just clamp a straight edge and run the router, (any router with a straight bit) against the edge and poof you have a dado.

You have to be careful doing this. I used this method to put some grooves on my work top and when the router ran across some harder grain, it pulled away from the track.

Luckily, it was just a piece of plywood and not something expensive. If I were routing a long slot on a production part, I'd want something that keeps the router on course no matter what.

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Offline Dongar

  • Posts: 82
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2018, 07:26 PM »
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Offline Bohdan

  • Posts: 889
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2018, 07:41 PM »
Quote from: android on January 24, 2018, 03:56 PM

You have to be careful doing this. I used this method to put some grooves on my work top and when the router ran across some harder grain, it pulled away from the track.

If the router pulls away from the rail it means that you are cutting in the wrong direction. You have to always have the cutter cutting so that it pushes against the rail as it cuts.
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Offline Mark Katz

  • Posts: 17
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2018, 02:40 AM »
@Dongar  The post you linked to was posted in 2007 and thus the photos are no longer visible (except in postage stamp sized previews). Would you mind reposting the photos from that post again? I'm assuming you have the jpgs on your computer so you won't need to actually retake the photos.

Thanks in advance,
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Offline Master Carpenter

  • Posts: 91
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2018, 04:38 PM »
Quote from: Pnw painter on January 23, 2018, 07:29 PM

Obviously, my Bosch 1617 router doesn't have a guide rail adapter that will work with Festool rails. Micro Fence sells something called the "Interface Essentials Package" that allows you to mount just about any router to the Festool rails. At $250 its not cheap, but it would work.


There is a reason the microfence isn't cheap. It's extremely precise, you want to make a dado 1/100 of an inch wider than your material, it will do it. I have a systainer with my microfence "kit", it doesn't come out often, but when I need maximum accuracy, it's what I reach for.

The microfence edge guide made the bevel radius below a piece of cake
« Last Edit: January 29, 2018, 04:42 PM by Master Carpenter »
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Ts 55, Ts 75, of 1010, lr 32, mft, mfs 700, RO 150 x2 + paper asort, RO 90 + paper asort, pro 5, df 500 + dom asort, hl 850 e, ti 15, t18, cxs, centrotec set, ct48, ct sys, vac sys, 32;55x2;118 tracks, a stack of sys and an og festool first aid kit. Kapex, planex, carvex, conturo.

Offline vinay

  • Posts: 17
Re: Options for using a non-Festool router on Festool rails
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2018, 01:21 PM »
Reviving an old thread...

I'm thinking about purchasing Bosch GMF 1600 vs. Festool 1400.
The main benefit I see for the Festool is that it can be used with the Festool rail that I already own as I have the TS-55.
I found the following Video that shows "Makita 194579-2 Router Guide Rail Adapter" connecting GOF 1400 to Festool rail, and saw elsewhere that GOF 1400 and 1600 appear to use the same Bosch fence, meaning they should be compatible.

Does anyone know if that Makita adapter would allow using the GMF 1600 with the Festool rail? I wonder why I couldn't find any discussion raising that as an option, maybe it doesn't work after all?
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