Can Festool anti-splinter strips be used on Metabo rails?

[AlexThePalex]

I've got to install some boards on the front of a house. The material is called Viroc, a cement bonded particle board. It feels and cuts like particle board, but with cement added for strength and durability.

Problem is, I've got to cut it with a crappy Metabo saw and its' old, dinged up guide rail. We can only use this saw and not my better material because you need a special diamond coated blade for it and they had already bought and used that blade before I got involved. €105 for a very small blade with only 4 teeth, of a completely unknown brand called Jela. Hm.

The saw works ok, but having a blade guard installed on it wreaks havoc on precision, only to be exacerbated by the bad condition of all the strips on the rail. Right now, it is nearly impossible to get straight cuts because the rail just keeps on moving.

So here's my question, I need to get new strips for the rail and I don't know where to get Metabo strips. I can get Festool strips everywhere, so I'd like to hear from people with experience if the strips are compatible.

A few pics:

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[bertv]

[member=5277]Alex[/member] The rail in your picture appears to be nearly identical to the Festool (to slot for connecting them could be a little wider…), so using their strips should work.

 

[WastedP]

For future reference, Festool does make a fiber cement blade that's sold in the US, 202958.

However, I'd gladly use someone else's saw to cut that stuff vs. my saw.

 

[Alanbach]

I don’t know the answer to your question but if all else fails run to the store and buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Clean those strips with the alcohol and a rag. That should renew the “grab” on those strips enough to get you through the day.

 

[mino]

Yes get the Festool strips, they re more grippy than any other strips I saw including Metabo an Maffel ones.

I would also use 3 strips - there is "spare" space in the middle of the Metabo rail for one more.
You biggest problem will be to get the old strips off the rail - so you may try a trick by adding just the third Festool strip and see if it is not good-enough.

Lastly, the "slipping" will still happen if the material is dusty. I wipe the board with cloth before placing the rail in such cases am not placing it on a layer of dust.

 

[squall_line]

I thought the question was about the splinter guard, but there have been a lot of responses about the non-skid strips.

[member=5277]Alex[/member] , is there a specific concern you have about the Festool splinter guard on the Metabo rail?  Too wide, too narrow, too something else?

 

[AlexThePalex]

Thanks for the replies guys, will try the Festool strips, both the anti-splinter strip and the non-skid strips. I was thinking maybe the sizes were different (width & thickness)

 

[mino]

I thought the question was about the splinter guard, but there have been a lot of responses about the non-skid strips.

Yeah, the tittle was that, but then comment was about the "rail not staying in place" which points to anti-slip strips.

The anti-splinter strip is really only about clean cuts in wood materials, avoiding a need for scoring cuts. Its only other function is to support the rail, but for that it just needs to exist but can be heavily damaged and it will be all the same. One will get perfectly straight cuts even with a messed up anti-splinter strip as long as the rail is references in some other way like with PGS etc.

I actually have a dedicated rail I use for sheet metal cutting and stone/brick/concrete cutting. On that I have the anti-splinter purposefully trimmed to not extend beyond the aluminum edge and serve only as the rail support not as anti-splinter. The cut can be hot and it could melt-in with the plastic material otherwise. I cannot use the same rail for metal as for wood anyway to not transfer metal chips, and this way it is easy to see which is which too.

 

[AlexThePalex]

The anti-splinter strip is really only about clean cuts in wood materials, avoiding a need for scoring cuts. Its only other function is to support the rail,

And it is also needed to see where the cutting line is. Right now the strip is worn up till the rail itself and I have to guess where the exact line is. Replacing the anti-splinter strip is most important, but I'll do the other strips too.

 

[Roseland]

A different view; I have Festool rails and I got fed up with the anti-splinter strips moving or falling off.  I replaced them with Makita strips from Axminster and have had no more problems.
https://www.axminstertools.com/makita-sp6000-guide-rail-splinter-guard-3m-423360-7-501714

Andrew

 

[afish]

A different view; I have Festool rails and I got fed up with the anti-splinter strips moving or falling off.  I replaced them with Makita strips from Axminster and have had no more problems.
https://www.axminstertools.com/makita-sp6000-guide-rail-splinter-guard-3m-423360-7-501714

Andrew

I was thinking the same thing...Why anyone would want to put Festool splinter strips on anything whenall they do is fall off. I have had makita and festool rails, Granted Im in a hot climate but my festool rail wasnt more than a couple months old when the strip started coming loose after 6 months it was basically no longer attached.  Funny thing was it was on my dedicated LR32 rail which was never even used for cutting.  My makita strips are still on like day one even after a couple years.  Festool makes some great stuff but they cant make those splinter strips stick.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I will see if I can get the Makita strips. But I do not have a lot of time to shop around, I only have 1 hour tomorrow morning to buy them. It is not my saw anyway and it is paid by the client and I basically only need them to stay on for the few days I am working with the saw.

 

[mino]

Makita strips:
+ cheap and available
+ rubber based so easy to see
+ rubber based so flexible and bends when caught instead of unglueing
- rubber based so poor /aka poorest possible/ anti-splinter function
- ABHORRENT glue / the glue sticks to rail but does NOT stick to strip => total PITA to replace the strip as all glue stays stuck to rail

Festool strips:
+ expensive but not too much
- transparent plastic so harder to see
- hard plastic so unless the end is cut 45 degrees it is easy to catch and when caught tends to un-glue
+ hard plastic so best-in-market anti-splinter function (most pressure applied closest to cut line)
+ EXCELLENT glue configuration, is a breeze to replace

Overall, if replacing splinter strips on some else's kit, and is in such a bad shape as you mention, I would go Makita. They are unlikely to care for the anti-splinter function of the Festool version and the black Makita one is easier to see.