Carvex Guide Rail

[Staniam]

I ment orbital/pendulum speed or aggression of the cut. 1 does not remove a lot of material. I cut counter tops with formica and full 1.5 inch with my Carvex and it keeps as straight of a line as I need.

Gotcha, well that may help a lot then. I'll try orbital/pendulum 3. I know that's supposed to be much more aggressive but was worried it wouldn't give a clean cut.

 

[NHSP759]

I think somebody already said this but il reiterate, try adjusting the Guide jaws with the Allen wrench and i will confirm your decision on setting three. That setting works best for me for cutting wood. I haven't tried any other materials but wood and MDF.

 

[Stone Message]

I use Pendulum position 3 all the time - despite what it might say in the manual. This should solve the problem.

I say this at about 2 minutes and 35 seconds into my first video about the machine:



If you then go to my conclusion (from about 16 minutes) you will hear my rant about it needing to be in position 3 all the time !

Peter

 

[GarryMartin]

Looks like it is starting off fine and then moving away from the line. You're not catching the cable or hose on something are you? Or hitting the clamp with something as you move the Carvex forward?

 

[Staniam]

I have the cordless barrel grip so no cords to get caught and I also made sure to keep the DC hose from catching on anything.

I gotta say, I'm super excited to get out and try these tips from you guys. I'll definitely move my setting to 3.

 

[Acrobat]

Any luck getting it to stay straight and follow the guide rail?
I have the carvex guide rail attachment and for some reason I don't know why, it is a loose fit on the guide rail, with no means of adjusting it to fit. A pain. I've now made a cross cut guide t-square thing from plans I found on this site, works a treat. Having said that, I would like to have the festooll attachment fitting properly without its slack, as unlike some, I prefer sometimes to use a jigsaw for short straight cuts rather than a bigger & heavier circular saw, and having the guide work properly would help.

 

[yiquanone]

Mine does same thing, won't cut straight using guide, tried many different things, sent in for repair, still does not cut straight using guide.

 

[Staniam]

I haven't been able to implement everyone's ideas yet as I've been busy with the holidays, family and work but I will try on Wednesday. One thing I was thinking, and somebody might have mentioned it but I think putting too much force behind the saw may have caused my cut to veer off. That coupled with the 1 pendulum setting may have been it.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Any luck getting it to stay straight and follow the guide rail?
I have the carvex guide rail attachment and for some reason I don't know why, it is a loose fit on the guide rail, with no means of adjusting it to fit. A pain. I've now made a cross cut guide t-square thing from plans I found on this site, works a treat. Having said that, I would like to have the festooll attachment fitting properly without its slack, as unlike some, I prefer sometimes to use a jigsaw for short straight cuts rather than a bigger & heavier circular saw, and having the guide work properly would help.

I agree - this is a shortfall of the attachment. The one for the Trion allows for taking up any slop, but the Carvex does not. You have to push against one side of the rail to get the most accurate cut or use some plastic tape to take up some of the slack.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Your guiderail base is not parallel to the blade. There isn't a lot of play with it, but possibly enough to cause your drift.

Loosen the base release lever just a little bit--enough to wiggle the base. Twist the base counterclockwise (when viewed upside down like the picture), and re-tighten the lever.

[attachimg=1]

 

[fshanno]

Any luck getting it to stay straight and follow the guide rail?
I have the carvex guide rail attachment and for some reason I don't know why, it is a loose fit on the guide rail, with no means of adjusting it to fit. A pain. I've now made a cross cut guide t-square thing from plans I found on this site, works a treat. Having said that, I would like to have the festooll attachment fitting properly without its slack, as unlike some, I prefer sometimes to use a jigsaw for short straight cuts rather than a bigger & heavier circular saw, and having the guide work properly would help.

You have the guide rail attachment but you don't use it cause it doesn't work well.  Is that right? 

 

[fshanno]

I ment orbital/pendulum speed or aggression of the cut. 1 does not remove a lot of material. I cut counter tops with formica and full 1.5 inch with my Carvex and it keeps as straight of a line as I need.

Do you use the guide and the guide attachment or do you eyeball it?

 

[fshanno]

Is there a how-to video for using a Carvex captured on a guide? 

If not I wish a Carvex owner would make one.  Perhaps one that demonstrates ripping a full sheet of 3/4 ply?

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Is there a how-to video for using a Carvex captured on a guide? 

If not I wish a Carvex owner would make one.  Perhaps one that demonstrates ripping a full sheet of 3/4 ply?

I think that there are some You Tube videos that show the Carvex ripping on a guide rail - here is one I found:

 

[fshanno]

Is there a how-to video for using a Carvex captured on a guide? 

If not I wish a Carvex owner would make one.  Perhaps one that demonstrates ripping a full sheet of 3/4 ply?

I think that there are some You Tube videos that show the Carvex ripping on a guide rail - here is one I found:

We don't know the setup and we don't get to see the results so it's not all that I'm looking for.  But we do see the whole cut start to finish which is good.  Proves it can be done. 

He's crosscutting and not ripping.  Is crosscutting easier for a jigsaw?  You'd think it would be cause there is less likelihood of drifting with the grain.  Ripping plywood is kind of a misnomer since really we're ripping only the plys which are parallel with the cut.  Crosscutting solid wood is probably similar to any kind of cut in plywood.

I'm seeing something here that could be significant.  I get the impression that the barrel grip might be better for cutting captured on the rail.  Closer down to what's going on maybe?  It also appears that he is letting the saw do the work.  Not much forward pressure.

 

[FinishingCanuck]

I know exactly what the problem is...

The blade is not parallel to the base. The same thing happens when I try to use my makita circular saw against a straight edge. I've dropped that old saw so many times it's way out of whack. If the base is off to the left the blade it wanders right and vice versa. To test this, put the track on the other side of the saw... If the saw starts to wander against the rail it will bind the blade

 

[Brent Taylor]

Everybody said the same things, but I use both FT & Makita guide rails with my stuff (modified the Carvex guide base on one side for the Makita rail) & the thing that works best for me is use a Carvex blade, check that the base is installed properly, orbit 3, speed A, fresh splinter insert, clamped rail & a modest feed rate. This has worked well for me on hardwoods and plys. I do a test piece if I can to double check, It cuts well, it's just a fussy pig at times. Finess, not force.

 

[atlr]

Youtube user MrToolstop has some good videos of a Bosch representative talking about blade selection for different tasks that could be helpful.  He demonstrates how thicker blades can help reduce wander and produce 90 degree cuts.

 

[Acrobat]

Any luck getting it to stay straight and follow the guide rail?
I have the carvex guide rail attachment and for some reason I don't know why, it is a loose fit on the guide rail, with no means of adjusting it to fit. A pain. I've now made a cross cut guide t-square thing from plans I found on this site, works a treat. Having said that, I would like to have the festooll attachment fitting properly without its slack, as unlike some, I prefer sometimes to use a jigsaw for short straight cuts rather than a bigger & heavier circular saw, and having the guide work properly would help.

You have the guide rail attachment but you don't use it cause it doesn't work well.  Is that right?

Yes thats correct, at the moment if I do use it I push the attachment into the side off the rail as I go along it. Seems to me not much point in it as I could do the same without it and simply push the standard base along a rail anyway. I had hope fit would have some way of adjusting its fit to the rail so no play.

 

[Stone Message]

I have not checked to see if anyone above has mentioned this but...

The guide rail attachment should fit snuggly on the rail. There are two screws underneath the attachment which can be used to make it fit really well. Without that adjustment it could lead to the problem stated. I cover this in my OF 1010 Part 1 video:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-reviews/festool-of-1010-router-videos/

Peter