That's a great analogy for the edge guide
I think that Festool sells other manufacturers products frankly. Comparing the guide for the OF2000 to that of the OF1400 is like comparing apples & oranges.
The routers are both fantastic, just don't get hung up on the accessories. Jigging your routers is a shop skill we all need to know.
That's what bells & whistles are though. What I find upsetting is the fact that Festool sells the OF2000 guide for $131.00, while the OF1400 guide sells at $58.00. Obviously nobody looked closely at the two at the coporate HQ.
BTW, it shouldn't matter. While the accessories are often interesting, they are often based on shop made versions of themselves.
I have two small "C" clamps given to me at one large cabinetshop I worked at. All the bench Cabinetmakers got a pair. They were for clamping any old scrap block of wood to the bases on our older model bosch routers. These older routers all came with a pair of holes, factory drilled,right throught the sub base plate & the cast base body. The shop also gave us all a pair of machine screws with wingnuts. With these you could attach any creation you could dream up to the base of the router. We also were given one 3/4" x3/4" straight router bit with a 1/4" shaft. This bit had no bearing, yet was to be used for rabbeting with the router & any old scrap block of wood. It always worked perfect & is infinitely adjustable. It aslo will not shift if it's tapped once the "C" clamps are tightened hard. Oh, & you could use anedge profiling bit like an Ogee, without bearings. In that fashion only a portion of the cutter can be used, while the bit canbe buried in the scrap block fence, allowing "zero clearance" The Bosch router is designed to quickly attach to shop made accessories.
Nowadays they all come with special attachment devices for expensive dedicated accessories. To be honest, I never used the bars/edge guide for my many Porter cable 690 routers, but the two humps on the cast base for the bars to slide through are often in the way of the "C" clamps. Besides, have you ever seen the edge guide for a Porter Cable router. It's cast heavier like a hand plane, & is basically identical to the Festool guides. It is stronger & therefore better, yet out of the box they must be straightened. Also, they make the router even more likely to tip over, though they would never shatter.
Usually a wood face plate is attached to this guide & then jointed. I did this to the OF 1400 guide in order to widen it. The single face strengthens the fence quite a bit & I should have added one to the OF2000 guide.
I use a Stanley #80M scraper. It is identical to a Stanley #80 scraper. The difference between the two, the M, which stands for a malleable casting. This meant that it could be dropped & it wouldn't shatter. It was designed to withstand the rigors of a professional existence, & sold alongside the standard #80. This was 100 years ago. BTW, that is what I call an option.
Anyway, I never worried about the accessories unless they are truly essential, & I can't fashion it myself, like collets. My router table is just a shop made version. It has never not been able to accomplish my needs, & stores on the wall.
PS For $131.00 that edge guide should bounce, & not break. :
