Fill in the blank: I wish Festool made a ______!

[panelchat]

Heavy duty rails, certified to a stated straightness tolerance!
And shipped in a real box.
Last vendor I talked to said they lose 10% of them in shipping from bending. If this is true, this is totally absurd.
My 55 rail just fell over on the sidewalk from a tiny breeze onto a little pebble and now, improbably, has an impact mark and a little bend in it, and I have to set up an accurate straightness test to see if its trash now or not.

I think many of us probably use these in the shop the majority of time, where the weight issue is not important.

2 more mm of thickness on the profile, and you could have a long rail for 4x8 panel cutting that wouldn't have to be treated with a highly unusual amount of care.

Corrugated plastic shipping box, would last a long time for transporting around...

Another item: Mafell style roll up rail, fitting in a syatainer. I'd buy it in a second!

 

[Paddyfin1]

I want a DAB radio built into a systainer with a slot for my iPhone, maybe some keys, a sandwich ,a drink [scared]
This is what I want now bloody well build it (cause I can't  [crying])

 

[peter halle]

Longer extrusions for the parallel guides that could be connected up to 8' in length.

Peter

 

[Alan m]

Longer extrusions for the parallel guides that could be connected up to 8' in length.

Peter

it would be great if you could add on mfs profiles. and have a flat bit sticking out at each joint to support the rail

 

[James Watriss]

Somewhere earlier in this head I had a similar idea for a fast fix drill guide, with a base that would bolt to the LR 32, and mount to both face and edge of MFS system for repeated placement tasks like drilling for drawer knobs, door knobs and latches, dowel joints, and so on.

Not only that, at this point I'd like to see one with a feed lever like and old school Drill stand for corded drills, with depth stop, etc, to keep bits from self-feeding or to enable controlled drilling through metal with small bits.

 

[sprior]

Yesterday I was using the parallel guide to crosscut shelves off the end of a sheet of melamine using a 1400mm guide rail and it would have been nice to have a guide rail just a little bit longer to be able to cut the 48" wide sheet with enough extra to attach both parallel guides and have enough left over for the track saw to fully engage the guide.  Another 5-10 inches long would have been perfect and the next longer available guide rail is way too long.  I guess if you're making parallel cuts in plywood you'd be doing it in the other direction so you'd need an even longer guide rail, but with MDF or melamine cross cutting the sheet can make sense.

 

[fdengel]

How about an LR32 drilling system for drilling LR32 holes into a standard FS rail? ... am I starting down the chicken or the egg path??

I'm wondering if the LR32 system could be adapted to work with a drill... aren't those designed for making holes too?

;D

 

[Alan m]

im sure an aluminium piece with a bushing would allow a bit to the used with a hand drill

 

[peter halle]

I believe that I am in correct in saying that the holes in the rails are not actually round.  That is part of the expense and the difficulty in manufacturing.

Peter

 

[tbellemare]

You are correct, they are elongated slightly and need to be.

Tom

 

[Kev]

You are correct, they are elongated slightly and need to be.

Tom

Darn - does that me we need a rectangular drill ?  [wink]

A service that converted rails to holy rails would be a really interesting idea. I have 1x3000, 2x 1400, 1x1080 and would gladly have them all "converted". As the track saw market grows, modifying, maintaining, repairing rails could become a be opportunity ... particularly if it solved the unique logistics in terms of transport!

So is the hole something that would need to be routed on a CNC? (I may need to go and have a look at lunch time as I still haven't invested in LR32 yet).

 

[Alan m]

the holes are elongated to allow for movement and to aid adjustment of the sliding part

if you put that bushing plate  ontot he sliding part it should allow for a drill to be used

 

[sprior]

I notice that Festool doesn't have a drill press.  One thing that might be good is an attachment for the Festool drills that holds it perfectly perpendicular to a surface.  Festool uses a router for some hole boring, but doesn't seem to have a good solution when the best answer is a drill bit.  I've tried one companies jig for a portable drill, but didn't find it to be very accurate, so I'd like a Festool quality solution.

 

[jmbfestool]

I notice that Festool doesn't have a drill press.  One thing that might be good is an attachment for the Festool drills that holds it perfectly perpendicular to a surface.  Festool uses a router for some hole boring, but doesn't seem to have a good solution when the best answer is a drill bit.  I've tried one companies jig for a portable drill, but didn't find it to be very accurate, so I'd like a Festool quality solution.

Protool do one

 

[Kev]

I notice that Festool doesn't have a drill press.  One thing that might be good is an attachment for the Festool drills that holds it perfectly perpendicular to a surface.  Festool uses a router for some hole boring, but doesn't seem to have a good solution when the best answer is a drill bit.  I've tried one companies jig for a portable drill, but didn't find it to be very accurate, so I'd like a Festool quality solution.

Protool do one

Protool actually do several, and Timberwolf flog the in the colonies ... http://www.timberwolftools.com/tools/protool/P-GDP.html

 

[peter halle]

The issue with the Festool drills and a "drill holder / press accessory" is that most require a specific "neck" and would operate the best with a locking trigger.  The design of the drills currently don't support the "neck" and there is not a locking trigger.  Very few - if any - cordless drills have a locking trigger because of battery life, and the drill designs of the Festools have been highly engineered for hand held ergonomics.

Of course these are my views and observations - not Festool's.

Peter

 

[James Watriss]

Fair points, but the neck issue is why fast-fix is key.

 

[jmbfestool]

The issue with the Festool drills and a "drill holder / press accessory" is that most require a specific "neck" and would operate the best with a locking trigger.  The design of the drills currently don't support the "neck" and there is not a locking trigger.  Very few - if any - cordless drills have a locking trigger because of battery life, and the drill designs of the Festools have been highly engineered for hand held ergonomics.

Of course these are my views and observations - not Festool's.

Peter

The TS saws are not designed with a trigger to stay on permanently, same with festool planers both require a extra piece of plastic to keep the triggers held in when they are mounted in a bench.  So the drills are no different really festool could do the same with the drills.

The fast fix heads are the designed  already to be fast fixed onto a larger accessory.

So the only thing I can agree is the batterie life but for one or two holes some where on a roof or something this would be ideal.  

The fast fix quickly attaching the drill on a fixed chuck attached to the stand which holds the drill bits ready.

When done un clip the drill from the fixed chuck which holds the bit in the drill stand.  Unlike others when you remove the drill the drill bit is still attached to the drill. You can leave your bit in the stand in the chuck all set up and you can easily swap from drilling to driving.

Oh another thing FESTOOL if you do decide to make this accessory drill stand please will you add a lock switch on the chuck so that you can add/remove a drill bit with out the need to attach the drill to the chuck to release/tighten the chuck.   Thank you!

Jmb

 

[James Watriss]

-AC adapter that slides into the handle will solve battery life issues.
-Agreed on the plastic trigger lock.
-Chucking bits is easy. Fast fix mount to drill, other end of shaft, use centrotec. Chuck the bit into the chuck on the drill as usual, disconnect, and mount in the drill press accessory.

 

[Knight Woodworks]

A TXS... just thought I'd ask.

John