Guide Rail Advice

[jtsymbo]

Once again, thanks for the great advice. I'm leaning towards starting with the 1900 and the 1080 rails and then add the 1400 LR/2 rail down the road.
2 questions:
I will need connectors. Should I purchase the TSO GRE-13, the Makita (P20177), or the improved Festool connectors (FSV/12)?
What is the best way to store three rails? They'll be primarily stored in my garage.

Thanks

 

[Crazyraceguy]

For the added value of the GRE itself, that's what I would do, hindsight being 20/20. Well, that's not fair, it didn't exist when I got the old style Festool ones. (which are the last ones I would buy)

Storing kind of depends on your space. I store all of mine vertically. The shorter ones hang by the factory hole on the rail. The longer ones stand on-end, on a specially built ledge, with a small lever that wraps around the thicker side, so they can't tip over.

I will have to rethink that when I retire and take them to my home shop. It does not have the vertical space for a 3000mm rail.

 

[LsDelancy]

I started with an LR32 1400 rail and a 1900 rail plus a set of connectors. It didn't take me long to get a 3000 rail. I just went and got an 800 rail yesterday. Your work will quickly tell you what you need.

 

[onocoffee]

It does not have the vertical space for a 3000mm rail.

Build a bigger shop. Seems like an easy fix to me! ;D

 

[Crazyraceguy]

It does not have the vertical space for a 3000mm rail.

Build a bigger shop. Seems like an easy fix to me! ;D

Sounds easy, but it just isn't. I will have room to use it, just not to store it vertically.

 

[HighlandMarine]

Once again, thanks for the great advice. I'm leaning towards starting with the 1900 and the 1080 rails and then add the 1400 LR/2 rail down the road.
2 questions:
I will need connectors. Should I purchase the TSO GRE-13, the Makita (P20177), or the improved Festool connectors (FSV/12)?
What is the best way to store three rails? They'll be primarily stored in my garage.

Thanks

The three in the order above is what I’d recommend, on the 1900, go for the KP2 model as it gives you more options, and if you ever need to make a horizontal cut, or something you can’t clamp, this is a better option than the old gecko accessory imho.

For storage, check out the track mounts from fast cap, just make sure you hang them with the splinter guard up. A lot of people mount them on the back of their garage door to save space. TSO extension, Guide rail square PE 2.0, and self aligning connectors are all great accessories, I’d save for their parallel guide set down the road too. (They’re little parts tray is awesome too, use it constantly.)

 

[onocoffee]

BTW, does no one like the 800 rail?

 

[mino]

BTW, does no one like the 800 rail?

800 is great. Two of them semi-permanently joined even make for a great 1600 for cross-cuts.

That said, one can do all the things with 1080 which are doable with 800, unlike the 1400, it is not too long for short cuts.

My 800 came to be by cutting up a 1400 that came with the saw into a 600 and 800. Did that because I did not get a 1080 initially, needed something shorter than a 1400 and had found that two 1400 joined together were still a PITA for full rips anyway.

Now I have:
400 LR32 (from a bent 1400)
800 (from 1400)
1080
1080
1400 LR32
1800 (from 2700, a big mistake getting that one)

+ a portable set in a SYS-MAXI for when going somewhere and not wanting to mess with rails being fragile
550 LR32 (from a bent 1400)
550 (from 1400)
550 (from the 2700)

Do not have a table saw, so from all these, the 1080, 1800 and 800 are the most often used ones. If I had a TS, I could probably do away with the 800.

I keep two 1080s as when processing full sheets I semi-permanently join the second 1080 with the 1800 to have a 2900 rail while keeping the 1080 available for cross-cuts.

I made a big blunder in getting a 1400 with the TSC, an LR 32 1400 one and and a 2700 in the beginning. So had no short/handy rail, resulting in the chopping up of the saw-included 1400 pretty soon. Also not having any 2800+ rail either meant I pretty fast cut up the 2700 into a 2500 and used it semi-permanently joined with the 600 into a 3100. In total, I bought the worst possible combination I could have with the budget. That 2500+600 set was better, but still a PITA with the short extension interfering with clamping, hence no love from me for the TSO extension rail. It is too short. After getting a 1080, I eventually cut up the 2500 more into a 1800. With the 1080 that provides for optimal 2900 length for rips and trouble-free joining/clamping. It also fits in a common European car trunk with a seat folded which is a bonus (the 1900 does not without some fiddling).

-----
ADD:
For our US friends: Full sheets here are 2500x1250 as opposed to the US 8 by 4 at 2440x1220.
That makes the 2700 for rips and the 1400 for cross-cuts ever more useless than in the US setting.

We also have the 1525x1525 birch ply and 2800x2070 melamine boards. Meaning one needs a 3200-ish rail (e.g. 1400+1900) and a 2500-ish rail (e.g. 1080+1400).

The Festool rail lengths never made sense to me until I stopped thinking of them as individual lengths but started to consider the joined rails as the "default" for any ripping scenario. With 1080+1400+1900 one gets:
1080 (

 

[Jim_in_PA]

BTW, does no one like the 800 rail?

I have a shorter Makita rail I picked up brand new for 'a song' from someone that had multiples and I actually use it quite a bit with the track saw when doing things like trimming a cabinet to correct for, um...human error...or for when cutting material that the next longer track has more overhang than is comfortable to work around. This is one of the beautiful things about a track system...having multiple lengths of track that are suited to a given need and that shorter one very much compliments the other two I own.

 

[onocoffee]

Thanks [member=61254]mino[/member] - your post is a great guide on Guide Rails. Perhaps I'll get the 1080 instead of the 800. I have been finding the 1400 irritating to wield around the shop for shot cuts.

Though I'm still not clear on why some of you prefer the Makita connectors. Saw them the other day and didn't really understand the difference with the never Festool V2 that has the expanding connector. The price though was half of the Festool.

 

[mino]

Thanks [member=61254]mino[/member] - your post is a great guide on Guide Rails. Perhaps I'll get the 1080 instead of the 800. I have been finding the 1400 irritating to wield around the shop for shot cuts.

Though I'm still not clear on why some of you prefer the Makita connectors. Saw them the other day and didn't really understand the difference with the never Festool V2 that has the expanding connector. The price though was half of the Festool.

I did not say prefer. I wrote I advise to start with them/buy a set first. Even if you end up going with the various self-aligning connectors for daily use.

The key reasons are two:
1) they are the only type which can be fully tightened without damaging the rails (to the point of stripping the hex heads threads)

2) they are not self-aligning, instead require a reference straight edge, this is essential for perfect accuracy when joining rails as well as troubleshooting when one of your rails is not super-straight at its start/end which can make self-aligning connectors unusable

They are also the cheapest, so that only adds onto why a set should be the one to get first, even if not necessarily the only set/type one has.

 

[onocoffee]

[member=61254]mino[/member] Ah, understood. Thanks.