Guide rail cross cutting jig

[Dongar]

Hi I just noticed that woodcraft has their WoodRiver Guide Rail Angle Jig Item #150005 on sale for $27 from $36 that I bought it for.So I thought it would be a good time to post a very simple modification to it to use it as a crosscut jig with the festool guide rail. This gives you a tapered set pin for all the common angles that appear to be accurate. I haven't tried it at odd angles but it does seem to lock in securely. The modification consisted of 5 or 6 passes on a sharp file followed by 2 passes on a 45 to chamfer the sharp edges on each t nut to fit the festool guide rail. Then installing them with the filed side facing in to make sure the guide pulled in tight and eliminated any play. An other modification I might make is to get a piece of aluminum or steel bar stock to replace the bottom guide bar with a longer one that would extend under the guide rail to give more stability to the guide rail. It works fine the way it is now as long as you apply pressure towards the material with your left hand centered on jig as you place the guide rail down.
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filing T-nuts
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The pictures show the guide locked in at various angles and they are right on according to my square
Donald

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Donald,

That's a really good idea, but I wouldn't trust a Speed Square as that's really just made for framing accuracies, though I'm sure there aren't any problems with what you came up with.

 

[tallgrass]

actually the speed squares are made to a very tight tolerance, the old ones i am not sure about but the new ones are finished an current cnc machines and QAQC'd to a surprisingly high spec. i remember being surprised about the accuracy but they have the manufacturing order of operation down.

 

[GhostFist]

I use a swanson speed square "Big 12" on site for framing and whatnot. recently one of the other carpenter's on site "mistook" my Swanson for his canadian tire knock off and brought it home with him. I corrected his mistake. Off topic I know and i apologize.

 

[cje]

Donald,

Thank your for mentioning this.
I immediately ordered one of those. Alas the shipping exceeds the price of the Angle Jig, but with the relatively cheap dollar I couldn't resist.

Best, Karel

 

[cje]

Got mine delivered a couple of minutes ago!

Karel

 

[Dongar]

Hi Karel
I used mine today to crosscut 12 adjustable shelves to length on a some cabinets I modified for a client. All of the cuts came out perfect and it took less then 10 minutes. My angle jig came set up exactly adjusted but it looks like the bar can be adjusted by screws on the bottom. I have used mine  almost exclusively for 90 degree angles and it works well for them. If I don't come up with a need for miters soon  I might just try cutting up some scraps to see how it works. Let me know how it works for you.
Donald 

 

[cje]

. Let me know how it works for you.
Donald 

Hi Donald,

I had to adjust it slightly, at some testcuts it was about .5 degree off.
But after that the jig works great.

You mentioned: An other modification I might make is to get a piece of aluminum or steel bar stock to replace the bottom guide bar with a longer one that would extend under the guide rail to give more stability to the guide rail.

Did you do that already? I was cutting parts for the toy I'm building for my grandson. Many tiny parts couldn't be cut using the jig, so I had to fall back to 'old-fashioned' yardstick + pencil work.

Karel

 

[GaryB]

I did the same thing with my woodcraft guide. I replaced the supplied shallow t-nuts with regular 1/4 20 with knobs and they hold the rail very securely. The thing seems very accurate and is solid.

 

[JBarfield]

I recently purchased the Woodriver guide, and while it is well made and accurate, it should be pointed out that it does not allow the saw to make full depth cuts because of the clearance at the rail attachment.  The maximum cut possible is about 1 1/4".  This is not a problem for most cuts, but is a limit that might be avoided if an alternative rail bracket extension could be made.  I may look into this.

 

[mikey2]

I too thought the bar should be longer. I used an Incra Miter Slider. It just required drilling and tapping 3 holes, and filing a couple notches to clear the bolt heads underneath. The M5x12 bolts were replaced with M5x16, with an extra washer.

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