Guiderail question

[SPARKY FROM WINNIPEG]

Hi all, new member and proud new owner of a ct22, ts55 and ro150. I have a question regarding guide rails, my ts55 came with a 55" rail and I purchased a additional 55" rail when I make my initial cut on the splinterguard would it be better to use a 110" splinterguard or leave on the 55" splinterguards that came with the rails. Would this effect the quality of cut on my sheet goods. I guess the reason I would like to leave the 55" splinterguards on is if i want to cut shorter goods and only use one rail as from what i can tell the splinter guards are one time use only. Hope I haven't completely confused you now!!

 

[peter halle]

You can use the splinter guards that came on the rails.  Unless you use the panther ripping blade, if the guards are in good shape you shouldn't have to replace them or remove them and reposition them. ( The panther ripping blade has a wider kerf and eats some more of the rubber leaving you with a strip that doesn't align with the cutters produced by all the other Festool blades.)

Peter

 

[Greg in Memphis]

Hey Sparky

You don't need to change out your splinter guards until they wear down to the point that you can't scoot them closer to the edge any more. A gap of 1/8" to 1/4" will make zero difference if the rails are properly spliced together.

If you use two 482107 connectors (1 in each slot) to splice each set of guide rails together, you can't tell where the splice point is, just by looking at the cut. Two connectors work one helluva lot better than just one.
The trick is to place the back edge of the rails on end on a flat and level surface (so the rails are not laying down horizontal, but are on their back edges laying vertical with the splinter guards edges pointing up as you tighten the set screws in the connectors. Keep the edges of both rails within 1/8" of each other as you tighten them.

Also, you may consider some other rail lengths. I use my 32" and 42" rails all the time for quick cross-cuts by themselves, and sometimes splice them together (with a 55" or a 75" rail) for just the right length rail for a cut. Works great for me.

I'm hoping this may be some help

Greg

 

[SPARKY FROM WINNIPEG]

Thanks guys this exactly the info I was looking for!!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

You can use the splinter guards that came on the rails.  Unless you use the panther ripping blade, if the guards are in good shape you shouldn't have to replace them or remove them and reposition them. ( The panther ripping blade has a wider kerf and eats some more of the rubber leaving you with a strip that doesn't align with the cutters produced by all the other Festool blades.)

Peter

What is stated by Peter above is correct.  Note that Tenyru has recently begun to market blades designed to Festool's circular saws.  I have one of their new rip blades for my TS 55 which has a listed kerf width of 2.0mm.  If that Tenyru blade runs true it should result in not having to replace or reset the splinter guard once trimmed with Festool's 48T Fine Tooth Blade (Item #491952) that is supplied with the TS 55 saw, which blade has a kerf width of 2.2mm.

Here's a photo of the new Tenyru rip blade.

[attachimg=1]

I have not yet tried out this blade so I cannot confirm if it will not cut additional material off the splinter strip of my Guide Rail that has been trimmed with a Festools 48T Fine Tooth Blade (Item #491952).  I have a 10 inch diameter Tenyru Gold Medal 40T combination blade on my cabinet saw and have been very pleased with its performance, so I have high hope for their series of blade designed for use with Festool saws.  Saw blades are Tenyru's primary business.

Dave R.