Jigsaw Rail Guide is Sloppy

[Steve1]

I just bought a jigsaw rail guide (#497303).
Rather sloppy fit of the guide to the rail.  Must be close to half a millimeter play. 
But conveniently, there are six pockets on the guide that some inserts will nicely fit into, to better fit the guide to my rail.
But that makes me wonder --- was my box missing some inserts ?

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[FestitaMakool]

Well, no and yes.
The recessed pockets are for positioning the guide rail adaptor in the CMS PS-300 module.
But making some guide inserts will certainly be doable.

Here’s the module, and how it looks like when mounted with a jig saw.
EDIT: Just for the record, the adaptor shown mounted is for the Trion, with a Trion baseplate adapted for my Makita jig saw. The slots are the same for the Carvex.

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[Steve1]

OK, thank you.

Before too long, my guide will have negligible play.  Have not quite decided what to put in there, though.  Maybe epoxy.

 

[ScotF]

I have no idea why the Carvex rail guide does not have the screws and plastic to adjust the slop. The Trion guide rail stop does allow you to take out slop. Some plastic tape works to fill the gap or just push against one side or the other and it works OK.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Although I have one, because it came in the base kit, I don't really see the point?
A jigsaw is not exactly a straight line cutting tool, especially for long enough distance to need a guide rail. Where would you need a jigsaw rather than a TS, if it was a cut that needed a rail?

 

[ScotF]

Although I have one, because it came in the base kit, I don't really see the point?
A jigsaw is not exactly a straight line cutting tool, especially for long enough distance to need a guide rail. Where would you need a jigsaw rather than a TS, if it was a cut that needed a rail?

If you do not have a TS saw or for thick cuts. I use rail-guided jigsaw cuts all the time.

 

[Steve1]

I now have zero play with the track.  I put some epoxy on the plastic guide and molded it to my track.

What the jigsaw-with-track gets you, compared to a circular saw, is square cut ends, rather than circular, when not cutting the entire length of the sheet (which is exactly what I needed for my current project).

But for $C44, I am not impressed with the quality.  Besides the fit with the track being sloppy, the fit with the Carvex vacuum snout is too tight.  Its a friction fit rather than snap-in retention, and it becomes tight maybe 5/8" to 3/4" early, leaving a fair sized opening at the top, and not great dust collection.
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[Crazyraceguy]

I really only use a jigsaw for curved cuts or small notches where a round blade wouldn't cut that short.
If I had a longer cut that needed to be square on the end, I would cut it with the TS up to the end, then square up the end with the jigsaw.
The thin blade, moving vertically, which makes it good for curved cuts, also makes it bad for straight ones. Plus, it's extremely slow in comparison.