LR32 - Can you use one rail to make holes in a full size cabinet?

[jaykojc]

I'm making some garage cabinets.  I'd like to build 6' or so carcasses, and outfit them with holes via the LR32.  Only problem is that I only have one 55" rail, and the longer rail is ~$300.  I've seen in some of the shelf pin jigs that you can use a pin to move the jig to the next section for holes and continue along.  Is there a way to do this with the LR32?  The hole is bigger than a shelf pin, so I don't think that would work.

Also, if anyone has a different approach to this that I can accomplish with the LR32, a 55" rail, and a router, I'm happy to work in a different way.

 

[Dick Mahany]

If you are in the US, simply measure the hole size and use a steel dowel pin (my LR32 rail has 7mm index holes).  McMaster Carr is a good place to find dowel pins and they carry metric sizes.
UPDATE.  It looks like their metric dowels jump from 6mm to 8mm, so perhaps get the nearest closest imperial size fit.

 

[live4ever]

You can just plunge the router and bit (while off) into a hole you've already made near the end of the first run.  That should be enough to help you position the rail for the next run.  I can't imagine the error being more than a fraction of a mm that way.

 

[Dick Mahany]

You can just plunge the router and bit (while off) into a hole you've already made near the end of the first run.  That should be enough to help you position the rail for the next run.  I can't imagine the error being more than a fraction of a mm that way.

Agreed....excellent suggestion.

 

[es07Eric]

If the cabinet height is divisible by 32mm, you can also reference the top edge.

 

[Billedis]

If your cabinet is 72" high, is it necessary to run the holes from the bottom to the top.  I usually start 9" from the bottom of long cabinets and stop 12" from the top.

 

[Holmz]

If your cabinet is 72" high, is it necessary to run the holes from the bottom to the top.  I usually start 9" from the bottom of long cabinets and stop 12" from the top.

Kind of like a belt only having holes near one end, and not all the way to the buckle like a Sinbad setup.

 

[mikeyr]

I have done it just by eyeballing the overlap.  I placed the rail so that the first 2 holes were over already drilled holes and eyeballed it until I was happy. On one cabinet because I overlapped the rail, I had to move it 3 times just to get the last 4 holes.  It worked well, no one could tell if anything was wrong.

After that project I went out and bought the longer LR32 rail, still never used it but I have it just in case

 

[Scorpion]

I've done both of the suggested approaches -

(1) plunge the bit of the router into a hole and reset the rail

(2) adjust the location of the holes in such the way that I get 40-some inches of holes on a 60-inch board.  Works well for shelving because the bottom shelf only needs to go so low and the top shelf only so high. It doesn't work well for me however if I'm using the LR 32 system to locate drawer slide holes because i typically need holes over the entire length of the panel.

I wish they made the 75" rail in a holey version.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bohdan]

If you already have an LR32 rail and another rail, I posted a way to convert the other rail to a holey rail which can also be a longer rail. I have made all of my rails "holey".

Holey rail conversion

 

[sancho57]

I use 2 1400 holy rails, the end stops that come with the LR 32 will set the gap between the 2.rails to keep the 32mm interval. Look at t
One of them and you'll notice a equal sign on them.

 

[gunnyr]

You can just plunge the router and bit (while off) into a hole you've already made near the end of the first run.  That should be enough to help you position the rail for the next run.  I can't imagine the error being more than a fraction of a mm that way.

I used this method on a recent project, worked perfectly!  You must take care to keep the rail in alignment as you can only effectively clamp one end.

 

[Bohdan]

You must take care to keep the rail in alignment as you can only effectively clamp one end.

If you join it to a regular rail it is then long enough to clamp down.

 

[Bob D.]

"I wish they made the 75" rail in a holey version."

I drilled my DeWalt rail every 32mm using a simple jig and my drill press.
No reason you couldn't do the same with whatever length Festool rail you wanted to.

I followed the drilling operation up with a Weldon de-burring bit to chamfer the top
and bottom of each hole.

 

[ben_r_]

Can you just buy another 55" holey rail? Its great to have another with the connectors for breaking down 8' long sheet goods.