LR32 enhancement via TSO square & parallel guides

[crustacean]

Hi,

Perhaps this is already known, but I found a nice way to use my TSO guide rail squares and parallel guides to do a job that would otherwise have been tedious with the LR32 as sold by Festool.

I was trying to install a three sets of Blum drawer slides in a cabinet. Two of the three were quite far in to the middle of the cabinet. The first hole position is 37mm from the gable edge, standard for Blum. This is not straightforward with the LR32, since there's no 37 mm spacer, nor an easy way to quickly set up the rail accurately in the middle of a big panel, unless you are reasonably close to the edge.

Solution: I glued together a 5mm and 6mm domino to make an 11mm spacer. Using I then used the 16mm Festool spacer and butted the dominoes between that spacer and the gable edge. This offsets the rail so that the first LR32 hole is at 5mm. Then the second one is at 5+32 = 37mm, as desired.

Once that was set up, I simply attached the TSO square to the rail and set it up flush to the workpiece and locked it in place. From that point on, I could simply remove the Festool stop and dominoes, use the TSO square to place the rail with the correct offset for all subsequent holes.

As for the placement of the rail in the middle of the panel, that's easy once the TSO square is in place. Just use the TSO parallel guide and index from the edge of the workpiece at the back of the rail (this is the opposite side from the one Festool uses).

-- Nike

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

Interesting, I’m going to keep this “improv” in mind.
Question: I have not seen the word “gable” used in this context, nor does Wikipedia help. Can you please explain what the “gable edge” is?

 

[kmickey]

Vertical/side  panel. Dave Stanton just used the term in his latest video. 

 

[Bugsysiegals]

You must have been placing the rail front front to back or parallel with the drawer slides, correct?  I believe the rail is meant to go perpendicular and then using the alignment bars you’d be able to achieve your 37mm setback. Unfortunately, in this position, you’re unable to reach the middle holes of drawer slides. I’m trying to think of a repeatable method but am almost considering to just drill the first and last hole with LR32, install the drawer slide, and use a drill with Vix bit for the centers ...

 

[tsmi243]

Yeah, we need pics.  It sounds like you're using the LR32 sideways to me. 

 

[blaszcsj]

I do something similar with the woodpecker pgs. I got tired of taking the front bits on and off.
[attachimg=1]

 

[Coen]

I do something similar with the woodpecker pgs. I got tired of taking the front bits on and off.
[attachimg=1]

That looks nice, but even more expensive than the LR 32 set itself.

Also; your rail is too short. (I hope Festool will read this and finally make a holy 3000 rail.)

The Ikea Pax cabinets can be bought in 2,36m high and Festools longest LR-32 rail is 2424... a shame really.

 

[blaszcsj]

I do something similar with the woodpecker pgs. I got tired of taking the front bits on and off.
[attachimg=1]

That looks nice, but even more expensive than the LR 32 set itself.

Also; your rail is too short. (I hope Festool will read this and finally make a holy 3000 rail.)

The Ikea Pax cabinets can be bought in 2,36m high and Festools longest LR-32 rail is 2424... a shame really.

I had the PGS kit for saw applications, just figured I could use it here as well so I did not have to take off the other bits all the time.

In this particular case, it did not matter the rail was short. I was only doing a couple upper hole sets. In the past, I just used the fact it was on a parallel edge and slid it down the side using the router in one of the existing holes to index.

 

[etds4u]

For the mid-panel row of holes, I use the LR32 guides to position the front row of holes only, then I attach the TSO parallel guides before removing the LR32 guides. The TSO guide settings are arbitrary at this point since I just use a spacer block to get dead-on spacing between the front row and the mid-panel row (224 mm spacing shown. Ensures perfect slide mount hole alignment).

 

[Mario Turcot]

The Ikea Pax cabinets can be bought in 2,36m high and Festools longest LR-32 rail is 2424... a shame really.

I have 3 Pax cabinets and they all came with LR 32 already. You want to make more holes?

 

[Rick Herrick]

For the mid-panel row of holes, I use the LR32 guides to position the front row of holes only, then I attach the TSO parallel guides before removing the LR32 guides. The TSO guide settings are arbitrary at this point since I just use a spacer block to get dead-on spacing between the front row and the mid-panel row (224 mm spacing shown. Ensures perfect slide mount hole alignment).

Thanks [member=13403]etds4u[/member] .  This is a very interesting idea.  I also like the idea of using my TPG system without having to break out the GRS squares.  Guess I need to look into the guide rail adapters you have here.

 

[Sparktrician]

For the mid-panel row of holes, I use the LR32 guides to position the front row of holes only, then I attach the TSO parallel guides before removing the LR32 guides. The TSO guide settings are arbitrary at this point since I just use a spacer block to get dead-on spacing between the front row and the mid-panel row (224 mm spacing shown. Ensures perfect slide mount hole alignment).

Thanks [member=13403]etds4u[/member] .  This is a very interesting idea.  I also like the idea of using my TPG system without having to break out the GRS squares.  Guess I need to look into the guide rail adapters you have here.

You can also reverse the Festool edge guides on the rail to get the mid-panel holes. 

 

[sancho57]

Jason Bent has a good video on the LR 32. He shows a jig that he got from Peter Millard