Making your own LR32 guide rail

[Michael Kellough]

The whole point was to use the LR32 and 1080 to rout holes in a longer guide rail. By using the 1080 rail you know the spacing of the holes will be correct. I just need to come up with the proper set up since the 1080 rail will over lap the rail to be drilled.
I havent even set up or used the LR32 yet, but....

I'm thinking a piece of 19mm MDF wide enough to accomodate both rails with a 5mm deep dado the width of one rail.
I think I will pull the splinter strip off the drilled rail so the dado can capture the rail with out it being hung up on the rubber.
The dado will enable me to use just one clamp for the drilled rail and I can move the clamp to the other side of the jig as I progress with the drilling. Ahhh so many words and so little time. I will make the jig and take some pics.

Later,

Eiji

So you would clamp the LR 32 rail on top off (sort off) the plain rail? The rail to be drilled/routed will be upside down (spines captured in the dados) so the rails are flat to flat? I think the rubber strips won't be a problem.

I think this would work, what do you think Les?

 

[Warrior]

Les,
I didnt think of that. That might be a better idea than a dado the whole width of the rail.

[/quote]

So you would clamp the LR 32 rail on top off (sort off) the plain rail? The rail to be drilled/routed will be upside down (spines captured in the dados) so the rails are flat to flat? I think the rubber strips won't be a problem.

I think this would work, what do you think Les?
[/quote]

 

[polarsea1]

Mirko's scheme is what I've used to make drilling jigs, it's very fast and no worries about routing aluminum. Just be sure when you measure for the 1st hole it's from center to center and not from the edge of the pin to the center of the 1st hole. DAMHIKT.

 

[Les]

The whole point was to use the LR32 and 1080 to rout holes in a longer guide rail. By using the 1080 rail you know the spacing of the holes will be correct. I just need to come up with the proper set up since the 1080 rail will over lap the rail to be drilled.
I havent even set up or used the LR32 yet, but....

I'm thinking a piece of 19mm MDF wide enough to accomodate both rails with a 5mm deep dado the width of one rail.
I think I will pull the splinter strip off the drilled rail so the dado can capture the rail with out it being hung up on the rubber.
The dado will enable me to use just one clamp for the drilled rail and I can move the clamp to the other side of the jig as I progress with the drilling. Ahhh so many words and so little time. I will make the jig and take some pics.

Later,

Eiji

So you would clamp the LR 32 rail on top off (sort off) the plain rail? The rail to be drilled/routed will be upside down (spines captured in the dados) so the rails are flat to flat? I think the rubber strips won't be a problem.

I think this would work, what do you think Les?

Should be a good way. Just make sure you are parallel and watch the end holes. You will want to join the rails and they must be the same distance from the ends in order to use the longitudinal stops to set the spacing. Instead of worrying about making the holes oval by moving the center line of the bit, I would just take a round file and make the holes oval. I'm still not sure it's worth the effort and worry. Seems like a lot of work to save $76. Having seen some of Eiji other posts, he is obviously talented enough to make it work.

 

[Warrior]

I doesnt make alot of sense for the first one. But if you need more or if another Fezaholic needs one the set up is there and the cost per rail goes way down.

Eiji

 

[Warrior]

Guys,
It may be awhile before I can get to this. I've got some doors to build.

Eiji

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Beca;use the holes the router "drills" are offset off the LR-32 Guide Rail, it should be possible to butt the end of an LR-32 Guide Rail and butt the end of the Guide Rail into which you want to cut indexing holes against stops to ensure correct positioning of the holes you are machining relative to the end of the rail.  I own only a short LR-32 holed rail, and when I need to make a row of holes that is longer than the guide rail, I simply join it to another non-holed rail and slide the holed rail lengthwise using at least one of the already drilled holes in the workpiece for registration, reclamp the guide rails and resume drilling holes with my router.  But I don't make my living doing this.  If I did, I'd simply buy a longer holed rail from Festool.  I do wonder why Festool simply doesn't provide the holes in all their Guide Rails.  I note in the new catalogue there is a big discrepancy in the cost differential of the longer guide rails with and without holes, compared the cost very small cost differential between the short rails with and without holes.  Makes no sense to me.  Once setup, the machining should be fast and easy.

Dave R.

 

[greg mann]

Beca;use the holes the router "drills" are offset off the LR-32 Guide Rail, it should be possible to butt the end of an LR-32 Guide Rail and butt the end of the Guide Rail into which you want to cut indexing holes against stops to ensure correct positioning of the holes you are machining relative to the end of the rail.  I own only a short LR-32 holed rail, and when I need to make a row of holes that is longer than the guide rail, I simply join it to another non-holed rail and slide the holed rail lengthwise using at least one of the already drilled holes in the workpiece for registration, reclamp the guide rails and resume drilling holes with my router.  But I don't make my living doing this.  If I did, I'd simply buy a longer holed rail from Festool.  I do wonder why Festool simply doesn't provide the holes in all their Guide Rails.  I note in the new catalogue there is a big discrepancy in the cost differential of the longer guide rails with and without holes, compared the cost very small cost differential between the short rails with and without holes.  Makes no sense to me.  Once setup, the machining should be fast and easy.

Dave R.

So it would seem, Dave, but the problem for Festool is that adding the holes in a small guiderail can be done with a small (read cheaper) machine, one which can be used for lots of other tasks as well. Adding holes to a long rail requires a larger, far more expensive, machine that holds no extra value since there are no other Festool product that readily come to mind for which a long bed machine would be useful. Ergo, a very expensive machine is needed for creating an occasionally purchased rail. They may actually farm this out, which is pure speculation on my part. Adding holes to all long rails would probably help amortization, but it would certainly add cost to already expensive long rails and inhibit some purchases. 

 

[Dave Ronyak]

True, Greg, but why not put holes in all rails that are 95" and shorter such that any two rails joined end-to-end would present a continuum of perfectly registered holes?  Since the 75" and shorter rails are supplied with MFTs and TS 55 and TS 75 saws, why not simply put the holes in these rails and then encourage all these Festool owners to add a Festool router and the hole drilling plate and side stops?  I would rather not have to have any more rails than absolutely necessary and have that money back to spend on other Festool products.  Of course, by now, I already have more than enough rails for anything I am ever likely to tackle, although I will have to index my LR-32 holed rail to drill for shelves in any tall closet system, and probably in shop-made Sysport substitutes. 

Dave R.

 

[Corwin]

I thought we had already covered this topic and it had all been explained...  As I recall, the LR32 rails are rather expensive to create with the holes, and the additional expense is not entirely passed on to the buyer...  If they were to offer more sizes with these holes, the entire line up of rails would probably go up in price to cover their costs.