more parallel guides

[terrystouf]

Another take on parallel guides,inspired by some i saw here.11"-32" capacity.Started with 2 48" rulers,had a slot milled in them...I guess its only as good as your eye-balling to a line,will probably make an adjustable stick to increase accuracy.Would love guide with positive stop notches?

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[John Stevens]

I guess its only as good as your eye-balling to a line

Same with Festool's.  At least with yours, the "stop" actually sits on the line, unlike Festool's.  And yours don't sag down, and can be used with stock of any thickness without having to fuss with spacers.  As someone who paid full price for the Festool version, I think yours are great, thanks for sharing.

Regards,

John

 

[Corwin]

Nice job!  And I'll agree with John's statements above on how your parallel guides have an advantage over those that Festool now offers.  If you want positive stop notches you may want to use Incra Incremental Tracks for your next jig.

 

[AlexR]

Brilliant!  [big grin]
I was thinking about doing similar but using the groove on the underside but yours is so much better. Did slotting the rules make them flimsy though ?
I'll definitely be making some soon.
Thanks for sharing.

edit- this is the kind of rule stop i was thinking. It's Veritas and can be used on rules up to 32mm/ 1.1/8".

 

[terrystouf]

Thanks,Yea the rulers lost some strength with the slot,they are a Johnson and are 2" wide,.125 thick.you can see a slight sag in the first picture,i wouldn't call it flimsy , but you wouldn't want to pick the assembly up by the end of the rulers.It wasn't ideal but it was the best solution i could come up with with what was on the shelves.I dont anticipate a problem, but,I think if you made them with a 24-26" capacity they would be alot stiffer,maybe i will make some shorter ones too,i don't know if i will need that much width often.I don't know how much grip the Veritas stops would have if you slammed up to your edge,not that we want to be slamming.  [blink]One more note on clamping from the back slot,its not perfectly parallel with the rest of the track,at least on mine(check with straight edge on bottom of track at the end ,off the rubber).The guides tilt up slightly.I have to correct for that yet.The Incra Track idea mentioned is definitely worth looking into also .Happy building...

 

[AlexR]

Terry is it possible for a little demo pic of the jig at work and dude i shouldn't have to ask......put some pants MAN! [scared]
[big grin]

 

[wnagle]

I guess its only as good as your eye-balling to a line

Same with Festool's.  At least with yours, the "stop" actually sits on the line, unlike Festool's.  And yours don't sag down, and can be used with stock of any thickness without having to fuss with spacers.  As someone who paid full price for the Festool version, I think yours are great, thanks for sharing.

Regards,

John

John,

I put self stick imperial tapes on top of the metric one's on my Parallel guides.  In doing so, I placed the tapes so they just touch the pointer reducing parallax error.  The thickness of the line on the tape is about equal to the gap in the end of the pointer.  Since it almost touches it's really easy to get very accurate parallel cuts.  I calibrated mine cutting 4 inch strips by 8 feet long.  Once calibrated, end to end, the cuts were withing .004 thousandths of  an inch when I set the pointers by eye and measured the cut pieces with a digital caliper.

The self stick tapes were made by Starret and cost about 4-5 dollars each at Hartville tool.

 

[terrystouf]

Pretty self explanatory.Once they are dialed(they are now),what you set is what you get.
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Set the stops smaller than the piece  ???,throw the rail on the piece,as long as its .25 or thicker,In this case,I use may left hand to keep slight pressure at the back of the rail,against the stops(no clamps)
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And cut it ,check it.YES. [big grin]
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And with pants...
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[AlexR]

Yes Yes Brilliant, that just looks shed loads less awkward............. than fessies original.  ;D

Thanks for facing your public robed. Man Pink Floyd Dark side of the Moon rocks [not worthy] [not worthy]

 

[RONWEN]

Excellent!  Very simple and easy to adjust & use.  I would probably add the "stick-on" measure tapes calibrated to the guide rail kerf zero. (maybe you've already done that?)

 

[suds]

Even though I have the Parallel Guides this thread set off a light bulb in my head.  I have one of those Johnson adjustable T squares that's 54" long.  I don't know where I'll go with this but it has a lip that fits in the Guide Rail channel.    Maybe one of you fellas can come up with something/suggestion to make this work for a longer setup.

 

[fshanno]

Do you have a machine shop connection or did you just show up at a random machine shop as a complete stranger and have them cut those slots?

 

[AlexR]

Ali rule? surely clamp well put plunge slot cutter in your router drop speed and wear googles. Makes a lot of noise though. [eek]

 

[terrystouf]

Do you have a machine shop connection or did you just show up at a random machine shop as a complete stranger and have them cut those slots?

I know a few guys with milling machines(I used to be a machinist),paid a guy $20,but that said, a few slots in a piece of aluminum is not a big deal for any shop,go to a small general repair shop,not a production cnc shop,they will be happy to do it,thats what they do,price will vary with shop rates (30-45 min with setup). I sloted a 2" groove in a piece of mdf the depth of the ruler thickness ,to place the ruler face down when clamping to protect the numbers..I thought about the router table ,but didnt think my router would run slow enough,or be ridgid enough,try it on a scrap piece(.250 hss cutter,8000rpm,maybe, but still a little to fast for a flimsy piece)would probably chatter like hell ? [scared]

 

[Warrior]

Nice Terry! Your avatar pic is scary though.  [scared]

 

[John2532]

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Here is an option to having a slot machined in the rule. H.D. has these t-squares for around $19. The rule section is removable and pre-slotted half-way. (24") If you needed the extra length you could reverse the rule and have the slotted portion away from the mount.

Not quite as clean as Terry's setup but an option for those without access to a milling machine.

John

 

[terrystouf]

Hey John2532,was that head that is mounted to the rail a custom piece?Wish i had that to start with...The Home Depo here doesnt have half the stuff as a large US one. :'(

Thanks Eiji, seeing your set inspired me,i knew what i wanted it to do,but it helps to see it implemented . If you think THAT one is scary... [scared]

 

[John Stevens]

H.D. has these t-squares for around $19.

Hey, John, where'd you get the piece that mounts the t-square to the guide rail?  That is awesome.

Regards,

John

 

[John2532]

I machined the head when I was working on a similar project. The goal then was to use only the one T-square mounted on the rail as a parallel guide. The weak link though was the original T-square setup, (not the mount to the rail or ruler to the mount) even with above average tightening forces it would work itself loose enough to cause problems. I've been sidetracked for awhile so I haven't pursued it lately but I think it still has potential to work on the shorter rails. Rails longer than 1400 would probably require a double set-up. One thing I did like though was using nylon screws to tighten the mount against the rail. Finger tight worked great and they screws did not mark up the rail.

John

 

[Wood_Junkie]

I machined the head when I was working on a similar project.

I think if you made up a couple more pair you've found at least a few customers here in this thread.

I would definitely want a pair for rail use.  I already have one of those squares and was already planning to get another to make this precise type of setup.  But the bracket is the tricky part.