new rail question

[stevelf]

Hello, there,fellow Festoolies! I am new to this forum ( although it feels like "home-sweet-home!), but not to Festool, having bought the Domino / 22 vacuum / and planer last year. Well , I finally bought the basic Festool cutting system ( 75 / 55 and 3 rails: 32" / 55" / and 75" )!!!
  This is probably an easy newbie question for y'all:  I plan to use the 55 saw predominately, and the 75 saw when I need it ( I am a finish carpenter ). I have already cut the virgin rail rubber on the 32" and 55" rails with the 55 saw. My question is can I use both saws on all 3 rails, or do I have to dedicate certain rails to each saw exclusively ????? I figure I'll wait to hear back before my first cut  using the 75" rail, but my hands are trembling with anticipation...!
  Thanks for any/all replies and links!
            Steve

 

[Frank-Jan]

Welcome to the forum Steve. Check out this thread: link

 

[ScooterX]

the "preferred" way is to have each rail dedicated to each saw blade. the saw blades differ in width (by a fraction of a millimeter), so the "perfect" fit is with one saw and one blade.

in real use, I use my rails with all of my blades (I have four different blades of three widths). i suppose there are some carpenters working with some materials where that tiny distance will make a difference to them (inlaid boxes?), and they command prices to justify three sets of rails. I can't tell the difference - all of my cuts look so much cleaner than any other saw I've ever used that I satisfied with my less-than-perfect approach.

 

[stevelf]

Thanks for the quick help. Good thing it's raining here (Sonoma, CA), because I can't get off this site!

 

[stevelf]

Thanks, Frank and Scooter for the info. I think the way to go is adjusting the 75 to my rails ( 32"/ 55"/ 75" ) that I have cut with my 55 saw, as Frank showed... And I'll have to check if the standard blades that come with the 55 & 75 are the same thickness...
  I ripped a piece of 5/4 Ipe  that is 10' long the other day to see how the 55 measures up ( having not yet used either saw...), almost a perfect 90 degrees, and certainly saw strokes on the 1" cut edge... but zero edge chipping, and the saw did fine powerwise, with gentle rail pressure. I haven't yet used the 75 because of the above posts. I'll be curious how it would do in the same scenario...

 

[nickao]

I can tell you the 75 will blow through the ipe much faster and with a better finished cut. I do have a Forrest blade though.

Not sure what a difference in quality of cut speed would be against the Festool blade. Probably close to the same.

Nick

 

[Neill]

Steve -

Being somewhat of a novice please take what I have to say with a grain of salt.  Much is being made about a millimeter here or there when using the guide rail with different width blades.  In most cases, I would think this is a moot point.

In my case, I always cut to the strong side of the line to allow for a certain margin of error on the part of me or the saw.  I also think that you would want to allow for a certain amount of material removal when sanding anyway.  If I am too far off, I can always run the piece through my jointer.

In addition, I have found that the more I use the saw and guide rail the more I become acclimated to positioning the guide rail in relation to my cut line.

Neill