No Carvex Edge Guide?

[Patrick Cox]

Yesterday I went to the Festool website to look for an edge guide for the Carvex and it looks like Festool actually does not offer one.  The only edge guide I found looks to only work with the Trion.  Is that correct?  Does Festool not offer an edge guide for use with the Carvex?  If so that is disappointing.  I was considering using the Carvex for rough ripping of solid wood planks using an edge guide.

Thanks

 

[ear3]

No, but it does have a base that attaches to the rail for straight line cutting:
https://www.festoolusa.com/power-to...erts/guide-rail-base-for-carvex-jigsaw-497303

You could also conceivably DIY one, working off of what [member=47215]woodman_412[/member] did to make a fixed bevel jigsaw base:
http://festoolownersgroup.com/vario...pics/dp-shop-talk-videos/msg457628/#msg457628

Yesterday I went to the Festool website to look for an edge guide for the Carvex and it looks like Festool actually does not offer one.  The only edge guide I found looks to only work with the Trion.  Is that correct?  Does Festool not offer an edge guide for use with the Carvex?  If so that is disappointing.  I was considering using the Carvex for rough ripping of solid wood planks using an edge guide.

Thanks

 

[peter halle]

If you consider buying the guiderail adaptor for the Carvex (if you buy the Carvex) that adapts to the rail, please be aware that the accessory is not recommended for all thicknesses of wood.  I can't put my finger on it right now but my recollection is that 20 mm is the max recommended - (members please correct me if I am wrong on the measurement).

Peter

 

[Michael Kellough]

If you consider buying the guiderail adaptor for the Carvex (if you buy the Carvex) that adapts to the rail, please be aware that the accessory is not recommended for all thicknesses of wood.  I can't put my finger on it right now but my recollection is that 20 mm is the max recommended - (members please correct me if I am wrong on the measurement).

Peter

Designers keep trying (I have a similar adapter from some 30 years ago for my old Bosch jigsaw) but machining tolerances for mass produce power tools combined with the tiny size and very limited stiffness of blades results in curved cuts when attempting to mechanically guide a jigsaw.

Every jigsaw/blade combination has a bias (just like a bandsaw) and a skilled operator is required for a truly straight cut. The thicker the stock the more critical every little aspect is to the final result.

You might get away with it on thin stock.

 

[Holmz]

This gets into the territory where those double-thick Mafell blades shine, but I do not think they fit a Carvex.
It is sort of like a 1/2 step up from a jig saw towards a bandsaw.

 

[fidelfs]

They are amazing!

This gets into the territory where those double-thick Mafell blades shine, but I do not think they fit a Carvex.
It is sort of like a 1/2 step up from a jig saw towards a bandsaw.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

If you consider buying the guiderail adaptor for the Carvex (if you buy the Carvex) that adapts to the rail, please be aware that the accessory is not recommended for all thicknesses of wood.  I can't put my finger on it right now but my recollection is that 20 mm is the max recommended - (members please correct me if I am wrong on the measurement).

Peter

Designers keep trying (I have a similar adapter from some 30 years ago for my old Bosch jigsaw) but machining tolerances for mass produce power tools combined with the tiny size and very limited stiffness of blades results in curved cuts when attempting to mechanically guide a jigsaw.

Every jigsaw/blade combination has a bias (just like a bandsaw) and a skilled operator is required for a truly straight cut. The thicker the stock the more critical every little aspect is to the final result.

You might get away with it on thin stock.

I agree that there can be some bias in a jigsaw and the shoe is not necessarily perfectly inline with the blade. I have been able to use my red jigsaw on a rail cutting really thick wood without issue. I also have cut thick stock with my Carvex and Trion without issue.

I agree that it is disappointing that there is no edge guide for the Carvex. That and the tilting base are two oversights IMHO. Still a good jigsaw with a couple of limiting factors.

 

[GarryMartin]

If you consider buying the guiderail adaptor for the Carvex (if you buy the Carvex) that adapts to the rail, please be aware that the accessory is not recommended for all thicknesses of wood.  I can't put my finger on it right now but my recollection is that 20 mm is the max recommended - (members please correct me if I am wrong on the measurement).

20mm is the measurement in the manuals for the Trion and Carvex. Shane (as Festool) said their recommendation was no more than about 3/4" or 18mm.

 

[bobfog]

The Bosch GST 160 BCE (JS572 in the US) jigsaw is excellent for guide rail applications, especially if you use a slightly thicker blade with less flex like the Festool FSG blades or equivalent from other manufacturers. I've cut 38mm (2 x 19mm laminated ply) and it cut perfectly square on the guide rail.

I think however the second roller on the Bosch aligns the blade lower down than the carvex so this might account for the improved performance in this cutting situation.

 

[GarryMartin]

Slightly off topic, but what do Bosch recommend as a maximum thickness [member=60286]bobfog[/member]? The manuals are really sparse when it comes to usage information, so I couldn't determine what their advice would be versus what we all get away with in real life. I did find an old forum comment (obviously prior to them actually creating a rail adaptor of course) that had a good observation;

"We don't have any plans to create a rail adaptor of this type for the GST 160 BCE. We maintain that if you want to do this kind of job you would normally be looking at a Circ saw or Plunge saw to use in conjunction with a FSN guide rail.
We maintain that the majority of Jigsaw users are wanting to cut anything BUT a straight line. "

I thought that was a fair comment; doesn't really matter whether we are talking Festool, Bosch, Maffell or any other, the jigsaw isn't really the most appropriate tool for cutting at depth along a straight line.

 

[bobfog]

Slightly off topic, but what do Bosch recommend as a maximum thickness [member=60286]bobfog[/member]? The manuals are really sparse when it comes to usage information, so I couldn't determine what their advice would be versus what we all get away with in real life. I did find an old forum comment (obviously prior to them actually creating a rail adaptor of course) that had a good observation;

"We don't have any plans to create a rail adaptor of this type for the GST 160 BCE. We maintain that if you want to do this kind of job you would normally be looking at a Circ saw or Plunge saw to use in conjunction with a FSN guide rail.
We maintain that the majority of Jigsaw users are wanting to cut anything BUT a straight line. "

I thought that was a fair comment; doesn't really matter whether we are talking Festool, Bosch, Maffell or any other, the jigsaw isn't really the most appropriate tool for cutting at depth along a straight line.

I have no idea what the manual says, if indeed it even mentions it at all. I just tried it for myself to cut out a large 12 pointed star and the tracksaw would have still required finishing off with jigsaw if I used a track saw for partial cuts, so I went with the jigsaw first as last!