Parallel Guides and Extensions -- 3 videos on usage and cutting sheet goods

R

RDMuller

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Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
312
I hope both previous purchasers and those considering purchasing these accessories will find these 3 videos useful:

Large sheets and sacrificial table --
Video_1_Festool TS 55 Plunge Saw with Parallel Guides for Cutting Plywood



Parallel guides -- Video 2 Festool Parallel Guides For Repetitive Cutting



Parallel guide extensions  --  Video_3_Festool Parallel Guide Extensions for cutting narrow pieces


These accessories are completely different from any other woodworking tool. Just figuring out how to put it together and use it is a challenge. Once you get there, you will not want to part with them.

These are available in 1080p High Definition fullscreen if you go to them directly on youtube.  Playback may be a little smoother over there.

Roger Muller
     

< Edited by Shane Holland to fix YouTube link >
 
OUTSATNDING Roger, excellent videos, great table, excellent points made.  I especially like the point about the parallel guides not being made for squaring.  Sometimes it will work, but they are not designed for that-

Thanks so much for doing these.  What an excellent resource for TS owners !!
Jay
 
great video.  how did you cut the slots for joints of your cutting table?
 
I cut the joints with a dado blade on a table saw.  I set the dados very tight and used gorilla glue on them.  I thought about using the router, but decided the table saw was easier
 
Thank you Jim for that complement.  It made my day!  It's really fun to do things you enjoy.
 
Fabulous job on the videos.

When I used my guides for the first time it was like a light came on and I said to myself that this was the missing piece to the puzzle. No more measuring and no more being a 16th off.

However, the second time I was working in a darker place and somehow managed to get the guides backwards so the tapes were on the outside. At least I got some more practice at getting the guides off and putting them back on.

--Steve.
 
I agree that the lights really come on once you use the parallel guides.  It is impossible to understand them when they are on a shelf in a store, looking at a picture is OK, but watching the videos and more importantly actually using them on a real project make you really appreciate what a great accessiory they are. 
 
Thanks a lot! I didn't get how to cut thin strips from the supplied non-instructions.

I got the guide rails and extension to do pretty vanilla ply carcase book cases.  I am starting to do open frame book cases and shelving using hard wood for the frames.  I need to make repeatable cut on stock that is 36mm square or 19x62mm and longer than I can do with the small band saw that I have.  Is there any way to do this using the parallel guides and extension?
 
Grobin:  As I understand your request, you want to cut solid stock to 2 different dimensions:  (a)  36 x 36 mm    and  (b)  19 x 62 mm.  You want to use the Guide rail and parallel guides and extensions.  This should be within the capabilities of the system with a few caveats that come to mind

1.  The 62mm depth will not be able to be cut by the TS 55.  You would need the TS 75 for this
2.  The stock must be planed with a jointer on 2 adjacent sides -- i.e. have a square edge.  I would not tackle rough wood that is not planed with just the guide rail to try to work this stock up
3.  You do not state the dimensions of the rough stock you are working with.  You are going to have to use some sort of a table like mine.  Once you get the rails, parallel guides and extensions in place, you are going to have make sure that nothing is "flopping around".  Most likely this means the back ends of the parallel guides are going to need to be supported somehow by "dummy" fillers to keep them at an elevation to get everything within the same plane so that all sorts of bad things don't happen when you start cutting.  Scrap block, carpenter's shims etc would be very useful.  To hold these in place -- try any of the following:  luck, double stick carpet tape, hot glue, air nailer, etc.
4.  Make sure you have long enough Rails so you don't have to reposition them.

This would be an operation I would most likely do on a decent table saw if I had access to one.  I would not hesitate at all to use the Festool system for this out on a job site where there was no table saw available.  These pieces are not "thin" strips.  I rip all thin strips on the Festool and the more common dimensional lumber on the table saw.  Either the table saw or the Festool system will give you a much better finished edge than a band saw.

I believe that covers the major issues

Roger

There may be other issues I have not thought about here.
 
RDMuller said:
Grobin:  As I understand your request, you want to cut solid stock to 2 different dimensions:   (a)  36 x 36 mm    and   (b)  19 x 62 mm.   You want to use the Guide rail and parallel guides and extensions.  This should be within the capabilities of the system with a few caveats that come to mind

1.  The 62mm depth will not be able to be cut by the TS 55.   You would need the TS 75 for this
2.  The stock must be planed with a jointer on 2 adjacent sides -- i.e. have a square edge.  I would not tackle rough wood that is not planed with just the guide rail to try to work this stock up
3.  You do not state the dimensions of the rough stock you are working with.   You are going to have to use some sort of a table like mine.  Once you get the rails, parallel guides and extensions in place, you are going to have make sure that nothing is "flopping around".  Most likely this means the back ends of the parallel guides are going to need to be supported somehow by "dummy" fillers to keep them at an elevation to get everything within the same plane so that all sorts of bad things don't happen when you start cutting.   Scrap block, carpenter's shims etc would be very useful.   To hold these in place -- try any of the following:   luck, double stick carpet tape, hot glue, air nailer, etc.
4.  Make sure you have long enough Rails so you don't have to reposition them.

This would be an operation I would most likely do on a decent table saw if I had access to one.  I would not hesitate at all to use the Festool system for this out on a job site where there was no table saw available.   These pieces are not "thin" strips.  I rip all thin strips on the Festool and the more common dimensional lumber on the table saw.  Either the table saw or the Festool system will give you a much better finished edge than a band saw.

I believe that covers the major issues

Roger

There may be other issues I have not thought about here.
Click to expand...

I would recon that the stock is 19mm thick, or very close to 3/4 of an inch.  I have a hard time seeing a 62mm thick x 19mm wide face frame!
 
Roger, what a great job.  Your teaching technique top notch.  I don't believe this was your first time doing such a project.  My hats off to you.  Thanks for all the valuable info..... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Rich
 
Thanks for the reply.  I am sorry that I wasn't too clear.  Normally I would cross cut the longer stock on my band saw and then break them down to working sizes.  I got a "bargain" on some lyptus but its 6' long by 36mm square and I need to cut it down to a size I can use for open framing.  Approximately 3' pieces would work fine.  But I am not sure how to set up the Guide rails for cross cuts on relatively narrow think stock.  Is using a piece of stock to support near each guide rail to get level then cutting going to work? Or is that a really dumb idea?  I am mostly using the guide rails to cut Baltic birch ply for shelves.  Looks like I may have a lot of repetitive cross cuts that my small band saw is not going o handle.  Eventually I will get a better band saw.  Once I get it the size that I need I will use a resaw blade on the band saw to make the this strips that I need.

BTW thanks for the setup information, it is very handy.
 
i made your cutting table and it is fantastic.  sturdy, flat and lots of places to clamp.  thank you much.  the parallel guides sure came in handy to cut the pieces.  thank you again for a great idea.
 
The table has worked out great for me.  I have thought about the next generation -- make the "wells" a little bit larger for the parallel guide extensions, beef the legs up a little, maybe some sort of roller to adjust upwards at one end to aid in pulling sheets out of the pickup. 

You did bring up an important point -- there are lots and lots of places to clamp with many different types of woodworking clamps. 

I would be interested in what someone who knows the structural aluminum materials and joints such as the material that "80/20" in  Columbia City IN sells might come up with as an alternate material (get rid of more weight).  Somehow sacrificial material would have to attached to the aluminum in order not to ding it up.  I doubt if anyone would want to make too expensive a table if they go to construction sites where they might be stolen.  80/20 sells there scrap pieces on eBay

Also, I throw large sheets of cardboard on this table to spray finish projects, particularly if they are in "component" stage.  I wouldn't place large pieces of furniture on it, but it certainly holds kitchen cabinets adequately.

One individual who is going to build one has a need to move sheets of plywood into his work area from a warehouse area, through several offices, etc.  He is going to build the torsion box and make it so it swivels to a vertical position.  He has it suspended at each end in a fashion similar to a "baby cradle with suspension posts".  The cart that these are on has 4 nice swivel casters.  He loads the plywood while in a near vertical position (just so it doesn't slide off) and wheels it off where it needs to be.  He then will flips to horizontal and does his Festool work.  I hope he posts it if he succeeds in getting it done.

 
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