practical difference between accessories for 1400 router

[MrMac]

I'm looking at the micro fence rail guide, and the guide stop. They appear to do the same thing. There has got to be a difference, besides 200 bucks! my upcoming project includes routeing a few dado's.

 

[Kev]

Do you have the Festool product codes for those? ... we can look at the exact items.

Kev.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I think the Micro Fence has some additional options (probably at additional price, too) for doing circles, arcs, etc.  I used to use one to route inlay into round tables.  The micro adjustment feels more robust on the micro fence, but I'm not sure if it actually is.

 

[Frank-Jan]

The difference seems to me that the guidestop is a festool accessory and the microfence is a third-party accesory.

random link to the microfence product found by google

The guidestop uses the other side of the guiderail, with part of the router on the rail, and on the other side  the router is supported by the levelling foot.

I have the festool accessory, and its precise enough for my needs.

 

[Kev]

The difference seems to me that the guidestop is a festool accessory and the microfence is a third-party accesory.

random link to the microfence product found by google

The guidestop uses the other side of the guiderail, with part of the router on the rail, and on the other side  the router is supported by the levelling foot.

I have the festool accessory, and its precise enough for my needs.

Now I understand why I couldn't find the other on the Australian Festool site  [eek]  it's not made my Festool .... 

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

The microfence is top shelf stuff like Festool, Bridge City Tool, Leigh, LN Planes.  It is more accurate, down to .001", than the Festool guide.  It can be used with the guide rails or with the included edge guide.  The safe and practical route may be to go first with the less expensive Festool guide and use the 30 days to see if that does what you need.  If not then perhaps go for the microfence solution.  The microfence can be used with virtually any router also, even with the Festool Guide Rails which may be an advantage also.  Even though the microfence costs over double the Festool part i doubt you would be disappointed with the Microfence.  I love mine.

Best,
Todd

 

[MrToolJunkie]

The microfence is top shelf stuff like Festool, Bridge City Tool, Leigh, LN Planes.  It is more accurate, down to .001", than the Festool guide.  It can be used with the guide rails or with the included edge guide.  The safe and practical route may be to go first with the less expensive Festool guide and use the 30 days to see if that does what you need.  If not then perhaps go for the microfence solution.  The microfence can be used with virtually any router also, even with the Festool Guide Rails which may be an advantage also.  Even though the microfence costs over double the Festool part i doubt you would be disappointed with the Microfence.  I love mine.

Best,
Todd

The Micro-Fence is an awesome product and highly recommended.  Not sure that the 30 days applies in this situation unless it comes with the tool as the stops and fences are considered accessories.  You can get micro-adjust with the Festool stops and fences and they work very well.  I have both and use both with my routers and pull one or the other out depending on what I am doing.  If you need super accurate machine tolerance grooves, then I think that the Micro-Fence will give you that capability with little fuss and it is worth a look.  This is not to say that the Festool is not accurate, because it is, but it does not have the same finesse as the Micro-Fence set-up. 

Scot

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Scot,
You are very likely right about the 30 day return of these Festool items.  I guess try out at a dealer or buy and resell if not happy.  i also have and use both the Festool and the Microfence.

Best,
Todd

 

[pugilato]

For less than $100, you might consider the Bridge City Tools Kerfmaster, which Paul Marcel has very ably described how to use in .

I recently used mine for the first time, and it is just as easy to use as Paul describes.

 

[MrMac]

Thanks all! I bought the Festool version, and it works great. I am really fascinated by that km-1 kerf maker, got to check that out some more

 

[James Watriss]

One more thing to put in... The Fes version doubles as an offset base. That part's been very handy for me, especially with big round overs. Combined with the edge guide... So smooth.

Multi-functionality is huge.

 

[Dan Clermont]

Their is a big difference between the micro fence guide rail adaptor and the Festool version

The micro fence has zero backlash and very much like having your router connected to a set of vernier calipers. Very pricey bit very accurate!

We have them on our Burnaby store for custard to compare

Dan Clermont

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Thanks all! I bought the Festool version, and it works great. I am really fascinated by that km-1 kerf maker, got to check that out some more

I purchased both the Kerfmaster and Tenonmaster and they are nicely made as expected of Bridge City.  I have played with them a little and not found them as east to use as may first appear.  I have had some trouble with the slide that ca putrescence your cutters kerf slipping loose slightly as you try to adjust for the width of the material or tenon.  The other issue with the Tenonmaster is that it is fairly easy to make a Tenon that fits well in the mortise, it is not so easy to center that tenon on the material.  Perhaps I am missing something but the instructions which were included were pretty sparse and I don't  recall anyone addressing this issue on their demo or review videos.

Best,
Todd Ferguson
Harrisburg, NC