Question on setting up Seneca parallel guides

[ear3]

My Seneca parallel guides will be arriving soon, and to ensure precision I was going to get a woodpeckers ruler and rule stop to set the distance on the incra tracks, as per this post:

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/rule-with-stop-to-set-parallel-guides/msg285555/#msg285555

My question has to do with what length Woodpecker ruler to get, specifically whether I get a 36" or a 48".  Many of the repetitive cuts will be in the 32-36" range, and so if I followed the setup outlined above, where the ruler goes under the rail, I would get a 48" ruler.  But I'm wondering, since I will be knocking down full sheets on a cutting table, rather than using the MFT, whether I would instead set it up so that the ruler measures from the other edge of the rail, i.e., the extrusion side rather than the splinterguard side?  In which case I would only need the 36" since I would factor in the additional 7+ inches on the rail.

So I'm just curious what the optimal setup is in terms of how you position the ruler+rule stop relative to the rail when laying out the parallel guides, and based on that, what size ruler.  And if you have pictures that would be sweet.  Thanks.

 

[rvieceli]

You might want to consider just using a story stick. You have all the things needed already. Rip a 1.5 to 2 inch length of plywood. Measure out the length you need from the end of the strip and then using a square pop a block in position with some screws and glue. Take a Sharpie and write the length on it then drill a hole in the end opposite the block to hang it from. Make others for your other lengths.

Use it the same way you'd use the rule and stop. With the sticks though you can come back later and the size will be EXACTLY the same. You won't have to worry about hitting the rule marking in the exact same way you did earlier.