Rail Attachment for measuring device?
- Thread starter JSands
- Start date
What's the difference? Now ya got me thinkin....
the measuring system can be designed to measure from either side of the rail.... , up till now, I was leaning towards the material under the rail as the waste piece...but it can be designed to measure from the other side as well... although I had not planned on it... maybe you can shed some light on the pros/cons of which side of the rail is the waste side..
My prelim. thought was, if you want 4" strip or shorter, the cut side of the rail MUST be the useful piece, (or often you can not support the rail) so why not continue using that side? Maybe I am missing something here...
the measuring system can be designed to measure from either side of the rail.... , up till now, I was leaning towards the material under the rail as the waste piece...but it can be designed to measure from the other side as well... although I had not planned on it... maybe you can shed some light on the pros/cons of which side of the rail is the waste side..
My prelim. thought was, if you want 4" strip or shorter, the cut side of the rail MUST be the useful piece, (or often you can not support the rail) so why not continue using that side? Maybe I am missing something here...
ccarrolladams
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Festool has long recommended keeping the finished side of the cut under the guide rail when using a plunge saw. The splinter guard works best this way, especially when the bottom of the work piece is supported on a firm sacrificial surface.
Still, normally in that case the off-cut side will be used as one side of the next piece. For this reason Festool sells the "presser-foot" splinter guards which attach to the off cut side of the TS55. My own experience has been that so long as my blade is sharp and I have the presser-foot correctly set, either side of the blade is free of tear-out. If I am feeding stock under the guide rail I make sure to measure from the outside of the blade. When I am feeding the stock the other way, then I make use of the rail splinter guard to show the actual position of the inside edge of the kerf.
Still, normally in that case the off-cut side will be used as one side of the next piece. For this reason Festool sells the "presser-foot" splinter guards which attach to the off cut side of the TS55. My own experience has been that so long as my blade is sharp and I have the presser-foot correctly set, either side of the blade is free of tear-out. If I am feeding stock under the guide rail I make sure to measure from the outside of the blade. When I am feeding the stock the other way, then I make use of the rail splinter guard to show the actual position of the inside edge of the kerf.
OK, I get it, thx for your input.
but like you, I never noticed any differences between the two sides of the cut, so I never considered this issue. And also, as you mentioned, the "waste" piece is usually NOT a waste piece. So other than the splinter issue, any other reason to have the finished piece under the rail??
but like you, I never noticed any differences between the two sides of the cut, so I never considered this issue. And also, as you mentioned, the "waste" piece is usually NOT a waste piece. So other than the splinter issue, any other reason to have the finished piece under the rail??
ccarrolladams
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JSands said:
We go to a whole lot of trouble to ensure that every guide rail splinter guard and every TS55 accurately reflect the position of the kerf on the rail side of the blade. This way when the rail's splinter guard touches the mark, that measurement works.
In the real world the other side would need to be trimmed, then the stock fed under the rail. Actually that works well when using the Parallel Edge guides. For narrow pieces with the Extensions work is fed under the rail, so the Extension is calibrated from the off-side/out-side of the blade.
It comes down to a matter of convenience, so long as the blade, sacrificial surface and presser-foot splinter guard are working correctly.
For right angle work from sheet material I use my pressure beam saw. The pressure beam and corresponding slit in the table just clear the blade. They work to reduce tear-out even better than does the guide rail splinter guard. The beam saw measures from the outside of the blade normally accurate to 0.1mm.
In our shop we have a large sliding table saw, but normally we use Festool TS55 and guide rails (with presser feet) to make miter cuts in plywood. The quality of edge is every bit as good as the beam saw. Of course our beam saw cost over 200x as much as a TS55 with 3000mm guide rail, so we expect excellent results.
tiralie
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ccarrolladams said:
J:
Exactly why I cut this way as well.
It is much easier and faster for me to get the most accurately sized pieces with no tear out.
I do have the parallel edge guides, but when they are not readily available and I need to cut narrower material, I will use a piece of scrap under the rail and I will clamp the board as well as the rail.
Tim
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When I first started using the TS-55 and MFT my natural instincts said the workpiece should be to the right of the TS-55. I quickly learned that I'm wrong and it should be to the left and under the rail. It feels backwards to me every time but it is easier. I blame it on being left handed. [big grin]
As others have already said, if you want to have the workpiece on the right side, try using the LR32 Edge Guides. You can go out to about 5 inches parallel to the rail.
[attachthumb=1]
If you need something wider, buy some 14 mm hex bars of any length you want. If you can't find 14 mm, you can use 5/8 inch bars but you will need to swap out some bolts for longer ones.
[attachthumb=2]
As others have already said, if you want to have the workpiece on the right side, try using the LR32 Edge Guides. You can go out to about 5 inches parallel to the rail.
[attachthumb=1]
If you need something wider, buy some 14 mm hex bars of any length you want. If you can't find 14 mm, you can use 5/8 inch bars but you will need to swap out some bolts for longer ones.
[attachthumb=2]
Wow, some great additional input....
Qwas, you are showing the general premise of what I had in mind, except I want a bit more accurate measuring and squaring system. The LR32 components are square enough when working close to the rail, but when 24" from from the rail attachment, prob. not the ideal attachments... as errors magnify over length. Also, relatively crude measurements, vs. what Corwin brewed up
Carroll, maintaining the measured piece under the rail eliminates the need to account for blade kerf, I understand...but if you are drawing a line (or setting to a "V" mark), there is still the accuracy issue of setting the rail to those marks... I have found that to be the only real cumbersone part of using the 118" rail. Tweak one side, the other side moves, chk left, chk rt, chk lft, etc. This was part of the motivation for coming up with an accurate and square two piece measuring system, which you set before placing over sheets, then place on sheet edge, and fit the other side into rail, or butt against splinter guard (if I use that side as the measured piece)... fast, easy, accurate..... with NO measuring, NO marking the sheets, NO setting the rail to the marks...
Now, maybe I have been very lucky up till now, and have not experienced any tear-out, if I did, it would alter my thinking a bit... (as to which side to measure from) but as you correctly point out, if tear out is an issue, after the cut, you would need to re cut the same edge to get a splinter free starting edge for the next piece. This would be quite a PITA IMO... I rather keep fresh blades in the saw, assuming that is what has been given me clean edges.
As you mentioned, with a sharp blade and a clean lower sacrifical piece (I use dense 2" polystyrene sheets), I have yet to experience any tear-out problems. Kudos to the Festool system for such clean edges... this IMO is one of the most impressive aspects of the TS rail system.
So, how many people experience tear-out? If so, with what type material?
Qwas, you are showing the general premise of what I had in mind, except I want a bit more accurate measuring and squaring system. The LR32 components are square enough when working close to the rail, but when 24" from from the rail attachment, prob. not the ideal attachments... as errors magnify over length. Also, relatively crude measurements, vs. what Corwin brewed up
Carroll, maintaining the measured piece under the rail eliminates the need to account for blade kerf, I understand...but if you are drawing a line (or setting to a "V" mark), there is still the accuracy issue of setting the rail to those marks... I have found that to be the only real cumbersone part of using the 118" rail. Tweak one side, the other side moves, chk left, chk rt, chk lft, etc. This was part of the motivation for coming up with an accurate and square two piece measuring system, which you set before placing over sheets, then place on sheet edge, and fit the other side into rail, or butt against splinter guard (if I use that side as the measured piece)... fast, easy, accurate..... with NO measuring, NO marking the sheets, NO setting the rail to the marks...
Now, maybe I have been very lucky up till now, and have not experienced any tear-out, if I did, it would alter my thinking a bit... (as to which side to measure from) but as you correctly point out, if tear out is an issue, after the cut, you would need to re cut the same edge to get a splinter free starting edge for the next piece. This would be quite a PITA IMO... I rather keep fresh blades in the saw, assuming that is what has been given me clean edges.
As you mentioned, with a sharp blade and a clean lower sacrifical piece (I use dense 2" polystyrene sheets), I have yet to experience any tear-out problems. Kudos to the Festool system for such clean edges... this IMO is one of the most impressive aspects of the TS rail system.
So, how many people experience tear-out? If so, with what type material?
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