Review of the Festool Parallel Guides.

[fshanno]

As for cutting narrow and long strips using the additional guide attachment, my experience is that it is really only feasible to cut from material which is as wide as or wider that the rail given the difficulty to secure it with clamps etc, and I agree with you that for this application a table saw is preferable.
I raise these issues only because I feel there may be other who are contemplating purchasing the guides and who like me will need to use three rails to accommodate cutting of
long sheets.

regards
Barry

I've had pretty good luck cutting narrow from narrow though I don't think I've ever started with a piece narrower than about 2" using the FS-PA.  I place at least two pieces the same thickness as the work piece and wider than the guide under for support, sometimes three.  Of course a board nearly as wide as the space between arms would be ideal..  I put them right up against the arms and I put a little bit of pressure against them to force the narrow board I'm ripping against the stop.  That makes up for the inability to clamp those narrow work pieces.  I really go easy on the pressure for safety sake and no burning.

 

[Barryduck]

I agree and like you I always support under the rail if the piece to be cut is narrower than the width of the rail. My experience over the last few days has enabled me to use the guides in a variety of situations and I can appreciate the convenience and speed they will bring to my cutting operations especially as Brice says for repetitious long cuts.
Thanks for your advice and input

 

[Jack Rafter]

Brice,

"I've recently acquired the new Festool parallel guide set,"

Just exactly what does the mean? Did you do this review at the behest of Festool? Were you compensated some how for doing this review?

Frankly, if you didn't go out and spend your "hard earned cash" on what's clearly another over priced ($325.00) add-on by Festool, then your review can be seen as bias. On the other hand if you did spend the cash then you can review away my friend.

 

[Jimhart]

Brice,

"I've recently acquired the new Festool parallel guide set,"

Just exactly what does the mean? Did you do this review at the behest of Festool? Were you compensated some how for doing this review?

Frankly, if you didn't go out and spend your "hard earned cash" on what's clearly another over priced ($325.00) add-on by Festool, then your review can be seen as bias. On the other hand if you did spend the cash then you can review away my friend.

Joe,

As you probably know, we hashed through the 'if you were provided the tool for free, then the review should say that' issue pretty good a few months back. Brice was one of the first to say he would state in his reviews whether the tool was provided to him or not.

He does say at the end of the last post in the review, 'I've found the guides to be an asset to my Festool collection and I'm well pleased with this purchase. '

To remove any cast of doubt over reviews, I think it would be great if folks had a disclaimer either in their sig or in all posts whether they receive any compensation whatsoever from a manufacturer they are commenting on. Maybe their name could be in green, like Festool employees and dealers.

God knows we need more info on how to use the tools than Festool provides directly. When someone is telling me they think I should buy something I think it's fair and important to know whether they bought it themselves.

Jim

 

[Bob Marino]

Brice,

"I've recently acquired the new Festool parallel guide set,"

Just exactly what does the mean? Did you do this review at the behest of Festool? Were you compensated some how for doing this review?

Frankly, if you didn't go out and spend your "hard earned cash" on what's clearly another over priced ($325.00) add-on by Festool, then your review can be seen as bias. On the other hand if you did spend the cash then you can review away my friend.

Joe,

For the record, Brice purchased the guide set from me - full price; free shipping.

Bob

 

[Jack Rafter]

Jim,

Thanks, he does say that on the last line of the 18 page review. It seems to me one would say that in the first line of a review. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

 

[AlexThePalex]

It seems to me one would say that in the first line of a review.

This is not a commercial site in any way. It's just Festool enthousiasts amongst each other. If you're new to this site, that might not be so obvious for you, but if you hung around here a couple of weeks, you'd know we're all just sharing our sincere experiences with each other.

 

[Bob Marino]

It seems to me one would say that in the first line of a review.

This is not a commercial site in any way. It's just Festool enthousiasts amongst each other. If you're new to this site, that might not be so obvious for you, but if you hung around here a couple of weeks, you'd know we're all just sharing our sincere experiences with each other.

  Alex,

  Well said.

  Bob

 

[Brice Burrell]

Brice,

"I've recently acquired the new Festool parallel guide set,"

Just exactly what does the mean? Did you do this review at the behest of Festool? Were you compensated some how for doing this review?

Frankly, if you didn't go out and spend your "hard earned cash" on what's clearly another over priced ($325.00) add-on by Festool, then your review can be seen as bias. On the other hand if you did spend the cash then you can review away my friend.

Joe, my using "acquired" was a poor choice of words on my part, sorry about the confusion. As Bob already pointed out I paid for the guides (orders over $150 in the US ship free). I gave Festool my review to use on their site for free, I received no compensation of any kind. My T15+3 drill review is also on this site, you'll notice there is no mention of Festool giving me these drills to review. That's because they didn't, I purchased two, full price, just like anyone else has to.

Since all forums get new members all the time I'll repeat what I've said here many times. A couple of years ago I received some of Festool's router accessories and last year the Kapex free for review purposes. Reviews of the router accessories can be found on this site (the Kapex review isn't posted here), at end of the first post, in bold type, I include this: "In the interests of full disclosure, this tool was provided by Festool for review purposes." I hope this helps clear this matter up. 

 

[Jack Rafter]

Brice,

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Deke]

Brice, or anyone, can I ask a dumb question and learn more about the cutting table set up you use? It looks like just a few saw horses with sacrificial wood mounted in the top - right? WHat I mean is it seems on Brice's set up there is only wood directly over/ont he saw horse and nothing in the span between the saw horses. Is that really enough to support a 8' long board in a rip cut? I'm interested in a nice knockdown-able set up - mainly for ripping since I can make cross cuts on the MFT/3. I have a small basement shop and low ceilings. I have some ideas on what I can do with my sawhorses, but someone here almost always comes up with something I never think of. I have the Stanley adjustable saw horses by the way.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Deke, I tend to use whatever I have on hand to make a cutting table, if I know I'm going to be making a lot of cuts I'll make a nicer table. In the pictures where I'm cutting the OSB I'm only using horses and 2Xs because the cuts aren't important that that be very accurate or clean. You'll notice where I'm cutting the oak ply I've made a nicer table out of 2Xs and a plywood top. When I want quality cuts I make a table with saw horses, a few 2Xs screwed to the horses and then a 1/2" or 3/8" ply top, on occasion I'll use foam too. Try searching the forum there a ton of good ideas that the members have come up with for cutting tables. 

 

[Deke]

Thanks Brice. See, you all taught me something (like I knew you would!). I thought there was one solution for everything, but it seems the best route might be to do a number of things as the need comes up.

However.... there may be something pretty versatile. I don't want to get in trouble because I know this particular vendor/manufacturer has had issues on this forum, but has anyone ever tried the "EZ SMart Table" or similar idea? Here is a link and pic.

http://www.thesmallbusinesscoach.com/ezguide/eztable1.htm