Ripping 4'x8' WITHOUT buying more rails!

[#Tee]

eat ramen for a month be like welfare status and buy the rails

 

[rmwarren]

It's only $50 for a generic 55" guide that will work with Festool.

[member=2018]fshanno[/member]

Where can one get this generic guide rail?

RMW

 

[mike_aa]

If you are going to do rip cuts of less than 300mm wide, Festool makes a parallel guide for the TS55.  Before I purchased Festool, I used a similar guide by Eurekazone for circular saws and it worked well.

Mike A.

 

[mrboult]

Just make your own guid rail out of a straight timber baton and a thin piece of sheet material. Like in the picture below. Although who ever made that used a much thicker base than I do. 

I would use 4mm ply, or ideally what we in the UK call hardboard (Shiny one side, rough the other) so the underside grips a bit and on top the saw slides nicely.

As long as you make it over-sized then your first cut will create your cut/guide line and the base material will also then be a splinter guard of sorts. Small section of sheet material on the far side of the baton is ideal for clamping.

This is what I used to use all the time before I discovered actual track saws.
[attachimg=1]

 

[pugilato]

Just make your own guid rail out of a straight button and a thin piece of sheet material. Like in the picture below. Although who ever made that used a much thicker base than I do. 

I would use 4mm ply, or ideally what we in the UK call hardboard (Shiny one side, rough the other) so the underside grips a bit and on top the saw slides nicely.

As long as you make it over-sized then your first cut will create your cut/guide line and the base material will also then be a splinter guard of sorts. Small section of sheet material on the far side of the baton is ideal for clamping.

This is what I used to use all the time before I discovered actual track saws.
[attachimg=1]

Me too... Just make the part where the saw slides wider than the saw, and cut it to width with the saw itself. You can then place that edge on the line and you got a nice cut. You might want to consider buying the anti-slip tape and putting it on the bottom of the jig. That anti slip tape makes a world of difference.

 

[Mr Heavy]

Just make your own guid rail out of a straight timber baton and a thin piece of sheet material. ................This is what I used to use all the time before I discovered actual track saws.

I never had much success with this method myself though God knows I tried. The problem was the (Bosch) circular saw motor housing hit the batten with hardly any plunge. Reversing the cut direction meant having about an inch of sole plate riding on the guide and the rest – and all the weight of the saw – overhanging the support. Using thin board instead of the batten just felt dangerous.

It's all so easy now.

 

[LTD]

I use a 1x3 for the top, and then quarter inch luan for the bottom.  This way you can get the depth needed.