ripping decking boards

[Acrobat]

I am currently working a some deck steps at my place, and thinking a little ahead am curious to know how do builders rip down the length of a piece of decking using the TS55 saw? Surely its too narrow to use the guide securely and what if the board is bowed? How would you rip it evenly? A standard saw edge guide I guess? Does the TS55 come with one as standard equipment? or is there a Festool way to rip narrow boards instead? I will use my old Triton table saw for this but am simply curious as to how this issue would be approached otherwise.

 

[Kev]

Simple, you add a KAPEX or an MFT/3 to equation.  [cool]

 

[Roseland]

Is this what you mean?

http://www.festool.co.uk/Products/Accessories/Pages/Detail.aspx?pid=491469&name=Accessories-TS-55-and-TS-55-R-PA-TS-55

Andrew

 

[AlexThePalex]

... how do builders rip down the length of a piece of decking using the TS55 saw? Surely its too narrow to use the guide securely ...

You could put a few deck pieces next to the one you're cutting to fill up the space under the rail.

 

[Acrobat]

... how do builders rip down the length of a piece of decking using the TS55 saw? Surely its too narrow to use the guide securely ...

You could put a few deck pieces next to the one you're cutting to fill up the space under the rail.

Hmm, yes that provides extra width to be able to rest the guide on, but how that keep the board straight if its bowed?

 

[Acrobat]

Is this what you mean?

http://www.festool.co.uk/Products/Accessories/Pages/Detail.aspx?pid=491469&name=Accessories-TS-55-and-TS-55-R-PA-TS-55

Andrew

Yes, I assume that this comes as standard with the saw?

 

[peter halle]

That accessory does not come standard with the saw.

Peter

 

[tjbnwi]

Set 2 deck planks next to each other.

If you want very accurate cuts you will need to straight line the boards.

Using the small tab on the stop that is supplied with the saw set the rubber strip to the edge of the board. Look down the board, make sure the cut will remove the entire length. You are removing a very small amount in most cases. If you are not removing the entire length, set the rail a little farther off the edge.

Once you make the cut, you have a nice straight fence. This board edge will be the one all other pieces are set against.

You can pick the straightest pieces and butt them to your new fence, but i recommend straight lining the planks.

With the straight lined edges butted, follow this method to make your rips. If you laid out your stairs properly, every rip should be the same size;

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/rip-cuts-in-the-field/

Sorry no photos of this. If necessary I can shoot some latter.

Tom

 

[ScotF]

As others have said -- use extra material of the same thickness under the guide rail to add proper support.  If you have only a couple of pieces it is is easy enough to mark width at both ends of the board, align your rail and make the cut.  If you have several that you want the same width, then I would suggest the parallel guides -- I use mine all of the time to make narrow rips and it works very well.  It is more tedious than using a table saw, though, as you have to lift the guide rail on and off to position each piece, but it is surprisingly accurate.  You could also use the parallel fence and no guide rail (there is a video review of this process that lumbajac did last year --http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-reviews/video-review-of-parallel-guide-attachment-for-ts75/), but some users do not think that this method works all that well and it is a different method that requires you to plunge the saw into the material and then make the cut -- this also only works if you are following a straight edge and as you will see in the video, lumbajac makes a straight line rip first and then follows the cut with the fence.

Scot