The new Festool parallel guides are great!

[John Stevens]

fshanno, thanks for that info.  Very impressive jigging!  Just one question:

Also the two ruler method may actually be a little more accurate.

More accurate for crosscuts if using only one of the "parallel" guide units? Or even if you use two units?

Regards,

John

 

[tbellemare]

I don't see how it can be more accurate if using two units and they were both properly calibrated, which is quite easy.

Tom

 

[fshanno]

I don't see how it can be more accurate if using two units and they were both properly calibrated, which is quite easy.

Tom

Who said the two ruler method was more accurate?  Oh, that was me.  Well, I take it back.  That was a throw away statement based on my impression of the methodology employed.  You get to typing, you know how it is.

I guess the reason I said it was this, with the two ruler method you set the first one and use it to set the other.  Then you place the rulers using a square very close to the ends of the sheet.  You get rips whose edges are very very close to parallel.  With the FS-PA you have to set the stops independently and it seems like a little more chance to introduce small error.  That's all I was thinking and it was making something out of nothing.  This is a simple process and you're not going to mess it up.  Nobody will have any problem setting the stops and getting excellent results with the FS-PA.  I hereby amend my post.

And calibrating the FS-PA is indeed simplicity itself.  Great product, a real Eureka killer.  Calibrated stops in a completely portable unit, game on Dino! Let's rock!

 

[Tinker]

"Get her a surger or a new embroidery rig or something because the FS-PA/VL is a must have"

Thanks for the advice, fshanno.  She already has one of each.  plus a few oldies, a couple of which she has already discarded to our daughter.
the plus side is that there is not much arguement when i take my infrequent excursions to my own toystore.  Of course i always let her know how many thousands of dollars I have saved when i return home with ONLY ONE of my favorite Festoys to break in.
Tinker

 

[Sean_C_G]

Fshanno, thanks for posting your thoughts. The UPS man delivered my set today and I can't wait to check these puppies out. Thanks again.

Brice, I hope (and expect) they'll pay for themselves with the wainscotting job! If you can, can you tell us how they do with connected rails? Thanks.

 

[Sean_C_G]

Final thoughts.  6 out of 7 is not too shabby.  When I first heard about the FS I was thrilled.  Then I saw it and heard initial reports and my enthusiasm cooled.  Oh ye of little faith.  Then I when ahead and bought a set and the thrill is back.  Get out your wallet, time to pony up.  They saw us coming on this one.

Thanks for taking the time out to give us a great overview of this tool's capability. To my mind, your prior point of view with regard to using story sticks or rulers as a substitute represented the last bastion of skepticism that I had about this product; now that you've succumbed, IMO there's little hope for most of the rest of us without tablesaws (myself included)!

 

[petiegolfer]

I have played around with mine and have found that they are pretty good in conjunction with the MFT if only the rail was made longer and you could use a second hinge arrangement further along its length...

My rail is lined up square to the holes in the top the dogs allow me to put a 12mm mdf scarificial board down. This can be used in several ways. I tend to cut a new kerf in it and then use that to assisst with making up fences for repetitive cuts...

I tried out the thin strip attachments at the weekend and they worked great...and as has been posted do balance things up. I did have a thought of bonding a tab on the stop which hooks back over the work peice. This would stop the guides drooping.

 

[John Stevens]

Who said the two ruler method was more accurate?  Oh, that was me.  Well...

fshanno,

You're a good guy, and with a sense of humor too.  Thanks for the additional info--I see your point as to how the "two ruler method" eliminates one source of user error.  Don't worry--the Festool police don't break down your door with their jackboots in the middle of the night just because you post a message that questions the party line.  Not the first time, anyway. 

Regards,

John

 

[fshanno]

I did have a thought of bonding a tab on the stop which hooks back over the work peice. This would stop the guides drooping.

I was thinking about that but it might present a problem.  I made a stop for extended crosscutting with a tab and it seems to work fine.  But that is for crosscutting where you're standing right there using a single arm as a T-Square.  You can easily lift that single arm a bit while you slide the guide over so the sheet bumps the stop.  When ripping you'd have to lift both sides to get the tab on top of the sheet then bump the sheet against the stop.

In an earlier post in this thread I included a sketch for a J shaped thing that would fit over the arm and extend out on top of the sheet.  It wasn't part of the stop.  I made one.  I works, sort of.  I'll get a picture tomorrow.  It also fits over the stop.

 

[Tinker]

When I look at the FS-PA in the catalogue, it is unclear to me whether the prices show one or two of each part.
One fence & one clamp head (I see no designation of parts nomenclature) or two of each.
The identification for Parallel Guide (in bold print) indicates only one of each part; while the description in smaller print indicates the use of two of each part in practice.

slightly confused
Tinker

 

[Frank-Jan]

Articlenumber 495717 is for a pair of the FS  PA's. (I just checked the Dutch site (they weren't on there yet when I ordered mine), it states something like "units in a package: 2".

 

[tbellemare]

Tinker:

You can get the Parallel Guide, which is the two guides that measure off the back of the work piece and grab the guide rail. Two are in the box.

Or you can get the Extensions that measure from the off-cut and attach to the above. Two are in the box.

Or you can get the Set, which has everything.

Tom

 

[Tinker]

Thanx for the educatin Tom.
Tinker

 

[Mark]

Thanks for another great guide Jerry. I was too lazy to calibrate the guides and just wanted to give them a test drive but couldn't figure out how to hold/clamp a piece that was only 150mm in width. Of course I was trying to do this on two wobbly sawhorses on an uneven patio floor. Uneven + uneven + wobbly = crap! However, these guides will be put to work on a kitchen remodel when I get the nerve and time to pull it off.

 

[Mark]

OK, one of the achilles heels of the MFT and the parallel guides is when you are trying to cut anything less than 3/4" as you have to shim the material so that the guide rests flat on the material. I'm repairing / replacing some 1/4" luan paneling in my house and the only way to cut these things accurately and safely is on a table with foam ideally. I've got neither but have managed so far. Today I wanted to rip a 5' x 35mm piece of paneling using the parallel guides but ended up ditching the guides and using my combo square instead.

The tablesaw, even a small contractor model would have been the way to get this done quickly and more accurately.

I'll give them another couple of days to see if I want to keep them... on the fence right now as I can get a contractor saw for about the same price as these guides.