Ultra Slim Full Ext. Sys. Rail

[alexalexalex]

Here's the latest shop improvement: the ultra slim full extension sys rail!

I was pretty unhappy with both festool's offering and the 3d printed models out there, as they use a lot of filament by staying too faithful to the festool design and try to 3d print the slide as well, which makes for not-so-great sliding action. My version uses a cheap 14" full extension slide, matches perfectly to the width and hole pattern of a standard sys-az cabinet, print two at the time, have the same convenient slide-in slide-out systainer removal as the standard festool rails, and so far seem very sturdy!

[printed in black ABS-GF]

 

[Michael Kellough]

Great idea Alex! Can we see the part you printed and how it fits into the standard slide?

 

[Crazyraceguy]

That's pretty cool. It takes less vertical space.

 

[alexalexalex]

Great idea Alex! Can we see the part you printed and how it fits into the standard slide?

It still needs a touch of work, as right now you have to slide the systainer entirely out (like in the standard sys-rails), which isn't needed with the full-extension slides, and there's a couple of dimensions I'm still tweaking for sturdiness etc. but here's what the latest prototype looks like.

That's pretty cool. It takes less vertical space.

Much less, and the fact that it integrates directly with sys-az drawers without any of the bulk of the fully printed solutions that do makes a huge difference for me. I can print a pair in less than three hours!

 

[timwors]

Great work - this is excellent, and definitely a marketable product I would say.

I guess it would also work with the L size Systainers? At the moment there isn't a proper solution for them in Europe (the plastic rails are not available here).

 

[alexalexalex]

Great work - this is excellent, and definitely a marketable product I would say.

I guess it would also work with the L size Systainers? At the moment there isn't a proper solution for them in Europe (the plastic rails are not available here).

Thank you! If people are interested I'd be happy to sell some to be honest, especially because you really need a printer that can do ABS-GF for the toughness/dimensional accuracy.

It works as is with L-size Sys3, and I'm trying to design a version that would also work with older T-locs and classic systainers, which none of the rails do...

 

[simnick]

I would be very interested in these. I was trying to find my own solution with drawer slides. Both the file, and possibly buy some since ABS-CF is currently beyond my 3dp skills.

 

[Allano]

Nice rails.

One thing, which I have been wondering about:

This setup will create a torque around the longitudinal axis of the rails because the upward forces are offset sideways, relative to the downward forces.

Are all sliding rails designed to take this torque, or will you have to buy special rails?

When you use sliding rails in the usual way, attached to the drawer, the sliding rail will only have to carry forces in the up/down direction. The torque can be carried by the drawer body. But here there is no drawer body.

In the past, I have been thinking about using a similar principle for some removable tool shelves, but the uncertainty about this stopped me. I did not want the moving part of the rail flipping sideways out of the fixed part because it didn't have support from a drawer.

 

[GarryMartin]

If people are interested I'd be happy to sell some to be honest

Hi Alex, if your plan is not to make the models available free of charge to members of the FOG but instead to sell them, you should really change your profile to that of a Retailer so that is clear. Kind regards, Garry

 

[rocky100370]

Id be very interested!!!

Great work - this is excellent, and definitely a marketable product I would say.

I guess it would also work with the L size Systainers? At the moment there isn't a proper solution for them in Europe (the plastic rails are not available here).

Thank you! If people are interested I'd be happy to sell some to be honest, especially because you really need a printer that can do ABS-GF for the toughness/dimensional accuracy.

It works as is with L-size Sys3, and I'm trying to design a version that would also work with older T-locs and classic systainers, which none of the rails do...

 

[jdm5]

Not to take anything away from this - what is the benefit over the stock slides?  (Serious question) - they are shorter - what does that help?  Sorry if obvious.

 

[squall_line]

Not to take anything away from this - what is the benefit over the stock slides?  (Serious question) - they are shorter - what does that help?  Sorry if obvious.

The stock Sys3 rails do not allow a Sys3 systainer to be opened when pulled out; they are simply a racking solution.  This would allow full extension pull out to allow you to open the systainer while still on the rails.

 

[Systainer.Store]

Very cool.  Nice work.

Clearly there could be more options for how to rack, pull out, etc. for Systainers. 

 

[alexalexalex]

If people are interested I'd be happy to sell some to be honest

Hi Alex, if your plan is not to make the models available free of charge to members of the FOG but instead to sell them, you should really change your profile to that of a Retailer so that is clear. Kind regards, Garry

Hello Garry,
Thank you very much for the heads-up! To be honest I shared these just to show some of my own shop improvements as a Festool nerd but I am getting enough interest in the thread and via DMs that I'm now considering selling them so I will explore how to make a retailer account on here just so I can be sure not to break any forum rules. While I haven't posted much on FOG so far, it's been an invaluable resource over the years so I very much want to follow the rules to the letter!

Not to take anything away from this - what is the benefit over the stock slides?  (Serious question) - they are shorter - what does that help?  Sorry if obvious.

The stock Sys3 rails do not allow a Sys3 systainer to be opened when pulled out; they are simply a racking solution.  This would allow full extension pull out to allow you to open the systainer while still on the rails.

Yes that is exactly it: if all you need is racking this is very much overkill, but I am using them for my Festool organizers which don't leave the shop often, basically turning them into proper drawers without the need of the much more expensive and space-consuming sys-az.

Nice rails.

One thing, which I have been wondering about:

This setup will create a torque around the longitudinal axis of the rails because the upward forces are offset sideways, relative to the downward forces.

Are all sliding rails designed to take this torque, or will you have to buy special rails?

When you use sliding rails in the usual way, attached to the drawer, the sliding rail will only have to carry forces in the up/down direction. The torque can be carried by the drawer body. But here there is no drawer body.

In the past, I have been thinking about using a similar principle for some removable tool shelves, but the uncertainty about this stopped me. I did not want the moving part of the rail flipping sideways out of the fixed part because it didn't have support from a drawer.

That was also very much my worry: the first prototype I designed used a crossbar and some slots in the front tab to combat this, but in practice I found that the combination of having enough sideways pressure from the systainer at the top of the rail + the rails slotting in the systainer stabilizing the whole thing + the light grip of the ABS-GF texture was enough to make the torque a practical non-issue, even with the cheap slides not designed to take torque. I'd like to see how much weight I can actually stack on them before I see failure, but I assume it's quite a lot, they're currently supporting sys organizers filled to the brim with hardware without struggle.

As for everyone who has expressed interest in here and in DMs, I will try and find how to make a FOG retailer account before contacting you back!

 

[peter halle]

[member=76808]alexalexalex[/member] I have changed your account to Retailer per your indicated desire.

Peter

 

[gte619n]

It looks like this matches the 32mm pins as well. The fact that the festool rack rails don't makes me crazy.