Why do rail squares have a triangle bit?

[bobtskutter]

Morning all, like the topic...why do rail squares have triangular faces to them?  Are they for making 45degree cuts?  Some brands appear to have screw holes for mounting things on the angled edge.

(These are the sort of questions that keep me awake at night  )

Regards
Bob

 

[luvmytoolz]

I thought it was just an aesthetic decision to be able to maximise the 90 degree edge support, while giving the illusion of reducing the size by not having a square end?

But I am often wrong! ;-)

 

[kevinculle]

A triangle is THE intrinsically stable geometric construct...if you make one of three pieces of wood with the joints just pinned it is inherently rigid.  Whether the triangle is used structurally in the square to its advantage or just as a symbol of rigidity are both possibilities.

 

[tjbnwi]

On the TSO GRS-16 the angle is there so it fits in the Systainer with the saw. This was part of the intial design decision. It is not 45º.

The GSR-16PE was created later at the request of many on FOG.

Tom

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I just assumed that it was to save on materials, while still giving adequate length where it is needed?
It would make the overall product lighter too.

 

[TSO_Products]

On the TSO GRS-16 the angle is there so it fits in the Systainer with the saw. This was part of the intial design decision. It is not 45º.

The GSR-16PE was created later at the request of many on FOG.

Tom

[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member] comments are correct for the early version GRS-16 he has in his shop. Since then we have continually refined functional features to make it more useful.

One series of small dimensional changes fairly early-on involved reshaping the GRS-16 slightly so it fits into a SYSTAINER flat, left to right. This resulted in making the angle from front to back 45 degrees among other refinements.

A major consideration all along has been to make our Guide Rail Squares as light as possible while keeping the installed center of gravity on a guide rail as close to the guide rail as possible so as to avoid requiring an anti-tip feature found on some other brands and their universally heavier rails squares.

TSO still makes the lightest Guide Rail Squares on the market for the easiest handling of Guide Rails with the GRS-16 or GRS-16PE square attached.

Hans

 

[Coen]

[member=61691]TSO_Products[/member]
It doesn't fit in the Classic Systainer. Only T-Loc and newer.