Wide Rips?

[ddr90036]

This is probably the dumbest question so far this year, but I'm new to this so be kind...

I want to rip sheets of plywood into 37" widths.  I have the parallel guides and realize that I could use it to take off the excess, but how do I make certain that the other side is perfectly straight once I do that?  What am I missing?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[tjbnwi]

Parallel guides allow you to cut parallel pieces not square pieces.

Trim the edge of the plywood, cut your 37" piece using the parallel guides, cut the ends square to the new edges.

This square works great on the rail for squaring up the pieces.
https://tsoproducts.com/tools-equipment/grs-16-guide-rail-square/

Tom

 

[ddr90036]

Thanks Tom, but the Festool parallel guides aren't wide enough to cut 37".  Sorry if I didn't make that clear in the original post.  That's my question - how do I get 37" parallel cut?

Parallel guides allow you to cut parallel pieces not square pieces.

Trim the edge of the plywood, cut your 37" piece using the parallel guides, cut the ends square to the new edges.

This square works great on the rail for squaring up the pieces.
https://tsoproducts.com/tools-equipment/grs-16-guide-rail-square/

Tom

 

[tjbnwi]

Width  of material (this will vary depending on the clean up cuts and sheet goods) 37" minus 3/32" (set rail at 10-29/32" ). This will put the rail on the off cut side, make sure the piece is supported.

Tom

 

[Jimdude]

If the ends of the board are parallel to begin with, you could use the parallel guides to "clean up" both sides (if they need cleaning up), and then indeed use the offcut side to get your 37" (I hate this myself coz you have to factor in the thickness of the blade).

If they're not parallel, you have to go down the Woodpeckers route. Ehr, by this I mean you'll have to whip up a one-time tool yourself. Make two 5x40" planks, put an end-stop (say 5x2") on top of one at exactly '37" minus the width of the track', butt up the other plank in this first guide, then fix a second endstop to this other plank. Voila, custom parallel guide!

Now, depending on how many boards you are going to have to cut at 37", I might even consider making "Corwins' setup" (Sorry, can't find his thread right now). He created it for repeated narrow parallel cuts, but it works just as well for wide parallel cuts: make one master panel at 37" (with one of the two methods above), then put this in Corwins setup, and then cut away until the blade is dull.

(I have a Corwin setup for every thinkness that I use: 5mm, 9mm, 12mm and 18mm - the 18mm I even have double: 120cm long for 'crosscuts', and 240cm long for 'ripcuts')

[ETA]: OK, found Corwins setup: See Here - go to page 4 for his 'final version'

 

[ddr90036]

Jim,

This is exactly what I was getting at - I was taught to never trust the factory edge and to create my own and then use that as my reference.  I'll likely be going down this router if my impatience gets to me or I'll wait until my incra t-track arrives

Thank you!

If the ends of the board are parallel to begin with, you could use the parallel guides to "clean up" both sides (if they need cleaning up), and then indeed use the offcut side to get your 37" (I hate this myself coz you have to factor in the thickness of the blade).

If they're not parallel, you have to go down the Woodpeckers route. Ehr, by this I mean you'll have to whip up a one-time tool yourself. Make two 5x40" planks, put an end-stop (say 5x2") on top of one at exactly '37" minus the width of the track', butt up the other plank in this first guide, then fix a second endstop to this other plank. Voila, custom parallel guide!

Now, depending on how many boards you are going to have to cut at 37", I might even consider making "Corwins' setup" (Sorry, can't find his thread right now). He created it for repeated narrow parallel cuts, but it works just as well for wide parallel cuts: make one master panel at 37" (with one of the two methods above), then put this in Corwins setup, and then cut away until the blade is dull.

(I have a Corwin setup for every thinkness that I use: 5mm, 9mm, 12mm and 18mm - the 18mm I even have double: 120cm long for 'crosscuts', and 240cm long for 'ripcuts')

[ETA]: OK, found Corwins setup: See Here - go to page 4 for his 'final version'

 

[Corwin]

... Make two 5x40" planks, put an end-stop (say 5x2") on top of one at exactly '37" minus the width of the track', butt up the other plank in this first guide, then fix a second endstop to this other plank. Voila, custom parallel guide!

[member=62257]ddr90036[/member]

I've done this in the past using two lengths of T-track instead of the planks. And this is what I would do if I hadn't already made my own parallel guide.

Now, depending on how many boards you are going to have to cut at 37", I might even consider making "Corwins' setup" ... He created it for repeated narrow parallel cuts, but it works just as well for wide parallel cuts: make one master panel at 37" (with one of the two methods above), then put this in Corwins setup, and then cut away until the blade is dull.

(I have a Corwin setup for every thinkness that I use: 5mm, 9mm, 12mm and 18mm - the 18mm I even have double: 120cm long for 'crosscuts', and 240cm long for 'ripcuts')
...

[member=60292]Jimdude[/member]

I'm glad you have made use of my ripping jig design. However, I'm not sure how you are using it for wider panels. And I am stumped about your setups for the various thickness material. Do tell. Or, better yet, give us something to look at.  [smile]

 

[Jimdude]

I'm glad you have made use of my ripping jig design. However, I'm not sure how you are using it for wider panels. And I am stumped about your setups for the various thickness material. Do tell. Or, better yet, give us something to look at.

I 'only' borrowed the concept, not the full blown implementation with guiderail on hinges and all. I'll try to remember to take pics this weekend (they won't show the 18mm jigs coz' my BIL is currently using them).

It's really simple though: rip a narrow strip from a board (doesn't even have to be parallel, except of course when you're me), bolt it on top of the edge of the board, put rail inside the resulting "L", cut again: you now have an "L" that is the exact width of the rail, i.e. a guide! Now put your "master" board between the narrow strip of the guide and the rail, while the bottom of the guide is butted up against the workpiece: now you can cut perfect parallel copies of the master (width only, of course), regardless of the width of the master.

Due to this particular implementation of your idea (which was the fastest way for me), you will have to make a guide for each thickness of board that you're cutting, because the - long leg of the - guide needs to match this thickness.

bloody heck pictures would have been faster  [big grin]

 

[Corwin]

...
bloody heck pictures would have been faster  [big grin]

Thanks for your reply. I get it, so no need for the pictures. Anyway, glad you have made a jig that works. And it probably didn't take as long to make as it did to describe here.  [wink]

 

[Jimdude]

it probably didn't take as long to make as it did to describe here.  [wink]

Unless of course when you're me (hmm, deja-vu…): I even mark out the holes to bolt together the guide  :-[. Still only a 5-minute job, though.

Which leads me to a tip I forgot to mention: only bolt together the guides, don't glue them. If you ever change blades to a different thickness, you'd have to throw away your jigs if they're glued. Now I can unbolt them, hang the strip a bit further over the edge, and then recut to size again.