Wider rips and longer crosscuts for the FS-PA

[fshanno]

I went ahead and bought an FS-PA and FS-VL last week.  My first use put all my reservations to rest.  Great addition, well worth the price.  My first task was ripping a bunch of 50mm strips for forms for concrete counter tops.  I needed long strips because some of the counters are over 6' long.  It was a breeze.  I can't imagine any tool including a sliding table saw or even a CNC being faster or easier for this particular task.

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And yes, that is one of those little little $1 plastic calipers from Harbor Freight.  I know, I know, but you can leave it out in the rain and it has metric and it is more accurate than a tape.

So much for thin rips but what about wider rips, 26" and up?  And how about long stopped crosscuts?  Here's a possible solution.  A T-track, a piece of plastic and a couple of knobs.  The long neck on the stop allows you to get right up to the extents of the factory stop allowing 651mm and higher rips and stopped crosscuts out to the length of the T-track, about 50" in this case.

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This setup with the fairly long track is intended primarily for crosscutting.  Shorter tracks would be in order for ripping.  As you can see, this rig helps with the problem of supporting the arms.  It could help with the issue of cutting material thinner than 3/4" though you still have to contend with the problem of supporting the thinner material when ripping from pieces smaller than a full sheet .  I'm going to figure out a way to add a lip to the factory stops so they too can support the arms. 

Now a really big decision, metric or Imperial?  If I choose Imperial I'm going to remove the existing rule on both arms and go all inches. 

 

[monkeyswithhammers]

nice job fshanno!  Where did you get the t track, and did you have to modify the fs-pa to make it fit so well?  When you use your setup for long crosscuts does it give you a perfectly square cut every time?  I did'nt know the fs-pa could do that. I usually use a 55 inch rail with a permanently attached wood fence.  I posted some pics of it.  The thing I like is the outboard side of my wood fence still has the cutoff piece attached, so you can see the kerf of your cut.  Handy if you use a tape measure to do layout on sheet goods, and don't always want to flip the guide rail.

Oh, and I love harbor freight as well.  There are a lot of cheap machinest tools that are good enough for woodworking, like your calipers.  Not every tool needs to be made in germany (don't tell my wife).

 

[fshanno]

nice job fshanno!  Where did you get the t track, and did you have to modify the fs-pa to make it fit so well?  When you use your setup for long crosscuts does it give you a perfectly square cut every time?  I did'nt know the fs-pa could do that. I usually use a 55 inch rail with a permanently attached wood fence.  I posted some pics of it.  The thing I like is the outboard side of my wood fence still has the cutoff piece attached, so you can see the kerf of your cut.  Handy if you use a tape measure to do layout on sheet goods, and don't always want to flip the guide rail.

Oh, and I love harbor freight as well.  There are a lot of cheap machinest tools that are good enough for woodworking, like your calipers.  Not every tool needs to be made in germany (don't tell my wife).

I found the T track at my local wood working store.  It's standard stuff for a 3/4 miter slot.

It's pretty square.  Good enough for kitchen cabinet boxes and built-ins and the like.  I used it to crosscut hardwood parts for a face frame and it glued up tight and square.