Woodpecker’s T-Track and Rail Clamp Slot Router Bits

[Mike Goetzke]

I have some none Festool (shop made) rail clamps and they fit a standard 7/16” aluminum track as well as the saw rail. Do the Festool rail clamps not fit a standard aluminum t-track? Just wondering why they offer two different bits.

Also, they sell a bit from carbide and another from what they call “C” carbide. Anyone know the difference?

Thanks

 

[Packard]

There are grades of carbide, I’ve only ever seen C1 to C3.

There are discussions on this here: https://www.google.com/search?q=carbide vs c carbide&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

 

[jeffinsgf]

Mike,

There are lots of different brands of extruded aluminum track, some of which a track clamp will fit just fine, and others won't. Our T-slot bit for 7/16" bolt heads is a nice snug fit on a bolt head, since it is designed to carry bolt heads directly. The slightly wider groove of the track clamp bit would generally keep a 7/16" head from rotating, but if you're heavy-handed and you use one spot in the slot repeatedly, it could eventually wear. That's why we offer both.

Now, as to Super-C Carbide. There are far more carbide blends than most people know about. It's staggering and confusing. It gets even worse when we start dabbling in blends that are more typically used in industrial applications. Don't look for an explanation of what Super-C is...we made up the name. Nor will I tell you here or anywhere else what blend it actually is...don't want to share that with our competitors. What I can share is that the grain size and cobalt percentage makes Super-C particularly well-suited to cutting solid phenolic, MDF and Baltic Birch plywood in very demanding, high feed rate applications. We started using it in our huge CNC routers to process the router tables and drill press tables.

Which one should you buy? For my personal use, to make the occasional jig, I would likely go with the less expensive version of the T-slot bit. We figure most guys who are going to make a track clamp table are likely to be working in pretty tough material and cutting a lot of feet of grooves, so the track clamp bit is only available in Super-C.

 

[MikeGE]

I have some none Festool (shop made) rail clamps and they fit a standard 7/16” aluminum track as well as the saw rail. Do the Festool rail clamps not fit a standard aluminum t-track? Just wondering why they offer two different bits.

I'm not sure if this is what you are asking, but the Festool rail clamps fit the Incra T-track in my router table and the T-track in the Woodpeckers drill press table.  Strangely enough, they also fit perfectly in the miter slots in my Record Power BS350S bandsaw table.  They do not fit the Veritas T-track I use in my mitersaw workstation.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike,

There are lots of different brands of extruded aluminum track, some of which a track clamp will fit just fine, and others won't. Our T-slot bit for 7/16" bolt heads is a nice snug fit on a bolt head, since it is designed to carry bolt heads directly. The slightly wider groove of the track clamp bit would generally keep a 7/16" head from rotating, but if you're heavy-handed and you use one spot in the slot repeatedly, it could eventually wear. That's why we offer both.

Now, as to Super-C Carbide. There are far more carbide blends than most people know about. It's staggering and confusing. It gets even worse when we start dabbling in blends that are more typically used in industrial applications. Don't look for an explanation of what Super-C is...we made up the name. Nor will I tell you here or anywhere else what blend it actually is...don't want to share that with our competitors. What I can share is that the grain size and cobalt percentage makes Super-C particularly well-suited to cutting solid phenolic, MDF and Baltic Birch plywood in very demanding, high feed rate applications. We started using it in our huge CNC routers to process the router tables and drill press tables.

Which one should you buy? For my personal use, to make the occasional jig, I would likely go with the less expensive version of the T-slot bit. We figure most guys who are going to make a track clamp table are likely to be working in pretty tough material and cutting a lot of feet of grooves, so the track clamp bit is only available in Super-C.

Thanks for the info Jeff. I have the DP-Pro table and was thinking of cutting a couple more slots for the clamps. I really like the red aluminum t-tracks that are in the table and find the rule markings are very accurate.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I have some none Festool (shop made) rail clamps and they fit a standard 7/16” aluminum track as well as the saw rail. Do the Festool rail clamps not fit a standard aluminum t-track? Just wondering why they offer two different bits.

I'm not sure if this is what you are asking, but the Festool rail clamps fit the Incra T-track in my router table and the T-track in the Woodpeckers drill press table.  Strangely enough, they also fit perfectly in the miter slots in my Record Power BS350S bandsaw table.  They do not fit the Veritas T-track I use in my mitersaw workstation.

This is good info! Years ago I saw instructions on how to convert an Irwin Quick-Grip clamp into a track clamp. It required heating, bending, and grinding but they work great.