Festool TS owners - long track

[Victor Robinson]

So I just got my first green - the TS55. I do like [love] it, but it's becoming painfully clear that a longer rail is needed, not necessarily to cut full sheets lengthwise mind you, but pieces in the 50-60" range.

With the amount of sheet goods cutting I'll be doing in the next few months, I'm debating getting the 106" rail. But, as a hobbyist, that's a bitter pill to swallow, as I already paid the premium on the Festool over the Makita or Dewalt. AND I'm not sure whether there will be ENOUGH cuts in the high range to justify it.

Just curious what others have done/do in this respect.

[Jerome Hanby]

I voted my plan not my reality. Woodcraft keeps the tracks and hook ups in stock, so next time I need longer, I'll pick them up. Right this second, if i need a longer cut, I use my PSI PPS. With ot's two rails joined, I can cut an 8x4 piece of plywood diagonally. Definitely not as nice as the Festool solution, so I will be picking up the extra rail and joiners in the near future.

[Bill Trouard]

I just ordered the 118" Guide Rail (FS 3000) and Parallel Guides should be delivered on Friday. Got tired of connecting 2 short tracks and trying to keep them aligned

[Jerome Hanby]

I just ordered the 118" Guide Rail (FS 3000) and Parallel Guides should be delivered on Friday. Got tired of connecting 2 short tracks and trying to keep them aligned

Is getting them aligned a big enough hassle to spend the extra money on the long rail if you only have occasional need the extra length? Once you get it alligned, does it stay aligned or do you have to keep tinkering with it?

Thanks

[Bill Trouard]

Is getting them aligned a big enough hassle to spend the extra money on the long rail if you only have occasional need the extra length? Once you get it alligned, does it stay aligned or do you have to keep tinkering with it?

Thanks

To me it was a PIA. it would tend to flex a bit at the joint sometimes and the set screws would loosen sometimes. I think what I ordered will remove most of the hassle with setting up my cuts

[Peter Kelly]

Joining the rails is a complete PIA, doesn't give you a particularly straight cut either. The Woodcraft sales people will swear up and down that it works great but it just sucks.

The 108" Makita track is definitely the better option.

[Al Burton]

I own the MAkita ts, and respositioning the rail for longer cuts isn't that difficult. I was skepitical about it it but after trying it a few times I was surprised how well it can work.

[johnny means]

Joining the rails is a complete PIA, doesn't give you a particularly straight cut either. The Woodcraft sales people will swear up and down that it works great but it just sucks.

The 108" Makita track is definitely the better option.

I have to disagree. I have two 55" rails and they give me perfectly straight cuts. Sure, I do use a straight edge to align the rails while joining them (I don't think the ends are cut very precisely), but I'll put the cuts I get up against my SCMI slider any day. Like any tool, sloppy work yields sloppy results. Better work yields better results.

I can also think of plenty of reasons why a 9' rail is not a good choice, price not being one of them.

[Peter Kelly]

Perhaps we have different opinions of what the term "perfectly straight" entails.

[johnny means]

Perhaps we have different opinions of what the term "perfectly straight" entails.

I guarantee you when I say an edge is straight, it is straight. Surely, its not that difficult to line up two known straight lines. I guess you also don't believe that a hand plane can joint an edge or flatten a board. Both of these tasks are much more difficult than laying two rails in a line, yet have been achieved for centuries. Just because you can't line up two rails doesn't make it impossible.

What would prevent one from getting straight cuts with two straight rails?

[Curt Putnam]

I bought my TS55 back in '05 but I have the current tracks. I went with 2 55" tracks and connector rails. I cannot imagine a need for the longer track. In fact, the 110" is almost too short to cut the full 96" length. You need just about 10" hanging off the start in order to get the saw going. Cuts are absolutely straight (actually, better than I can do on a TS.)

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have 2 - 55" sections and 1 - 42" section.
It's never been a problem to join them and get a straight cut.

I learned the connectors just get snugged down, not tightened until the little veins in your forehead pop out like the way my fat brother in law tightens things.
I also use the Festool clamps all the time. Maybe that has something to do with it?

[Peter Kelly]

I guarantee you when I say an edge is straight, it is straight. Surely, its not that difficult to line up two known straight lines. I guess you also don't believe that a hand plane can joint an edge or flatten a board. Both of these tasks are much more difficult than laying two rails in a line, yet have been achieved for centuries. Just because you can't line up two rails doesn't make it impossible.

What would prevent one from getting straight cuts with two straight rails?

If I'm breaking down 10+ panels at a time for a kitchen, I'm losing money if I have to re-check the guide after every cut to make sure the the set screws haven't loosened and the assembly is still cutting a "straight" line.

The join rails might be just fine for the occasional user making a few cuts here and there, they don't work for me.

Loose the attitude btw.

[Rich Engelhardt]

If I'm breaking down 10+ panels at a time for a kitchen, I'm losing money if I have to re-check the guide after every cut to make sure the the set screws haven't loosened and the assembly is still cutting a "straight" line.

I'm curious here if you don't mind my asking.
Why go with a track saw instead of a sliding table saw?
Wouldn't a slider be better for production work?

I'm the very definition of "occasional user". I don't believe I'ver joined my rails together more than a dozen times in the few years I've owned them.

[Jeff Duncan]

So obviously there are a lot of opinions here on this. I have the Festool with the 2 - 55" tracks with the purchase decision being made purely on a financial basis. If I had to do it again and could swing the cash I'd get the longer track. As has been said, you can certainly line up the 2 tracks and get a nice straight cut. I use an 8' aluminum straight edge for just this task. The problem is even with the screws tightened to the max, a little bump or a bit too much pressure leveraged over a 9' track will put it right back out of alignment. This doesn't mean you need to check the track after every cut, but if you happen to bump it in use. Then there's the time invested....so you stop working to join the 2 tracks together and align them. You start making your long cuts and realize you have a few short pieces to do. Now you take it apart make those short cuts, then go and connect them again....BTDT.

For someone making the occasional long cut it's probably not a big deal and you'll likely be fine. For myself, whenever I need to make longer cuts it's a true PITA. Oh and a slider would be nice, but you can't throw it in the truck and take to the job site. I'm just finishing up about $10k+ worth of custom closets and many of the cuts had to be done on site. I can't even imagine going back to the pre- track saw days:(

good luck,
JeffD

[Chris Tsutsui]

I cut 4 sheets of 3/4" MDF into thin strips last night. The thin strips varied from 2" wide, to 5.5" wide. I decided it would not be good times lifting sheets onto the table saw and thin ripping them so I got out the TS55. Although ideally I'd like to have a 110" rail, I found that I can connect two 55's just as straight. The only sacrifice is the time spent to connect the two rails, but the benefit is that it's easier for me to move the 55's around and store.

1. First I connected two 55" guide rails together with the 2 connectors. I used my 3' starett straight edge on the inner lip of the guide rail and made sure both guide rails were perfectly aligned with the straight edge and then tightened the connectors leaving 1mm of space between the two guide rails. It was a little tricky tightning both sides and holding the straight edge but I got it done. If you don't have a straight edge then you can use a framing square or ruler, or level... something straight.

2. I raised the stack of sheets from the floor with a sacrificial sheet. Some people use those insulation styrofoam sheets. I brush dust off the black neoprene grips and make sure the MDF is swept clean to prevent track slipping.

3. I adjust a combination square to my ripping size which was (for example) 4" wide. Then I add 2.2mm to that size to add the width of the saw blade. I used a digital vernier set to metric mode to the correct MM setting to doublecheck. Then what I did was use the engineer square to push the guide rail away from the edge of the sheet. This proved far more precise than marking with a pencil and aligning by site.

Some more thoughts..

I ripped through 2 sheets of 3/4" mdf at a time, something I wouldn't attempt to do on the table saw.
If your strips need to be an exact width then you can test on a sacrificial piece and adjust your combo square until your cuts are accurate when measured with a venier.
If your vacuum is on a cart and tall, then you don't need to buy a boom and your hose and cord won't get snagged on the sheet as easily.
If you have a minicyclone collector, you'll go through less bags.

212649

212650

I suppose if I was building a torsion box of some sort then I'd use a jointer/planer to finalize the sizes but this was for wanescotting.

[ian maybury]

+ ? (quite a few :)) to the effect that the rail joining system is a bit of a PIA. It can be made to work, but in my experience needs knocking straight before every cut by butting it up against another straight edge. Pick it up and it's not going to reliably stay in alignment.....

ian

[Jim Becker]

While I've only used the 8' rail a few times, when it was the right guide for the job, it was the right guide for the job. Note that in all cases, this was for home improvement work, not in the shop since I have a slider to break down plywood. For someone who intends to use the track saw for working sheet stock, the longer rail is worthy of consideration. Yes, you can join two shorter ones together, but the long rail will always be "dead on" with no room for human error, outside of not placing it on the correct line. :)

[Forrest Bonner]

PIA or not, storing the long track is the problem in my garage 'workshop' so I opted for 2 55" tracks. I follow the Festool recommendation of placing the TS55 over the joint to allow its guide to help align the 2 tracks. I agree that you should not overtighten the setscrews and a long (known) straight-edge would be a nice check. If I were doing production work as some have indicated no doubt the longer track would be a timesaver = more $$$ made.
Forrest

[Steve Baumgartner]

I have a 1900mm, two 1400mm, and an 800mm that I connect in whatever combination works best for the sheet I need to cut. I use one of the other rails as a straightedge when joining two, and have had no trouble achieving a straight cut. Meaning no offense to anyone, I suspect that problems with losing straightness may relate to how you handle the rails between cuts. Since I often work in restricted space and don't have a large truck to transport a long rail, I haven't yet seen a need for anything more.