Is 8' Festool Guide Really Straight?

[Derek Arita]

My table saw is down for a while and I need to rip some 8' ply for cabinets. I do have my Festool, 8' guide. How straight does it really cut? If I add a parallel guide system, how would I make sure everything is square?

[Jeff Duncan]

If it's straight it'll cut straight. Need to check it?....lie it down on you piece of plywood with a couple spring clamps, draw a line. Now flip it 180 degrees and clamp the ends to your line. If the line follows the track exactly your track is straight...and so will your cut be;)

As for square it'll be as square as you measure it out to. I haven't used the parallel system so someone else will have to help you out on that aspect.

good luck,
JeffD

[Derek Arita]

Thanks for the tip. Also, I have to rip some 3" stiles down to 2 1/2" wide. Can that be done with the parallel guides or another Festool accessory? And, will my AFT55 work with the Parallel Guide?

[Alan Lightstone]

You really need to see if the metal part of the track is straight, not the sacrificial white strip (that clearly isn't straight on mine, but the track is).

You would have to take off that piece to tell, and personally I wouldn't do that. They don't stick as well the second time.

[Jacob Reverb]

How straight does it need to be to make cabinets?

[Darl Bundren]

Thanks for the tip. Also, I have to rip some 3" stiles down to 2 1/2" wide. Can that be done with the parallel guides or another Festool accessory? And, will my AFT55 work with the Parallel Guide?

If you have a bunch you might rig up a jig out of plywood or mdf so you could just slide the stiles against a stop (underneath the rail), make the cut, and do it again. Rip a strip to serve as a support under the rail and stop, affix that to a wider piece of plywood or whatever, and tack it all down so the measurements line up.

[Erik Christensen]

when I compare long plywood cuts with the festool track saw to what I get on the table saw I cannot tell any quality the difference except there is zero burn marks on the festool cuts

re-sizing a bunch of 3" stiles to 2 1/2" is not a good use of a track saw IMHO - there are 2 friction strips on the bottom of the festool guide rail that keeps the rail from moving relative to the wood - you would be lucky to have one in good contact - every time I have tried something like that I usually had the wood move underneath me and the resulting cut was off line

[Greg Portland]

My table saw is down for a while and I need to rip some 8' ply for cabinets. I do have my Festool, 8' guide. How straight does it really cut? If I add a parallel guide system, how would I make sure everything is square?
I have made these exact same cuts and had no accuracy problems with my FS3000 (~12' rail). I did use (Festool) clamps to ensure the rail wouldn't budge.

[Derek Arita]

when I compare long plywood cuts with the festool track saw to what I get on the table saw I cannot tell any quality the difference except there is zero burn marks on the festool cuts

re-sizing a bunch of 3" stiles to 2 1/2" is not a good use of a track saw IMHO - there are 2 friction strips on the bottom of the festool guide rail that keeps the rail from moving relative to the wood - you would be lucky to have one in good contact - every time I have tried something like that I usually had the wood move underneath me and the resulting cut was off line
Yeah...resizing those stiles without the table is going to be tough. I have the MFT with miter gauge. How could I do it?

[Jamie Buxton]

My festool 8' rail is bowed by about .02". I get that measurement by ripping down the middle of a sheet of plywood, then folding one half-sheet over on the other half-sheet, with the ripped edges together. The difference between the two ripped edges is twice the bow of the rail.

[Steve Bagi]

Do you have a planer? Make a couple passes with the stiles on edge to get them down to 2 1/2.

Steve

[Clint Baxter]

It the stile length is less than the width of the MFT, you can put a spacer behind the stile to hold it the right distance from the edge of the guide rail and that should allow you to rip them safely and accurately. Just clamp the spacer parallel to the edge of the guide rail and make sure you have a stop at the end as well.

If the stile length is longer than the MFT is wide, you can use the length of the MFT instead as long as you have the MFT3. If you need a longer rail, you can always substitute a 1400 for the 1080 that comes with the MFT.

I've used the parallel guides with the 3000 rail and found it to provide accurate rips without having to measure each time. It's a little unwieldy to handle the 9' rail with the parallel guides attached, but does a good job overall.

Clint

[Derek Arita]

It the stile length is less than the width of the MFT, you can put a spacer behind the stile to hold it the right distance from the edge of the guide rail and that should allow you to rip them safely and accurately. Just clamp the spacer parallel to the edge of the guide rail and make sure you have a stop at the end as well.

If the stile length is longer than the MFT is wide, you can use the length of the MFT instead as long as you have the MFT3. If you need a longer rail, you can always substitute a 1400 for the 1080 that comes with the MFT.

I've used the parallel guides with the 3000 rail and found it to provide accurate rips without having to measure each time. It's a little unwieldy to handle the 9' rail with the parallel guides attached, but does a good job overall.

Clint
A spacer...right...never thought of that. I'll have to see it to make sure I get it. I have the whole MFT setup and I'm going to get the Parallel guides with extensions, so between the two, I should be able to do this...right? With the spacers I mean...