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Author Topic: Cut and kerf ling gauge for Festool rails  (Read 3666 times)

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Offline mshull

  • Posts: 11
Cut and kerf ling gauge for Festool rails
« on: December 20, 2018, 02:56 PM »

I have many rails, many saws and many saw blades.    Needless to say, I cannot trust the rail's splinter guard line to be in the same place as the actual cut line of the specific saw and blade I am using.    It would be good to have a set of guides that pop on and off the track's raised guide channel (they way the LR 32 guides do) that can be calibrated to a specific saw, rail and blade combination easily (via a test cut) for cuts that need to be exactly on the line.    The guide could also be used to line up cuts where the measured piece is opposite the rail -- i.e., if the cut line is on the opposite side of the kerf.
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Offline Gregor

  • Posts: 1737
Re: Cut and kerf ling gauge for Festool rails
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2018, 03:45 PM »
The festool saws that fit the rail can be calibrated to have the inner (seen from rail) kerf side at the exact same distance.
The TS 55 supplemental manual contains the procedure.

Adjust all you saws to the same distance, then move out the too-short splinter guards (remove, attach more outwards - or replace them in case you don't trust the adhesive to reconnect) a mm on each rail you have and cut the guard to distance.
After you won't need the jig you think about.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2018, 03:48 PM by Gregor »
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Offline DeformedTree

  • Posts: 837
Re: Cut and kerf ling gauge for Festool rails
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2018, 09:20 AM »
Quote from: Gregor on December 20, 2018, 03:45 PM
The festool saws that fit the rail can be calibrated to have the inner (seen from rail) kerf side at the exact same distance.
The TS 55 supplemental manual contains the procedure.

Adjust all you saws to the same distance, then move out the too-short splinter guards (remove, attach more outwards - or replace them in case you don't trust the adhesive to reconnect) a mm on each rail you have and cut the guard to distance.
After you won't need the jig you think about.

I think the person is asking for a tool/fixture for doing the setup, not the adjustments themselves.  It's liking trying to get a TS55 req to be square at 0 degrees.  There is adjustments for this, but there is no real way to hold the whole assembly properly while you adjust and tighten (awful design), similar for the offset, how does one gauge this and get it set before/while locking it all down.  Festool probably has a factor fixture for this that they set the tool in loose, clamp and then tighten the screws.

Of course the better answer is these tools should have no such adjustments period. They should be toleranced from the factory with non-adjustible interfaces that hold the critical features to so tight of a tolerance that they are effectively perfect.  GD&T and gauging/fixtures are a thing, use them.  Adjust ability in devices/tools is just a failure from the start. Save a few cents on production cost, force users to deal with it for life of tool.  To tolerance and fixture during machining the parts on a saw to hold offset from the rail the same on every saw would not be hard.
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Offline Gregor

  • Posts: 1737
Re: Cut and kerf ling gauge for Festool rails
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2018, 04:21 AM »
Quote from: DeformedTree on December 21, 2018, 09:20 AM
It's liking trying to get a TS55 req to be square at 0 degrees.  There is adjustments for this, but there is no real way to hold the whole assembly properly while you adjust and tighten (awful design)
Get a Digital Bevel Box Gauge , calibrate it to your (flat) worktable, set a rail so that the side with the splinter guard strip overhangs, set the saw on the rail and clamp it down (gently!) - now you have your hands free to remove the side cover, attach your Bevel Box using the magnetic side to the blade (onto the flat inner part, sparing the teeth).
Perpared like this you should be able to perfectly calibrate your TS using the information and procedures in http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/how-to-set-ts55-bevel-to-0/ (and linked topics).
Quote
similar for the offset, how does one gauge this and get it set before/while locking it all down.  Festool probably has a factor fixture for this that they set the tool in loose, clamp and then tighten the screws.
Put the rail to adjust the saw to onto a table so it overhangs on both ends, then you can slide the saws base a bit over the rails end to access the screws you have to access for the procedure (without having to lift the saw from the rail), not loosening them fully (so you can carefully tap the top into alignment) helps.
See page 22 in https://service.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/Festool-TS55REQ-Supplemental-Manual.pdf

In general I agree with your idea that everything should be perfect from the start, but we don't live in a perfect world and the 3 years service all included will solve out of the box imperfections...
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