# New Saw guide....Festool Wannabe



## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

My present guide has served me well over the years. It's just an 8" length of masonite with a purchased straight edge mounted in the middle. It's fairly accurate but I still feel the need to take the panel to the TS to true it up. 
Astounded and dismayed at the expense of other options for more accurate panel cuts, I decided to engineer my own.
Peachtree has an 8' "T" track and mating 36" "T" bar that I thought would be just the ticket so I ordered them. 
Below are a few pictures of what I came up with.

Started with a 97"X 8"X 3/4 piece of cab grade birch ply and routed a dado for the track. Got a decent fit.








Then I cut a piece of the "T" bar and mounted it to the shoe of my trusty old Skil worm drive. The 1/4 holes were already there from the factory. Used 1/4-20 bolts, lock washers and wing nuts to hold it tight against the shoe.








Here is a shot of the mounted bar fitted in the "T" track.








I have yet to epoxy the track in the dado....waiting on the epoxy. When it get's here, I'll mount it and take it for a test drive.
Stay tuned.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Great idea, I just used a piece of scrap melamine veneered chip board and used that as my guide edge. screwed to a piece of ply and ran the saw along. Has worked very well on panels for kitchen cabinets. for those of us who do not have room or money for a table saw, good substitute. I got the original idea from a carpenter friend who had the Rigid with alloy guide.
johnep


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## jharris (Jan 8, 2011)

Thought this was a great idea for a panel ripping jig. I went to the Peachtree web site only to find that the T-track that mates with the T-bar is no longer available in 96" lengths.

Too bad. I have a worm-drive skil-saw that I used to use for framing that's been gathering dust. I wanted to use it for a dedicated panel ripping saw.

Open for suggestions.

I'll see what I can figure out and post the results.

Jeff


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Gene Howe said:


> Then I cut a piece of the "T" bar and mounted it to the shoe of my trusty old Skil worm drive.


 
I cut many a roof, with my old Skil worm drive.

Worked great up there, make a cut, hang it on a 2X4.

Soon as I got off the roof, I left that garden tractor up there.

That saw will rip the wrist out of a young boy!

I prefer my Bosch conventional circular saw now that I reside on the ground. :smile:


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

jharris said:


> Thought this was a great idea for a panel ripping jig. I went to the Peachtree web site only to find that the T-track that mates with the T-bar is no longer available in 96" lengths.
> 
> Too bad. I have a worm-drive skil-saw that I used to use for framing that's been gathering dust. I wanted to use it for a dedicated panel ripping saw.
> 
> ...


Jeff,
I used 2 ea. 48" sections. No problems.

BTW, I noticed that I said I'd update with a report on how well it works. I forgot.....not unusual lately.
I used to use a guide like Jonep described. Worked fine, too. But, some times I'd wander off the guide. OK, if that's the waste side. Not OK, if you need that piece. 
The new Festool Wannabe guide works like a charm! It's easier to use because I don't need to keep pressure against the guide. It does result in a much smoother cut, too. 
Gene


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## jharris (Jan 8, 2011)

Thanks Gene, I thought about using two 4' sections but was afraid that the saw might catch at the joint. If you used two sections you must have cut your dado with spot-on accuracy. That's what I'll try to do.

This is such a great idea Gene. I'm excited to blow the dust off my worm drive and put it back to work!

Jeff

PS I use my trusty Makita 7 1/4 most of the time. It's light and I can split a line on short cuts. Not so easy on an 8' cut!


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

Jeff,
I used the router table with finger boards. Depth is critical. You want the T slot dead even with the top of the plywood. I used Liquid Steel as an adhesive. Any good epoxy would probably work.
Start with a board slightly wider than you need. I left a couple inches more than the shoe on the right. That's so that the clamps won't get in the way. And, left a few inches on the left of the blade. That'll get cut the first time you use it. Then, you have a precise point to align with the mark. 
The two T slots line up and don't catch the T bar at all. I did file a little off the leading edge of the bottom and, off the leading edge of the sides. Makes it easier to slide into the T slot.


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## jharris (Jan 8, 2011)

Thanks again Gene. I did anticipate that dado depth would be critical. Fortunately I do have a Router Table that I built using a discarded 5' kitchen island so routing an 8' dado will be no problem.

I'll be sure to make test cuts to dial in the depth.

Also, thanks for making me aware of Peachree. Another great source for jig components.

Jeff


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