I’ve just bought myself a new Festool TS55 REBQ saw that comes with a 1400mm rail. I also got one of their rapid clamps.

It’s a thing of great beauty all right, but I work in a confined area and I’m finding that the 1400 rail is a bit of a hassle, especially as my saw bench is only 600 wide.

Most of my cutting is of 18mm MFC to make wardrobes and cupboards etc. I don’t often cut anything more than 800mm and most are between 625mm down to 90mm, from lengths of up to 2800. In fact 90mm is the most common. And they need to be clean & accurate.

I Thought of a new 800mm rail but they’re about £45.

What’s the minimum rail length you can sensibly use? And would it be blasphemy to cut this rail in two? A 450 and a 950 would give me 95% of my requirement.

And FFX are doing a £50 off voucher. Saw and Rail for £350 delivered. Brilliant price and it arived in 4 days of order.

And would it be blasphemy to cut this rail in two? A 450 and a 950 would give me 95% of my requirement.

As long as you could get a neat enough square cut, then some joining strips would do for joining it back together. I thought they only ever came with two 1400mm rails in the bundles (but obvs I’m incorrect there). Only other thing I was thinking is that to do the first cut on your splinter guard, if you don’t have a rail to run into or from, the last inch or so can be off a little?

Yes, I thought about joining them back together. Don’t understand your second point though.

When the splinter guard is new, it’s a few mm wider than when you’re actually using the saw so the first time you use it, you should just cut into fresh air. As the saws often wobble a fraction when the front guide leaves the track, or aren’t cutting quite square at the start of the cut until the rear guide has entered the track, technically, one is supposed to do the “calibration cut” with another track joined. Sorry, I may not be explaining this very well.

It doesn’t *really* matter if the cut is 100% square – as long as you join the two cut ends together each time they’ll mate.

I would want a bit of overhang at the end of the cut so that the front guide in the saw base is still on the rail when you finish the cut.

Spend the £50 you’ve saved on a new rail, that way not only have you a short and long but you can put together for mega-long 🙂

If you cut it down, you’ll regret it…, one day.

I can join it again with the 2 good ends together. What’s the minimum overhang required at the start and end of a cut?

I’ve been tempted to cut one of my tracks down as my saw came with two x 1.6m which is quite awkward for ripping 4′ Ply width wise.

I can join it again with the 2 good ends together. What’s the minimum overhang required at the start and end of a cut?

You need a little at the far end (for the clamp) and the length of the saw at the near end so you can start with the saw in the track, but not touching the wood.

Don’t say touching wood on a saw thread. It makes me wince.

Also, remember that when joining the two ends, not to butt them together…leave a mm or so gap.

I have a 1400 and an 800mm rail.
The 800 is fine for cutting work up to about 600mm.
I would buy the 800 and keep the 1400 for when you need it longer as it’s a faff to join them, fine if you’ve got lots of cuts to do but for the sake of £45?

A mate has the 3000mm jobbie – tis a thing of beauty (and only around £180 – bar-jin!) 😆

Great if your cutting sheets up but would struggle if fitting a kitchen! 😉

Thanks for the advice everybody. As it is I played around with it a bit today and I found that if I screw a couple of 18mm thick strips either side of a sacrificial 610 sheet I can put the 90mm boards up the middle, support the guide rail, and hey, I’ve got myself a production line. No need to cut the rail, which would have ended up wit 2 silly short bits.

33 sheets of ABS edged MFC (ranging from 650 wide down to 90) being delivered tomorrow, with an average 5 cuts each sheet so I’ll be maintaining radio silence for a bit.

Yes, I’ve got ear defenders and an extractor.

I’m glad I didn’t cut it down now. A few little home made supports and guide for holding narrow strips and its all been good so far. My only disappointment is that it doesn’t kick out as much sawdust as my old makita when the extractor is connected. The smell of that after it has passed through the fan heater in the workshop was great