FestoolFS1400/2-LR32-55"(1400 mm)Guide Rail with holes For Drilling. Model-496939

Festool products exceed expectations. Their customer service is one of the best i have encountered.

I am not a huge Festool fan but do own both Domino machines and they are real time savers. I needed to replace my 59 inch Dewalt rail so it seemed like a good time to try out a different brand. The Dewalt rails are fine but they don't have a slot for attaching accessories like parallel guides. My thought was going with the Festool track and parallel guides would boost efficiency. This also led me to try out the LR32 system. As it turns out the Festool parallel guides were a major disappointment but that is a different review. The LR32 system and this holy rail are winners. My Dewalt saw works nicely on the Festool rail. I wish I knew this when I bought my Dewalt . The base on the Dewalt is wider than the Festool saws so some accessories like Festool's parallel guides won't work because the way they mount to the rail doesn't provide enough clearance for the fatter Dewalt saw. Fortunately there are plenty of other manufacturers who make accessories that will work. That accessory mounting slot also makes the Festool rail more solid. As with all things Festool this rail is expensive but it is well built and offers more flexibility to attach accessories. With what I saved going with the Dewalt saw (about half the price of Festool) I ain't gonna complain about spending a bit more on this rail.

Festool offers some excellent products and base a lot of their product on the "system" approach. Best example being many of the saws or routers coupled with one of the Festool Dust Extractors results in very little dust/shavings into the air you breath, thus, great benefit health wise.The FS1400/2-LR32-55" is a combination of a guide rail, and enables the user to construct cabinets (non face frame style) with the indexing system. The indexing system allows proper placement of the shelf pins holes space at 32mm, and the 35mm holes for the Euro style hinges. Please note you will need to buy the LR32 system or many of the components, this rail only serves as the guide/indexing device for the LR32mm system.The rail can also be used with one of the Festool track saws or routers to allow precision cuts, dadoes, rabbets, etc.... To use the rail with one of the Festool routers you will need a Festool router/rail accessory. The rail will work with the track saws right out of the box, no adapters required.If you are considering the Festool line of equipment, note that the track saw comes with a 55" rail, but it is not this rail, typically called the "holey" rail. Some retailers will allow you to swap the standard rail for the holey rail for a small price difference. If you know you will be making cabinets, I would suggest you buy this rail with the track saw, and purchase one of the longer guide rails to cut down sheet goods. Alternatively, you can use a pair of the 55" rails, connected with two couplers, to cut sheet goods length wise.

Vera does a great job of protecting the guide rails. This is the second one I have ordered from them, both arrived perfect. Veritable sarcophagus to protect them from the Neanderthal’s.

Update: My new replacement arrived within the matter of days! Thank you Hartville Hardware! This 5 stars is for you!Hartville Hardware has always been good to me, and I try to buy my Festools from them whenever possible. Sadly, this one did not survive the shipping process. So much for the Thanksgiving cabinet project! But, it reiterates the old saying, "The best-laid plans of mice and men..."But I look forward to a replacement and planning the Xmas cabinet project!

Other than the Festool premium price I have no issues with the rail but the other part of the kit that attaches to the router could be better see my other review on that. However I see many question the Indexing of the shorter rail on long side panels. I have drilled many and todate almost of of the panels I have used this on are close to 8' in length. The easiest method is to cut your side panels exactly in increments of 32mm as long as all your panels are the same length I simply use one end stop and reference off the top drill as many holes as possible then move the end stop to the bottom and drill up from the bottom. As long as your panels are in 32mm increments you should be right on just to be safe I always drill the same # of holes from the top down (make a crayon) mark on the rail so you know which hole to stop at that way if there is any misalignment between indexing off the top or bottom the holes will all be consistent and wont cause any rocking shelf issues. I have made many 8' ish side panels using this method and its usually within a half to maybee one millimeter difference but as I said just make sure you are consistent with # of holes from the top and it wont cause any issues. You will need to be a little more careful when drilling since you can only clamp one end of the rail since the other will be out in the middle of the panel. You can work around that too if you have a deep throat clamp (just FYI) the festool style quick clamps do not have enough throat depth to clamp the rail from the edge. I typically set my rail in place using the LR32 edge stops and either clamp a scrap piece of wood on the back side of the rail to give it a positive stop or keep one of the edge stops on and move it around as needed to make sure I keep the 37mm spacing consistent. I haven't had one issue with the rail moving but just keep a close eye on it and make sure your part and rail are clean and free of any dust. If you do that those rails are pretty hard to move. However if you are drilling some expensive panel material some extra insurance never hurts. There could be a Market for a 5mm to festool rail indexing pin for anyone with a 3d printer however. I see no need for the long rail at this point. Sure it takes a little longer moving the end stops around but based on my experience with the NON lr32 long rail its not much of a trade of between moving the stop and having to flip those long rails around. For me the extra minute per cabinet isnt worth it. HOWEVER if you do not already own a non lr32 long rail it might be worth considering but I would be cautious there since my non lr32 rail is 118" long and the LR32 long rail is only 106" long so I dont think its long enough to rip 8' stock down and still have enough track to keep the saw engaged on the track at both the start and ending points. That was a stupid mistake on Festools part.