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Post by bicycleclip on Oct 28, 2017 3:24:57 GMT -5
Hello, has anyone had any experience of these router guide rails that Mafell provide? Mafell code: 200500 Router guide incl 1 m guide rail and 2 clamps Mafell code: 039100 Guide rail, 1 m incl adapter The rails look practically identical. I think the difference between them is the fitting for fixing the router to the rail. - The ’luxury’ 200500 has a fore and aft adjustment knob, that allows you make cuts paralell to the initial cut without moving the rail.
- The ‘basic’ 039100 doesn’t have this, it looks like you make the same adjustment by moving the router base manually.
The basic rail costs around £300, The luxury version is £600. The price difference seems steep considering it appears to just the router fitting, and with the luxury rail you get a couple of clamps, which look like standard Mafell ones. Interestingly the basic rail is marketed as a ‘guide rail’. The luxury one as a ‘stair stringer guide’. I can find loads of pictures of the luxury one being demonstrated, but none for the basic rail. My intended use? I’m thinking that such a rail will be a more elegant and secure way of cutting dadoes, e.g. cupboard shelves, possibly even rabbets, than using a plywood jig. Also The plywood jig option is usually a T-bar shape, the unsecured open side potentially allowing the router to spin-out if it hits a knot or just register some innacuracy e.g. sawdust getting between the router base and reference. If you use either rail I’d be very interested to hear of your experiences, and whether you get much use from the bevel angle attachment. Otherwise, what do people do for cutting very straight and accurate dadoes in the middle of a large piece?
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Post by holmz on Oct 28, 2017 5:19:23 GMT -5
I got an LO50 a couple of years ago. The Bosch plate attaches it to the rail and it also can do 32-mm system holes.
Just used the router today for some speaker boxes to put a recess in for the lip of the speaker.
I have only used it on a rail for 32-mm holes. usually the edge guide I use more to stay some fixed distance from an edge... Middle of the board would be the rail...
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Post by bicycleclip on Oct 28, 2017 6:47:02 GMT -5
I got an LO50 a couple of years ago. The Bosch plate attaches it to the rail and it also can do 32-mm system holes. Just used the router today for some speaker boxes to put a recess in for the lip of the speaker. I have only used it on a rail for 32-mm holes. usually the edge guide I use more to stay some fixed distance from an edge... Middle of the board would be the rail... I’m looking at the Mafell router rails for an LO65. From what I gather the Bosch plate won’t work with the LO65. The Mafell rails I’ve mentioned doesn’t work with the LO50, I think, they have. basic rail for the LO50 on a separate code.
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Post by aas on Oct 28, 2017 14:16:58 GMT -5
I'm not sure why the Bosch plate wouldn't work with the LO65 - it's huge. Worse comes to it, you might have to drill for the screw holes for the LO65. I've used for trenching to fit recessed LEDs - I've fitted the plunge base for the Makita RT0700. Also for fine trimming 3m panels before edge banding.
Sits very well on the rail, I don't have any slop (I know it has been mentioned before here...)
The rails you mention seem very expensive for what they are. If you're cutting shelf dadoes all day, every day, I'm sure it will pay for itself. Otherwise, I'd recommend the Bosch plate as Holmz has already mentioned.
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Post by skinee on Oct 28, 2017 15:38:48 GMT -5
these are the two rails to which bicycleclip refers
katalog.mafell.com/media/fraesen/zubehoer_werkzeuge/200500_zoom.jpg
katalog.mafell.com/media/fraesen/zubehoer_werkzeuge/039100_zoom.jpg
I bought the less sophisticated(cheaper) one a few years ago with the the intention to use it for deck stairs but have to confess I never used it,just kept on using a homemade jig.it also seemed to me that the two rails were essentially the same and so I thought that I could convert my more basic rail into the 'better' one if I could get the parts,Tobias kindly rang mafell and made enquiries but apparently the grooves in the two rails are different and so it is not possible.both rails clamp using festool size clamps,i can take a few close-up photos if anyone is interested
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Post by holmz on Oct 28, 2017 17:24:16 GMT -5
The Bosch job looks like a spaghetti strainer with the holes to take various routers. They label them alphabetically, and I would have to look, but they use most of the letters. I am not sure how big of a slot you are putting in, but the LO65 has a bit of power/torque,
I would probably try using a peice of angle iron if it was not critical, and ride the router against that... jibs and templates are usually handy.
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Post by bicycleclip on Oct 29, 2017 6:40:07 GMT -5
The Bosch job looks like a spaghetti strainer with the holes to take various routers. They label them alphabetically, and I would have to look, but they use most of the letters. I am not sure how big of a slot you are putting in, but the LO65 has a bit of power/torque, I would probably try using a peice of angle iron if it was not critical, and ride the router against that... jibs and templates are usually handy. My reservation is that Bosch put the LO50 on the compatibility list but left off the LO65. I’m a bit wary of the £60-£70 outlay to find this confirmed. Do you have the diameter of the baseplate handy?
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Post by holmz on Oct 29, 2017 7:27:15 GMT -5
Prancing to the garage....
Ok I am back. 192-mm
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Post by aas on Oct 29, 2017 13:10:07 GMT -5
My reservation is that Bosch put the LO50 on the compatibility list but left off the LO65. I’m a bit wary of the £60-£70 outlay to find this confirmed. Do you have the diameter of the baseplate handy? The Bosch router plate is compatible with loads of Bosch routers - and by chance the holes line up with other makes. I guess the LO50 was lucky! The Makita RT0700 is not 'compatible'... I managed to get some holes to line up, it's just that the cutter is not concentric to the hole in the base. I guesss this would be a problem if I needed to use the maximum sized cutter to fit through the hole, but I don't, and generally speaking, to use the router plate on rail, we want it to run parallel and don't care for concentricity of the base. I pretty sure the LO65 will go on there somehow. Worse case scenario, you will have to drill some holes in the Bosch router plate - nothing to worry about.
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Post by holmz on Oct 29, 2017 17:33:48 GMT -5
bicycleclip aas where are you fellows at? I can out it on a piece of paper, or you could measure the hole diameter and spacing/pattern? Ideally just post the LO65 and I can test it ?
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Post by huntsgemein on Oct 29, 2017 21:08:19 GMT -5
Surely the lack of a particular tool's concentric mounting holes is nothing that a couple of minutes with a texta pen & drill can't fix?
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Post by bicycleclip on Oct 30, 2017 4:11:57 GMT -5
Surely the lack of a particular tool's concentric mounting holes is nothing that a couple of minutes with a texta pen & drill can't fix? Right. However, I thought any compatibility issue will be less to do with the position of the holes and more to do with the large size of the LO65 base. With my rather limited experience I’ve thought of the behemoth LO65 as an outlier to other routers in terms of size and specifications. I’ve now measured it, and the LO65 base is about 175mm at it’s widest point, so this should fit onto the Bosch adapter’s’ 192mm plate with no problem, and a few mm to spare. I appreciate the information, thanks everyone. It will probably need drilling but that’s not a problem. This is nice to know, as it means I can consider a £61 Bosch adaptor for standard Mafell rails rather than the £300 or £600 Mafell purpose made router rails. I still see the Mafell router guide advantage in terms of having a more secure way of anchoring the LO65 which is admittedly quite intimidating when it decides to wander. However, those guides are costly for casual use, and are limited to a 1 meter pass. The Bosch will run up to how many rails you have. Also I can use the MF angle and Cochrane square with the Bosch adapter. And if I buy a cordless Makita trim router, presumably, unlike the Mafell system, it can make it’s way onto the same adapter base. Happy days.
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Post by bicycleclip on Oct 30, 2017 4:31:28 GMT -5
bicycleclip aas where are you fellows at? I can out it on a piece of paper, or you could measure the hole diameter and spacing/pattern? Ideally just post the LO65 and I can test it ? Prance and cavort for your own amusement Mr Holmz, I’m certainly not sending the LO65. The postage alone from Oxford, UK would ruin me. I do appreciate the critical dimension you’ve provided. Looking at the underside, is the 192mm to the plastic moulding edge or to the edge of the phenolic? Attachments:
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Post by aas on Oct 30, 2017 14:26:27 GMT -5
I'm assuming Holmz has measured the other side - i.e. where you actually put the router.
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Post by bicycleclip on Oct 30, 2017 15:23:33 GMT -5
I'm assuming Holmz has measured the other side - i.e. where you actually put the router. Yes that would make sense
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