Guide Rail Advice Hub
The guide rail is what makes a Festool saw cut like a Festool saw. Clamp it on your line, run the tool along it, and the cut lands exactly where you marked it, splinter-free, first time. Festool invented the guide rail in 1964 and has refined it ever since.
These guides cover how the system fits together: which rail suits which job, how rails join for longer cuts, which tools run on them, and the questions we get asked most often.
The FS guide rail system
How the system works as a whole. Rail types and lengths, adhesive pads for walls and delicate surfaces, self-aligning connectors, angle stops, and which saws and routers run on the rail.
Guide rail questions answered
The practical questions. Joining rails, FS against FSK, replacing splinter guards and cushion strips, which clamps fit, and part numbers for connectors and grub screws.
Rail angle stops, reviewed
Brisbane furniture designer Damion Fauser puts the FS angle stop to work in the shop, and checks its accuracy against digital angle calipers rather than taking it on trust.
What a guide rail saves on a working day
A guide rail replaces the mark-out, the straight edge, the masking tape and, often, the planing afterwards. Four common jobs, costed against the usual method:
| Job | Set-up | Saved per day |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting laminate or melamine panels | TSV 60 or TS 55 on an FS rail | About 70 minutes, around $93 |
| Cutting doors to size | TS 55 or TSC 55 on an FS rail | About 60 minutes, around $79 |
| Cutting tapered cabinet infills | TS 55 or TSC 55 on an FS 1400 | About 50 minutes, around $54 |
| Cutting rafters and beams to angle | HK or HKC saw on an FSK rail | About 35 minutes, around $46 |
Based on 10 panel cuts, 10 doors, 10 infills and 30 beam cuts respectively, at a labour rate of $80 an hour, or $65 an hour for the infills. Each figure covers reduced mark-out, faster cutting and less cleanup. Your own job will differ.
Work it out on your own numbers
The Festool Value Calculator lets you put in your own labour rate, your own cut counts and your own job, rather than taking ours.
Ready to choose a rail? See the full range of guide rails, joiners, squares and clamps, including a buying guide covering length, quantity and FS against FSK.