TSO Products TPG-50 Parrallel Guide Review: Breaking down a sheet of plywood

[@DW-ph2xg]

I bought Festool PG’s some years ago. I didn’t like to them right from the start. Just received my TSO PG’S. All good now but wished I had not wasted my money with the first set. Always good to check out your videos. Thank you! 🇨🇦

[@woodandleather]

It's cool that they make a 50" guide rail. Base cabinet side heights are often over 30", so while there are times when a 25" (Festool) or 30" capacity (TSO) might come in handy for crosscutting a bunch of cabinet sides, I would really want something like 36" as a standard size for parallel guides, which makes them admittedly cumbersome. Thus, is a lot of cases you're really looking at a ripping system, not one for repetitive crosscuts of cabinet sides. By the time you get all the capacity I'm talking about with the TSO system you're into it by about $700-800. Still, the system appears well engineered, but still really only a ripping system for general cabinetmaking. I have a GRS square and it really is a terrific tool.

[@dannyh.7490]

I'm a retired cabinet maker and have always used my panel saw, which I sold due to my now smaller home shop, and I miss the accuracy I had with it, so this a perfect and timely solution to complement my recently purchased Makita track saw. I've been hearing about the TSO products and now that they've been out long enough to prove their worth I'm breaking down today to purchase. Now I can still accurately process panels for that occasional cabinet I need to make with the loss of my panel saw and decreased space. It's obviously not as fast as using a panel saw but now that I'm retired I don't need the speed, just the accuracy, and I've tried cutting larger panels using other methods that just have not been accurate. And we just moved to a newer home with no garage or shop cabinets! Thanks for your honest review! Ironiclly, I too am a reviewer for Home Depot products(Seeds Program), and also strive to give a fair but honest review of the products they give me.

[@frenchyroastify]

I have the TSO system and it's really good. If they ever added a digital readout on the stops it would be amazing. The shiny metal indicators make it hard to read so I've put some matte black tape on them.

[@johnvanbecelaere9355]

Given what I just posted, I intend to continue to use my Festool parallel guides and my 2700 rail to make parallel full sheet cuts. I will use the TSO guides attached to a smaller rail to square off and cross cut to finished lengths. Alternatively, I could use my MFT table to square off and cross cut just like you did in your kitchen cabinet series. Keep up the good work Eric.

[@josecuervo4749]

John, that absolutely works. You have to nail setting up your MFT though for square cuts and that's not difficult but can be a bit tricky. Of course the nice thing about the MFT with the rail mounted is that you can also mount Festool routers and jigsaws onto the rails. The advantage of the GRS-16 squares is ease of setup and the fact that they are dead square.

[@ThekiBoran]

The festool parallel guides are possibly the worst purchase I've ever made. Thankfully I got a good price for them when I sold them to some sucker, I mean buyer.

[@michael.schuler]

I use and absolutely trust TSO GRS16-PE. The TPG-50 system parallel guides you demonstrate are aptly named: they assure parallel (rip) cuts. But once you have created a work piece with absolutely parallel sides, IMO there is no need to use the second stop rail on the crosscut. TSO GRS is so reliable that you can take its 90 degree accuracy to the bank. Your use of the parallel guide on crosscuts of work pieces prepared to be parallel as you demonstrate is either unnecessary (my opinion) or an implicit indictment of your claim that the TSO rail square is accurate. Save yourself time and needless concern by using each TSO product for its intended use only. For crosscutting to length, you only need your TSO GRS and one stop rail.

[@tyn6211]

Appreciate that you clearly disclaim that you were given a product to review, instead of making up some hokey story about how you were working on a project and needed to get that product to complete it.

[@samoanSAIYAN]

One of the few American to use the metric system. Subbed!

[@josecuervo4749]

Yes. A lot of cabinet makers actually use metric if they use the LR 32 system so having both metric and imperial makes a lot of sense. They even do angles in both imperial and metric....that's a joke.

[@samoanSAIYAN]

@@josecuervo4749 must be an imperial joke as I have no fkn idea what you are on about.. 🤭

[@joeforster5503]

Based on your review and a similar review by Ron Paulk I bought these (TPG-5-, and GRS-16) for my Makita Track Saw. Good review.

[@johnvanbecelaere9355]

I have a Festool FS 2700 106" Guide Rail. I have been using the Festool parallel guides to rip an 8 foot sheet of plywood using that rail. Unfortunately the rail is not long enough to use the TSO guides to do an 8 foot sheet. You actually need the FS 3000 to mount the TSO guides and have enough space between them for the plywood. At $385 that's quite an issue. If I had known that I would not have purchased the TSO guides. So if you have a 2700 rail, you need to plan on buying an expensive 3000 rail as well as the already expensive TSO guide.

[@ThekiBoran]

No, you don't need to use 2 GRS squares. One is sufficient. You can even make parallel cuts with no square at all if you have the connectors. Check out other videos.

[@royr327]

I bought the Makita 118 inch Track saw rail and replaced the Makita black splinter guard with a Festool splinter guard and only run my Festool Track Saw on this Makita track. works great and was a cheaper 5 years ago, not sure of todays price for the Makita 118 inch.

[@ludwigbarnes3058]

Good to see you back! I’ll write more. But time to watch it now!

[@WelshRabbit]

Eric, it's GREAT to see you back posting new content. YAY!!!!!! You're a great instructor and product reviewer -- and an inspiration to get out to our shops and make stuff -- including all those Festool-type SysPorts and other cabinets. When you don't post, you are missed terribly. To paraphrase Oliver Twist, "We want some more videos, please, Sir." By the way, you're single-handedly responsible for hooking me, first on Festool, and now TSO goodies (and indirectly Woodpeckers by example). You're an incredibly great asset to the nation's economy in boosting sales of good & very useful tools. How about some comments on the Big Blue Boschy alternative to the TS-55. Looks like they've done a pretty faithful copy of Big Greenie -- and, alas, learned how to price like it's Festool. [boo!!! -- or at least boo hoo! ]

[@chriscianci317]

Glad to see you producing videos.....I enjoy your teaching sty,e very much. Best

[@ants5824]

i have bought all this he is showing i cant wait to use it , everything looks good

[@KJ-yq5gm]

Great video, if I can give 1 feed back it would be to maybe just zoom into the products just folks watching can get a better look at the product. Keep up the awesome work!

[@misterm7086]

Hi. Thanks for the onformative video. I recently purchased the Makita Track Saw system. My question: I'm looking into the TSO parallel guide system. They offer a 20" inch rail, a 30" rail, and a combo set of 30"/50" rail ($100 more than the 30" set). In my spare time, I enjoy building small furniture for family and friends (book cases, shelves, tables, etc. in my side-of-the-garage shop. In your opinion, which rail size would you recommend? Thanks again!

[@bobhinden7813]

Nice video. Did you need to use the second TSO parallel guide in the example cuts you did? If the bottom one is pushed against your reference edge and the stop is touching the left edge, is the top one doing anything? Thanks.

[@ko6128]

Bob Hinden good point. Eliminating the top one gets the price down from $750 to cut plywood straight and square.

[@Mike--K]

The flip stop on the top rail is against the bottom of the plywood. I assume this is to ensure the Festool rail stays square to the reference edge.

[@Prevailingbucket]

Welcome back The review I needed. Thanks

[@jayfeaver8243]

Really glad to see you back. I've been missing your videos. Interesting alternative to Festool & Precision Dogs. Nice demo.

[@AngieWilliamsDesigns]

I really want this set. Seeing the prices... I dont' understand if I need to get two heads or get the guide rails instead.

[@royr327]

The TSO rail sets by themselves will Not connect to your rail or any rail. Rail connectors are separate because they're are so many different Brands of Track! This is a good thing, competition usually drives the price down. TSO rails usually need two rail connection points. Since I have Makita and Festool Rails I bought two slide-on rail connectors and one set of 30 inch rails. Note the rails are not 30 inches long, your track brand, plus the rail connectors, plus the actual TSO 30 inch rails will give a little over 30 inches total capacity. I have tried almost everyone's rail squares and parallel guides. Woodpecker's, Senica, Festool, BenchDogs in the UK and even some cheap China products. You'll save money in the long run by purchasing TSO FIRST. Currently, I have the 30 and 20 inch parallel guides and 4 rail connection methods which includes one GRS16-PE rail Square.

[@k.b.woodworker3250]

Thanks for the excellent overview! TSO makes good products and can be worth the money, depending on how much you'll use them. I love the square and wouldn't be without it. Haven't used these yet, but plan to. The square has saved a lot of "slightly off" cuts with my tracksaw compared to earlier. Yes, I could get those slightly off pieces to work, but a lot of trouble. Looks like the measurement system with this is accurate, which will be great.

[@jeffrudolph1802]

Maybe I’m missing something, you didn’t use the 8’ factory, but you did use use the short factory edge to make the 24” wide cut. Also I had thought that the factory edges although beat up a bit they are straight and square and you should reference from them.

[@kizermergenschroer5096]

At the 6:30 mark he cross cut factory edge off then flipped board and made next cut off of the clean edge.

[@buckeye44wbg]

Thanks for the comparison of these to the Festool!

[@christopherdekonstrukt444]

This can be broken down when not in use? Have a Kreg Adaptive Cutting System table I'm repurposing for this product with either a Makita or Festool cordless track saw.

[@johnvanbecelaere9355]

I have done some measuring since my post from 3 days ago. If you put TSO guides flush to both sides of any Festool rail you lose 305mm of the rail length. That works out to 2395mm (94.3") on a 2700mm rail. That is less than the 96" needed to rip a sheet of 8' plywood. If you put Festool guides flush to both sides of any Festool rail you lose 220mm of the rail length. That works out to 2480mm (97.6") on a 2700mm rail. That is greater than the 96" needed to rip a sheet of 8' plywood.

[@josecuervo4749]

Hi John, In my experience, the 2700mm rail is borderline anyway for ripping 8' plywood. If you use it rather than a 3000mm one or a combination close to that, you don't really have enough space on either end to fully engage the two cams on the track saw, making it possible to have issues at both ends. My solution is to mate my 1900mm (75") that came with my TS75 and my 1080mm rail (from my MFT) to result in a 2980mm (117+") rail which overcomes all the issues. I have also converted from the Festool rail connectors to the TSO ones that automatically align the rails. This also means you don't have to lug around and maneuver a really long rail. As always, YMMV.

[@BenMarshallDesigns]

@@josecuervo4749 rail joining is my solution as well, exact same as yours, and works perfectly. Granted I use the festool parallel guides so it's a non-issue for me currently

[@huskercrue]

Looks good. Price is crazy high. Somewhere around $660 for what you have there.

[@ThekiBoran]

I sold my Festool parallel guides and bought the Seneca guides.

[@dougsinden6881]

i think you were purposely being a bit ham fisted about setting the festool system but you are right, the Fes does need a rethink on design as well as setting to the scale which i find difficult to set

[@ThekiBoran]

I sold my festool guides. Too fussy.

[@davidgriffin1273]

Great videos - keep up the good work

[@teac117]

Instead of flipping the sheet, is it possible to just flip the track and use the GRS 16-PE on the ref edge to trim off your left side?

[@josecuervo4749]

Yes, it is possible. There are other issues to consider too. Some people use a rip blade to do all the rips (even on veneered plywood it makes a difference) and then change the blade to a crosscut blade for the crosscuts. In such a case, it would make sense to use the parallel guides to do all the rips at once, change the blade to a crosscut blade and carefully do all the crosscuts in a single cutting session. One more thing, when doing short crosscuts, it is not necessary to use both squares with attached parallel guides and the flip stops....that's the beauty of this system. Nice review BTW.

[@ThekiBoran]

It helps to do a scoring cut. And just tonight I realized that doing the scoring cut backwards will give you a perfect edge. Then do a full depth cut forward. Both sides/faces will be perfect. For the past 4 or 5 years I've been doing a full depth and beveled cut backwards with a circular saw when scribing base and countertops but it didn't occur to me to do a scoring cut backwards with a track saw until I watched a Ron Paulk video.

[@oskarzarranz5624]

Hey! You are using a Festool saw guide with a Bosch saw, aren’t you? Do they work together or do you have to tune them?

[@barstad-9591]

Thanks for the information.

[@JeronimoJGC]

Great to see you again!!!!

[@frontlinefinishcarpentry4193]

Good video, I own the GRS-16 PE So with this parallel guide, I would need a second GRS? Sounds expensive, but I'm in the market so I'll check it out.

[@CustomCutsByChris]

Hi Eric, great demonstration thank you. In your crosscut sequence from about 7:00-9:30 you referenced the GRS16 AND both flip stops, wouldn’t using the two flip stops alone at this point give you the same result since you already squared the end? I’m about to buy these parallel guides once they come back in stock, doing my homework on how to best put them to use. Thanks, Chris.

[@ChristopherClaudioSkierka]

Hi there, how do you know each flip stop is equal to one another when you adjust them to length - you just eye ball them right? you could be out one to the other, they go go into a notch or something?

[@kperellie]

Thinking of buying the combo kit, but, do you really need two of the squares? They're not cheap.

[@AaronGeller]

Just buy the Festool version -- it's $30-$35 cheaper for the angle stop and it's made by TSO too

[@marksatterfield3100]

I made the same thing out of scraps for a few bucks. I do like the TSO GRS-16 however.

[@jwar2163]

How do these compare to the Festool Parallel guides system? I have the Festool but have as of yet to use them for ripping a full sheet.

[@trevdale7967]

great vid! what blade would you recommend to cut melamine as not to chip?

[@carlbrothers]

I have a Makita and it offers a skim cut setting to score the surface of plywoods and laminates to mitigate this issue. I guess you could replicate it on any other track saw system.

[@ThekiBoran]

Do a shallow scoring cut but go backwards. Then do the full depth cut going forward. Both faces should be pristine.

[@bobbydazzler2248]

What size Festool track is that to rip an 8x4 sheet? My guess is the 3000 to accommodate both guides?

[@jawbreakerhd9887]

Yep

[@clintlubbe1232]

Hi. Long time no see. Hope you are well? I see you are using the Bosch track saw - how are you finding it?

[@jawbreakerhd9887]

He is finding it very good

[@biscuits671]

We’re have you been mate ? Great to see you back

[@jawbreakerhd9887]

He has been on mars

[@acarl7205]

I like this system, especially after making my own system with reference boards and relying on a T-square (verified to be 90 degrees). Since I am a hobbyist, I am not sure about spending this amount of money, but it looks sweet. One thing I am concerned about is that the 50" rails limit the size of the crosscut to 50" (duh). If I want to cut a sheet of plywood that is 36" by 60", this tool cannot make the 60" cut directly. Someone on the Festool Owners Group site said that I could cut off the scrap end with this tool as long as I took into account the kerf of the saw blade. But that requires calibrating the kerf with test cuts on all blades and hoping that the metric/imperial difference doesn't bite you, to say nothing of hoping that you remember to do the math correctly. I would think that there would be a better way. Any ideas?

[@josecuervo4749]

Hi A Carl, I am uncertain what you are asking for here. What do you want to cut from a 36" x 60" sheet? If after taking the factory edge off of both edges of the 60" dimension, you wish to cut say a 55" cut, you could simply measure to the 55" mark, put the track with the GRS-16 square on the mark and make the cut, no parallel guides required. That said, a longer parallel guide would be more repeatable, but also consider that from the PoV of developing and marketing such a device, a company must evaluate how many customers have such a requirement. I own the whole set of TSO parallel guides and find that for my purposes the 50" rail is rarely used. Mind you, it is really nice in the rare instance that I need it. The Festool parallel guides only go to around 24" and they are great, if a little bit fussy until you get used to them. The TSO version is a giant leap up in both capacity and ease of use. The niche for these tools, IMO, is a small cabinet shop or a hobbyist who wants to build cabinets for his own use or use in his (or her) community of family, friends etc. The parallel guides allow one to break down sheet goods quickly, accurately and repeatably. (In combination with the rails and saws). The guide rail squares let one create a dead nuts accurate square cut repeatably and accurately. This is a set of operations for which this type of setup was created.....of course other applications are great with these tools as well, but for cabinet making on a small scale or onside construction, I know of no better tool.

[@acarl7205]

Hello, Jose. I see now how my post did not quite capture my intent. I am trying to understand how to cut a 48" by 96" piece of plywood down to 30" by 60" without having to measure and place the TS guide next to a mark. I get that there might not be a business case for TSO to make a longer rail than 50", but I am hoping that there is a crowdsourced procedure to maintain the accuracy of the TSO tool and cut a piece larger than the 50" cut with a rail. I have a DIY guide system made from plywood which works reasonably well, although it is not as fast or convenient as the TSO system overall. One reason I am looking into systems like this is that the back of the FS track does not really work when trying to place it against a line (it is curved, not square, probably for good reason and this is not a complaint, just an observation) and the track width is metric, not imperial. So, the question is how to cut a piece of plywood down to something longer than 50". Thanks, Carl.

[@RJS-cm5mb]

Piece together the 50” and 20” guides for a 70” length. TSO has a connector for this purpose. Yes at this length the guides become somewhat difficult to maneuver. RJS

[@JDWynn80]

What are the lengths of the M6 knobs for the grs 16?

[@JDWynn80]

The length of the threads to be more specific

[@tundrawhisperer4821]

I’m trying to understand why the flip stops help? If your going to change dimensions for another cut length, your going to move a fixed stop anyways. Just tying to figure why flip stops would fe beneficial. Thx

[@scyarch1136]

Tundra Whisperer the flip stops are for repetitive cuts such as building cabinet boxes. Depending on how many you’re building, often times you’ll make multiples of the same size for cabinet box or drawer sides, etc. This just saves you from having to measure more than once for the same cuts.

[@zoenurel]

I just got this system and I love it. I find it better than the original from Festool. The flip stops help because I can set up the guides one time and do both a squaring cut with the flip stops up, and then after the squaring cut, flip the whole thing around, reference the 90 degree edge I just cut, lock the flip stops down and then make repeat cuts from this position. Awesome. Cant do that with the Festool parallel guides. They can get you parallel, but not get you square..

[@tundrawhisperer4821]

zoenurel that sounds good! But I think I’m just going to buy a Felder sliding table saw and be done with all these accessories that keep coming out!

[@robertconroy8686]

Eric, thanks for posting. Looking closely at purchasing. Kind of an unrelated question for you. Looks like you do not bother to clamp the guide rail to the workpiece. Does the guide system eliminate the need for clamping? Your comments/input on that would be appreciated--thanks

[@sleepymoose1]

Most people using Festool rails don't bother to clamp them unless it's something super critical or expensive as 99% of the time there is no movement during the cut.

[@robertconroy8686]

@@sleepymoose1 Thanks for the input, amazing how well it stays put. Very happy with the TSO guides.

[@aldenpines]

With two parallel guides, there is no need to push the one closest to you against the plywood edge. You would really only need to do that if you only had one rail on.

[@ThekiBoran]

He didn't need to have the PE on the far side. One is all you need really. I'm sure you've checked out other channels videos.

[@TheJollyMisanthrope]

Now I just need veneered plywood to come back down to a price range that I can afford!

[@bernievandermerwe9475]

Hi there, what is the cost of this set up. Thanks Bernie from New Zealand.

[@RT1200BIKER]

If you use a TPG50 why would you need to use more than one parallel guide and one stop? You'd only need two parallel guides if you resort to using two TGP connectors wouldn’t you?

[@matthewguthrie7675]

Do you need both sides or just one to cut parallel cuts?

[@enelgaragedemartincho]

Thx for sharing man

[@edaldasu11]

hello, how could you use with small pieces?

[@michaelsa892]

Will these work on the new kreg track saw track.

[@raider6511]

So first off you need a track saw for this to work??

[@BenMarshallDesigns]

correct

[@meghancass3187]

For a DIY guy this is a great system. But if I was building cabinets more than once a year I'd need something more efficient. A sliding table saw could have made those cuts in under two minutes including squaring the sheet. That's obviously not a feasible investment for anyone other than a full time cabinet shop. But there's got to be something faster than this.

[@williamsmith9026]

Thanks for the introduction to this product. Im done signing up for the 8 million social media sites out there so i wont be seeing you elsewhere. I already have the 16 and very happy with it so im giving these a hard look. I currently do something else completely for repeat cuts because ive seen lots of people fumbling and bumbling with the other options so i have not made a purchase. Is it a necessity to have 2 16's or does the system work with 1?

[@ThekiBoran]

Totally not necessary to have 2 16s. This isn't the best demonstration. Check out other videos.

[@williamsmith9026]

@@ThekiBoran 👍

[@tundrawhisperer4821]

You never clamp your guide rails before you cut? Have you ever had a rail slip on you? Thx

[@jawbreakerhd9887]

Nope he has not

[@tundrawhisperer4821]

JAWBREAKER HD really?! You know this for sure? I work a lot with a prefinished plywood sheet goods and these tracks feel slippery in them. I won’t take a chance on $70-$100 sheets. That’s just me. Thx

[@brianford9522]

Nice hat! Go bucks!

[@Z-add]

In math if you have 2 parallel lines and a third one is square to one of them then it will be square to the other parallel one as well. It doesn't say to flip the paper :)

[@johnsanford3596]

he's flipping it for two reasons. First, so that the waste of the next cut will be to the right of the saw. Second, it's simply best practices to ALWAYS keep working from the same reference point if you can. Sometimes you do it not because you need to, but to stay in the habit of doing so.

[@richardlug6139]

@@johnsanford3596 The reason it needed to be flipped is because the factory edge was not cut off on the right side (his left) of the sheet of plywood the only side that had not been cut yet, and he was cutting usable stock from his left to right.

[@gregf5730]

Go Bucks!!!

[@aldenpines]

Explain something - once you removed the factory long edge and then cut a new short square with that one, why bother pushing the guide rail up against that long edge for each cut? If you are referencing off a short squared edge, and your flip stops are set up exactly the same, that next cut will be fine, no?

[@richardlug6139]

Yes, but since it is there why not use it!

[@georgecoffman377]

Always a good habit to get into.

[@nasarazam]

So much more work than using a table saw!

[@g.wes.3906]

For a diy guy like myself that can't justify a cabinet saw, and only have a regular table saw, track saws with square and guide Is infinitely safer and more efficient that a table saw when breaking down whole sheets of ply.

[@todc8986]

If you squared the end of the sheet. Why don't you just use the parallel guides for the following cuts no need to use the guide rail square.

[@donaldhealer9954]

Your definitely partial to TSO jig, I own the festool and I'm not fumbling like you are in the video and if the camera was not running you probably wouldn't either. I don't own the TSO but I'm looking. They both seem to be a good product. I don't know why having more than one stop on the jig would be a benefit... I've never had a need for more than one stop at a time... Just saying.

[@AaronGeller]

Not everyone has a need for multiple stops, but I know many cases where it’s handy. One such case is where you need to make several different width or length cuts. By having dedicated stops, you can ensure continuity as opposed to readjusting and introducing error.

[@debandmike3380]

I guess that's the downside to keeping the camera on the far end of the room. No details on the "how" of the TSO. Just the result from a distance. "How" does it attach to the rails? How do you calibrate the measurements when changing rails? How do you know its square? Which rails does it work with? How do you cut stock thinner than the track, etc. etc. Just saying that would be helpful when reviewing a product.

[@royr327]

610mm is 24.0157 inches

[@davecurda2350]

I still prefer the Festool system

[@kevinleopard6711]

May I ask why? I just acquired the Festool PG (which I've yet to use), but this system appears to have some advantages over Festool's.

[@ThekiBoran]

@@kevinleopard6711 I had the festool parallel guides and sold them. They are a pain in the ass, especially the narrow rip guides. I don't understand how anyone could prefer them over the Seneca or similar style guides.

[@silverbackag9790]

Guy shows overhead closeups in thumbnail; films with a wide angle lens a couple miles away.

[@chippysteve4524]

It looks like u can't use the parallel guides without also buying two GRS as well!!! Screw that.

[@thepoplarshop]

You don't have to buy a GRS to use the parallel guides. You can buy 2 TPG adapters. One for each end of the guide rail. Or you can buy a GRS and a TPG adapter with the parallel guides. TSO has a few options to choose from.

[@chippysteve4524]

@@thepoplarshop Glad to hear it.I hope you mention that in the video or u'll scare people off unnecessarily. Perhaps a video using just the adapters ?

[@Noone-mb9ho]

Hello! You have a really cool woodworking channel! Would you mind to share your business email with us?

[@Breal191]

Nice but that’s 800 dollars worth of parallel guides

[@luketein7965]

What is this millimeter crap where in America 🤣🤣

[@jawbreakerhd9887]

The internet which is world wide

[@k.b.woodworker3250]

The TSO parallel guides have both inches and mm, unlike the Festool that only has mm.

[@BenMarshallDesigns]

@@k.b.woodworker3250 festool parallel guides come in either metric or imperial

[@joecox9958]

too long

[@ferencgacsi773]

That’s what she said:)