Makita194368-5 55" Guide Rail

Well packaged, very useful and accurate

I initially bought a couple Powertec tracks to accompany my Makita saw to save a penny. The tracks were straight and initially worked fine with clamps so it seemed like I’d made a shrewd purchase. However, after only a couple uses, all the adhesives used to hold the plastic glides and edge guide to the Powertecs started to give and they were peeling off the track. Even after super-gluing them back on, I found the glides still separating and determined it to be from expansion and contraction of the low quality plastic when exposed to the sun.I had a big cabinet project and was tired of fiddling with those tracks, so I decided to plunk down for the Makita name to see if it would hold up better. Not only did it do that, but I was immediately amazed at the level of grip on the pads of the Makita track. I always used clamps with the previous tracks, but the Makita track’s grip inspired enough confidence that I ran most cuts without, making quick work of breaking down the panels. I may have gotten a bit carried away as I did have one cut where I extended and leaned against the track so my cut drifted a bit, but luckily that was into the off-cut and a quick re-alignment was all that was needed. Every other cut was dead-on where I wanted it.

The Makita guide rail arrived in a well packaged box from UPS without any indications that the guide rail had suffered any damage in transit. Upon opening the Makita box there was a secondary box with various configurations of cardboard padding and foam. The guide rail was absolutely perfect upon a visual inspection. One of my biggest concerns was that several reviews had mentioned that the main guide on their rail was different than this 55" guide rail requiring an adjustment to the saw when switching from one track to the other. This was not the case in my comparison to my 118" Makita guide. Using a straight edge I was delighted to see that all my concerns were for naught. This was as perfect as I could have hoped for.

So far, fantastic.Arrived very well packaged. No bends or kinks. Looks straight.NO SLIP !! on sheet goods!!--even melamine!I only bought one 55" so do not know how well they join together

The track I received had a slight bow to it. But once it's clamped down flat, it will cut well.

I added this to another to get a 110 inch track using the makita guide rail connector set. It works great, is nice and straight, and aligns without any problem. Unlike some other reviewers I find that a single set of the guide rail connector works fine.The only reason I deducted a star is the the ends are not cut smoothly! This was a bit of a surprise as even an automated process ought to able to cut them perfectly smooth and square. If they were, the tracks/rails would butt together cleanly. Instead, there is a slightly uneven though insignificant gap between the tracks. If one tries to completely close the gap, they would not align properly and not be square! This would seems like a problem of alignment if you were bothered by the tiny gap. On the other the slight gap hurts nothing and the connector set aligns the rails perfectly so it is not a flaw so much as a cosmetic annoyance which should not exist given the price Makita charges for these rails/tracks.I considered buying the longer track rather than splicing two shorter ones but the price was ridiculous. Now I am even more glad I didn't, as putting the two shorter ones together works fine, is easier to store, and I will use the shorter length more often. Fastening two pieces together takes seconds as I leave the connector set attached to one piece. Slipping it in the slot of the other and tightening two set screws is all it takes.

Very ridges, well made works with or without clamps

I bought this Makita 55” guide rail to use with my Makita cordless track saw for cuts which are less than 48-inches across. It is a pleasure to use.I already had two PowerTec 55” guide rails, but I mostly use the higher quality Makita guide rail which has a nicer zero-edge strip and slightly grippier bottom strips.I tried joining the Makita guide rail to one of the PowerTec guide rails, but that did not go well and the misfit was unacceptable. The PowerTec aluminum extrusion is slightly different from the Makita, and it causes a bump as the saw passes over. For that reason, I plan to only use the two PowerTec guide rails joined together for 8-foot cuts since they mate together nicely. All 3 guide rails fit inside the PowerTec protective bag along with a guide rail square and rail clamps when not in use.