Thanks for your praise. The Fonson square is my design，inspire by benchdogs not TSO. I always watch your review. It's my honour to see my design get your 5 star coin card. By the way, I'm not the fonson manufacturer, just give the design drawing to fonson.
@@Benchdogtools As I said, I'm not a manufacturer, just a hobbyist woodworker. I drew this drawing just for use in my workshop. FONSON happened to know that I drew this drawing and was willing to customize a set for me. It wasn't my intention to sell it, also not my business.
Good for you to reply. I get your not the supplier my point is there are 1 million ways to design a product and a rail square for example is a rectangle but taking the design element of the product to look pretty much the same as someone else product is pretty much why China has such a bad reputation for cheap knockoff products. China like other countries have some great capabilities but just don’t understand why they have to copy others.
@@BenchdogtoolsAll big companies copy each other's design. Just look at the litigation between Apple, Microsoft, Google etc. How many small peoples design ( in our woodworking field) ideas were stolen by big names and sold as their own products. Dissing China is not going to help. Western model is based on Western costs and minimum requirements of earning in a sale of one item. That doesn't work for rest of the world. That is where 85% of the population of the earth lives. Ultimately somebody will start catering to those economic systems. That you are happy to cater to your manicured garden and ignore the jungle as so eloquently put by Joshep Borell should not be a the fault of others.
I am happy that I have finally discovered a channel like this. I learned through a difficult experience that not all tools are created equally. What I appreciate the most about this channel is that you don't come across as snobby. Woodworking is an expensive hobby/career, and it can be challenging to get started. Thanks again!
Absolutely Great Videos, really like your China Tool reviews; I've purchased many of the tools you've recommended. Your videos are not only informing reviews, but video instruction sheet since most of these arrive with no documentation. Quick comment for the Rail Extension; maybe hast to assemble for video, video @ 11:30 you attach the 2 rails and comment on a little movement. You've installed the 2 screws on top side vs bottom side of track coupling piece... if you install screws from bottom side allowing wide shoulder to press against rail channel it's a lot more stable. Using Allen Wrench, tighten screws through the top of the hollow screws. Not sure if new, they now supply both the larger brass screws and very low profile allen screws allowing rail square to be used with Thinner Material to cut.
Thank you for your excellent reviews. I ordered the large Fonson square but received the Enjoywood instead. It is exactly the same as the Fonson with a slightly different look. It required some assembly but had no assembly instructions. The main issue I have with Banggood is they have a totally unnecessary long drawn-out return process.
Hi Dennis, thanks for the review of the Fonson, I bought one, and also the parallel measure. As you said a fantastic piece of kit, I was amazed how accurate it is, I would not have looked at these items without your video, so thanks once again.
Hi Dennis, I hope this message finds you well. I recently watched your video on the Fonson Big Square and noticed a small discrepancy in the assembly process. I thought it might be helpful to share a bit of insight. Regarding the white, semi-transparent plastic washers you used, they aren't meant to be placed directly under the brass-colored screw caps (as you did in your video). Instead, these washers are designed to fit between the Fonson Square and the T-slot bar. This arrangement allows for a slightly increased gap between the Fonson Square and the T-slot bar, facilitating easier threading of the guide rail. Additionally, these washers play a critical role in reducing slack in the guide rail and are essential for ensuring a perfect right angle. As demonstrated in the initial images of your video, the current setup of the Fonson Square appears to have excessive play, making the right angle somewhat reliant on chance. I hope this information proves useful to you and potentially to other buyers who might not be aware of this detail. Keep up the great work with your content!
After having some time to work with the large Fonson square over the last week, I found there is a little bit of play in the guide rail attachment on my Makita track. Over a 4-foot (1220mm) length, the play can get as much as 1mm out of square. Once I realized it, I made sure I checked it against my large Veiko framing square and adjust appropriately. The square tightened down firmly and did not move after that. But it was something I found in my sample. Thanks again for the review!
Great review. I did notice that you made the same mistake I made with joining the two extension kit parts at 11:32 in the video. Through trial and error I found that the screws are supposed to go on the inside of the slot. It would have been nice for the instructions to mention that and the Bangood photos do not show it either. I found that trying to get the screws tight on the outside and get them to align only resulted in having to the tighten the screws so hard that it damaged the softer aluminium. Putting the screws on the other side aligned them perfectly without any damage.
Ahh, you are probably right. I check as soon as possible! When this makes it more stable I will come back to this point next video. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Dennis. I ordered the large Fonson and have used it to trim a bunch of 18mm ply for a lego cabinet for my mini me. I found it exactly as you described and well worth the money. Square straight out of the box but easily adjustable if needed. Works on both Makita and Titan (a budget end supplier sold through a well known UK hardware chain). Makes it so much easier to get square edges without a fuss. And small enough to leave attached to the rail without getting in the way. Thanks again for a great review. You completely derisked it for me.
Hey Dennis. As always, this was an excellent review. I have just received my combo of the large squad and extension. Re-watching your video, I realised why you found the connection of the two extension rail pieces a bit wobbly. Although it seems counterintuitive, you had the tightening grub screws in the wrong way. The large flat edge should be on the underside of the connecting piece. I have found that this overcomes any wobble in the system. Best wishes, Julian
Hi Denis I bought the smaller of the silver rail squares, to make it more stable I used 10 mm neodymium magnets in the two holes at the end away from the track then used a 6mm thick plate which works from both ends of the track to stop tipping. This was before your review
Dennis, I just received my Fonson Tools Big Square today. The issue you had with the stabilizer bending a bit has been fixed. The slot is shorter, so it now overhangs about 12mm. You are right, it is a quality piece.
Just picked up the large Fonson and the track extension kit, got both for $127.45 US shipped, so it was well worth the cost. Would never had tried it without watching your video's, Thanks.
A reason the clamp fastening is slightly better is that the it pulls the guide to an edge on the rail square making sure the squareness is perfect every time. The gap making it possible to slide the rail square on will create a possibility for the square to wiggle a small small bit. It might be small enough not to matter for most wood working but worth considering. That said, I really hope some of the Chinese manufacturers will start making rail squares for the Bosch/Mafell rail guides.
Thank you for putting these videos together. I have been wrestling with the idea of buying Chinese tools verses Woodpecker originals. Huge price difference! Thanks again
Interesting review, I use the Benchdogs rail square which uses cams to fix the square to the rail, much better than either a clip or under rail screws.
And it has other features missing from these - such as the ability to fix dogs to the underside when working on a curved edge. If Denis gives these 5 then Benchdogs are worth a 10 on the same scale.
Agreed - I was very impressed with the production quality and thought put into the design of the Bench Dogs square. Wish I had more reason to buy their other stuff.
I am sure it is faster with the cams to attach it, but as long as any rail square is square to the track It does not matter in the long run. Besides the BD is nearly 4 times the price. And not all of us have a MFT table so being able to attach dogs to it would be no use. It would be my choice though if I had to choose between the rest of the over priced units out there.
Hi Dennis, After seeing your review, I invested in the large Fonson square. It arrived today, and you did not lie about the quality. They also listened to your comments about the large knobs on the bottom of the square, and inserted small countersunk imbus HEX screws in the package to resolve this issue. The only disadvantage of this system is that you have to keep your imbus driver by hand to release the square from the guide.
I bought the Fonson Large Square to use with OZITO tracks (sold by Bunnings in Australia). They have a different profile to Makita, Festool, etc, so are too narrow to register on the machined step on the Fonson square. I fixed this by fitting a 148mm length of 1/4" square key steel (6mm was too loose) between the step and the track. This is only $6.60 (Australian) for a 300mm length. It is now perfectly, easily and consistently square.
Parallel Guide System Support: Dennis showed the assembly to be a bit unstable when the two guide extensions are attached to the Fonson square and track. This is because there is only the one (sliding) support on the Fonson Square that is now too close to the track. I fixed this by creating another support: a 70mm x 47mm x 1.6mm aluminium plate secured under the second extension with two M5 screws in holes 10mm from each end and 10mm from one edge of that plate. These went into two rectangular nuts (12mm x 18mm x 4.5mm) slid into the slot under the extension.
Hey Dennis! Perhaps you still read this, otherwise just a tip for the community. I recently ordered the bigger Folsom square since I think the quality is superb and I do not bother with the limitation of the material size. I actually planned, to replace the big srews with ones with a smaller head. Now guess what - the square came with two sets of nuts. The bigger ones you can easily fasten and unfasten as well as some allen screws and an allen key. They use countersink screws to get a very low profile, but I will add some countersink washers (or different screws) to distribute the pressure more evenly. Thanks for the good advice. The parallel extensions are also on their way to my workshop. Cheers Andreas
I just want Banggood to know that they sponsored the right person. I bought the Fonson MK1 square (the large black) based on your review. It was dead on 90° cut. However, I pushed the test farther and used the 5- cut method to exaggerate any tiny error by X5. Yet it was dead accurate and the diagonals were within 0.5mm. I Didn't want to rush and buy the extension kit before assuring the square quality (and convenience). The good news is the square comes with enough hardware to attach the extension from the parallel guide I bought earlier (based on ep.30 review). All I had to do is attaching it in reverse (so I don't mess up with the adjusts) and use the far end (which was reading 1395mm) for measuring the stop block with a simple formula 1590 - X where X is the desired length in mm. Thanks again Dennis and keep these episodes coming.
Hi Denis, following your excellent review I purchased the large Fonson square and the extension bars for my Makita track saw. I attached the square and checked it with 3 different woodworking squares. But unfortunately each time I tightened the second screw underneath it moved the it very slightly out of square. Then the second issue was with the two T nuts used to attach the extension rail, they were both seized into the flag stop body. Only by using a pair of pipe grips was I able to free them, which then revealed one of the screws was slightly bent. I've reported this in my review but await a reply. I'm a bit gutted but will see how I get on.
Denis, I love your insight on these tools. I have purchased several of your recommendations and I am happy I did. I would like to see some more of your project videos. I guessing you have made some while building you new shop. I look forward to those as well as more of your China Tools review. Great work.
I bought one like the last one you showed but it has 2 clips. It was a tiny bit outta square but I adjusted with a machinist square and it's been perfect
Hi Dennis, Thanks for keeping us in the loop with affordable China Tools, saving us from wasting money without prior Knowledge before purchasing. I have an MFT style bench Inspired by your bench. I have bought Clamps, Hold downs Squares etc. All after watching your reviews and using your links. My latest purchase arrived yesterday, The Large Fonson Rail guide square, Good solid quality as you said. Mine has an issue which I'm hoping Banggood will rectify. One of the screws holding the Aluminium strip to fasten the rail to the square is cross threaded. The unit was shipped with small allen screws holding it together and when I removed the screws to fit the brass knobs I noticed one screw needed the allen key to remove completely, once loose the other one was removed without the tool but the damaged one was super tight. When attempting to put the brass know in at started damaging the thread so i stopped immediately ( The first two threads are now missing) I'm hoping there is a solution and wonder if you or any of your other viewers have had this issue and how they fixed it. Many thanks, Deon
@@HookedonWood I’m from Australia, I haven’t had any problems until now, it’s a minor problem but it occurred in assembly not transport. I logged a ticket on Banggood’s site and they asked for pictures which I sent. They then passed my query to Fonson who are sending me replacement parts. The whole experience has been a pleasure, Banggood and Fonson tools have been great to deal with. Just for your interest I paid 75 AUD for the large Fonson Guide and 75 AUD for the rail. Thanks again for a great channel.
i tried my friend's fonson square, which he uses with his festool rail and works fine, on my parkside rail, but it doesn't hold itself really square in place.
I bought the smaller silver square and it was too inconsistent for my work in a sign shop. I also got the larger Fonson square and the parallel guide. Both work great for my application & well worth the money. I would spend a little more for some documentation &/or an instruction sheet. All of Banggood products would benefit from printed documentation.
In your opinion, the inconsistencies is due to "the square size versus your long cut length ratio"? Or is it due to the product design or manufacturing quality?"
I also bought the small silver one and it’s accurate enough for what I want. Let me explain that. Few things in woodworking are or need to be as accurate as, say, building space rockets. Given that wood has a large movement potential than other materials (although they all move in extremes) cutting a piece one day to within .001” doesn’t mean it will be that dimension next week, next month. Also the items most of us use to measure accurately with (such as vernier gauges) have a tolerance on accuracy themselves unless you pay many hundreds of pounds - and then, again, you are measuring something that won’t be that measurement next week. So I tolerate inaccuracies - but different amounts depending upon the project. For an exterior project I may use a carpenters pencil and really +/- 1mm is sufficient. When making small boxes, I will use a marking knife and hope to get within +/- 0.25mm. There seems to be a lot of (false) prestige about piston fit drawers. There are not that hard to make if you are happy to spend a long time fettling the drawers. But what do you achieve with those piston fit drawers? Well, one thing is that every time you shut one drawer, the air movement opens another. Secondly, piston fit easily becomes jammed fit when the humidity changes. Back to the squares. The inbuilt inaccuracies include registering a short length of the square along the side of the panel and then having 1400mm or longer of guide rail along the long edge of the panel. Geometry will tell you that 0.01mm inaccuracy on the square or the fit of the square results in a large discrepancy along that long edge. So, I never think it’s going to be accurate. I found that my square, when trying to make a cut no more than 5 times the length of the square gave me good cuts; measuring the diagonals I easily got to +/-1mm using a Hultafors tape (if you are using a big box store tape, then that is taking a real chance. I actually bought another of the same squares so that I could more accurately slide the rail and square up and down a sheet. This should give my parallel cuts with 90 degree angles whereas the Festool parallel guides rely upon you eyesight along a ruler and we know that varies depending on your body angle to the ruler. In any case, I really only a track saw for cutting sheets down in size of where I can tolerate the inaccuracies of that system. For those purposes, I’m more than happy with the silver squares. I agree that many of these products come without a manual. However, I’ve yet to buy one where I can’t find a review online which gives me all, or virtually all, that I need to know. I don’t feel good about buying Banggood stuff. I can’t think of a good thing to say about the zchinese leadership or it’s politics. However, when I look at many other brands which seem “Western”, I see that they are made in China. So, they are getting the cheap manufacturing but not passing on the savings. When I see premium brands that are made in the UK or USA or Germany as examples, I ask myself why are they so much more expensive than Banggood items? Take these squares in question; they are made from the same aluminium stock as everyone else with aluminium being a global price; they are made by CNC as everyone uses; made in fact with very little human labour. There may be a pound or two labour cost saving but generally shipping across the seas is much higher than across a country. In summary, I can think of only only reason why a branded square in more than the silver one or the Fonson one - it’s because the manufacturer of the branded square can sell loads at the inflated price. His beam counters have sat down and worked out that 20% of the market at 500% mark up makes money out of you and me than 60% market share at 100% mark up.
@@AnasSuhaimi The block that slides into the rail doesn't register to the guide square, alowing it to pivot. I assume that's a design flaw, a slight mortise would solve the problem.
@@AnthonyStabler you’re entitled to your view. It may depend upon each person’s definition of accuracy and therefore consistency. I believe my comments will assist many woodworkers.
Thank you very much for your work! I always enjoy your videos. I would like to see a video with track saw accesories. As it is the method tha I most use in my workshop!
Hi Dennis, thank you for the review provided in your relaxed manner. I must say as a pupil of your videos you teach very clearly and accurately about the products. I look forward to your next video. How is your new shop coming along?
Great to see you back and hope your enjoying your new work shop. I’m so glad to see china tools back and as always great honest review they look to be of great quality and priced well. Thanks for sharing
I bought the small fonson square, and it is indeed a very nice product. Unfortunately it does not work well with the scheppach rail that I have. It is able to mount to the inner groove of the track just fine, but the recess that squares up the device with the edge of the rail is sadly 1mm too narrow, so when tightening, the square is free to rotate within the play afforded by the thumb tightened bar. I am considering now obtaining a different rail to go with this square, as I am using two original scheppach rails joined together, and as you point out, this smaller square lends itself to a shorter rail anyway. Thanks for the excellent info and lovely video
Having said that, it's true that if I'm willing to square up manually and give it a good tighten, it will still function with the rail I have, but this does rather take away the convenience
Hi Dennis my fonson mini rail square just arrived - and it has 2 extra screws which I can't work out go where! Please can you tell me what they are for (if you know)? There are no instructions included in the box so thought I would ask. Thank you very much! Great review video :)
I also purchased the larger Fonson square. It's built very well! Like you, I found the tab a little floppy, but it looks like there is enough depth in the slot to increase the thickness of the tab a little bit without affecting the guide attachment you described. I wondered what those other holes were for!
With the Fonson Extension Guide Rail, why don't they provide the bar for doing thin rips? They provide bars with the Parallel Guide System, so they already have them.
Hello Thank you for your nice videos. I didn’t find the reference of your orange bench dog lifter that you are using to not cut your bench, could you please tell me where did you find them ? Thank you in advance
Hi Dennis, many thanks for another great China Tools video. I'm a Banggood customer for almost 10 years now and already discovered some of the tools myself ... but with your videos, it's much easier to decide if such tool really helps me ...I'm planning to buy a track saw soon and your video just arrived in time. I think I'll probably go for the bigger Fonson square and extension kit. As I'm 3D-printing for almost 3 years now, i think i have an idea how to stabilize it at the end ... a little bracket is very easy to design & print, also to attach some adjustment screw(s).
I'm waiting for my TSC 55 to arrive. might just be enough time to put in an order for the rail guides! thanks for all these awesome informative videos!
Great video, i was looking at these squares to potentially fit my dewalt track saw. I do not love the system dewalt uses but this video was very helpful in letting me understand how they work.
Hey Dennis, Super toffe aflevering! Ik twijfelde heel erg i.v.m de prijs om die van festool te kopen. Maar door deze aflevering heb ik zojuist de Fonson besteld ;-) Al veel aankopen gedaan op basis van jou beoordeling, waarvan ik geen enkele spijt heb!
It would be pretty easy to add an outrigger support to either of the 'No Name' squares, just countersink the round holes at the end (probably put there to hold the piece down when being machined), add a short CS bolt and knob. You can cut the support from a small piece of aluminium, brass or stainless steel ( hobby model shops sell small strips of metal
Hey, there is a hole in your saw to change the blade. There re (3d printed) covers for that, improves dust collection. I printed one for myself, works like a charm
I'm interested in those small bench dogs you have. Been using Eureka for many years but they've shut down operations yesterday. I'm keeping what I have but will need to be creative for the future. Thanks.
Nice one Dennis, you just save me and nodoubt other's a small fortune ! I'm definitely going to be buying both the Fonson products from Bangood today. As always buddy 💯% 👍 🇬🇧.
Thanks for the review Dennis, they look very good. I bought a set of TSO parallel guides and squares a year ago, but wish I had seen these! Not that I’m unhappy with TSO but I would have saved a lot of money. Keep up the good work. 👍
Love the Makita tracksaw as well. I use the Festool because it is a bit more robust. But I like the sound of the Makita. It runs so smooth. Fine choice
Great video, thank you for showing us all of these lower cost options. I absolutely Love your workshop, it is perfect! You do so great work sir, I hope to have your skill someday.
Hi Dennis, love your content. Just starting on woodworking and taking up your tips and advice. I you have a suggestion for a square guide for a DeWalt rail?
I'm always amazed at the premium price brand name manufacturers charge for what is basically simply tools they make. I picked up an off-brand square for my Powertec rails nd it works perfectly as about 1/4 to 1/3rd the cost.
A new video from Dennis and I'm straight off to banggood 😂 I actually have the small aluminium colored one already but it's not spot on for me so I hope the undermount variety will be better. Glad to see a new video from you!
Was super excited to see this episode in my feed, as I had just finished cutting down 10 sheets of OSB and was thinking that there should be a faster way. Bit disappointing they don't have any options for Bosch though :-(
Thank you Denis for another quality job, I will havev to get one on order . How's the new machines in the workshop preforming or project video next ?. Happy woodworking.
Great Review, love it. Already bought some other parts you recommended in earlier Reviews and the are really good to work with. Unfortunately the tested rail guides are for Festool (and the other manufactures using the same guide rails) and not for Bosch versions. Is Bosch really so unpopular? I lookes for such a tool since more than 2 years. The only one I found is produced in Scotland. Costa 150 GBP ( special offer) + 35 GBP for shipping, and as UK is no longer in the EU I also had to pay ~60€ for customs clearance. Hence I paid close to 300€ for this part. May be you can ask Bangood to develop something for the Bosch rails too. I think they could sell a lot.
Hi Dennis! My parallel extensions have arrived and at first glance, I thought Enjoywood had picked up your suggestion to mount it slightly proud of the square edge, because I found a row of holes, that would allow to mount it like that. Unfortunately those holes are threaded, so you cannot use them for screws that clamp T-track nuts. Do you have any idea, what those holes are for? My best guess would be, that they can be used to mount the square to a hinge, that you can fasten to a worktable. Festool has something like that on their MFT3. Unfortunately I cannot find anything from Enjoywood. Since you have deeper insight in their portfolio, do you know of such an accessory? Would be a nice upgrade. The small offset for the parallel extension is BTW a brilliant idea. I will drill and countersink two additional 6mm holes into the square. That should do the trick. Cheers Andreas
Banggood/Fonson should incorporate their square guide rail extension flip stops to their parallel guide. These flip stops have the needle indicator which is much better.
Useful and thorough review as usual, Dennis! I have been considering a rail square since buying a Makita track saw last year, so have just ordered the larger Fonson square and extension kit - looking forward to trying them out when they arrive in the UK!
@@lazz3446 hi, sorry for not following up on this. Yes, it all arrived just in time for me to fit our new kitchen, so got quite a lot of use! As Dennis says, the quality of both is excellent, it fits my Makita rails perfectly with no free play and is as square as I could want or need! The square does not quite fit my Evolution rails, though, which is a little disappointing - the block is just slightly too large to slide into the slot. The extension piece is quite easy to set up and calibrate to your rails, and once done saves so much time without the need to measure and mark each cut. I measured the first cuts to double check, but found the scales to be very accurate. With both extension pieces connected, it does make the assembly a little unwieldy and mine did fall on the floor. The only damage was to the extension bar’s joining piece, but it was easily returned to its original shape and recalibrated to be safe! So far I’m incredibly happy with the purchase of both!
You have the splice connector screws the wrong way, the guide that slides into the t track has is recessed for the round flange in the Allen screw. The way you have it set up won't allow the t track to lay flat and is also why you had lateral movement.
Thanks for your praise. The Fonson square is my design，inspire by benchdogs not TSO. I always watch your review. It's my honour to see my design get your 5 star coin card. By the way, I'm not the fonson manufacturer, just give the design drawing to fonson.
Oh, nice to meet you. I was referring to TSO because that is the same as the Festool.
Hey rock ho. Wouldn’t it be better to come up with your own design then copy / make very similar to someone else’s products.
@@Benchdogtools As I said, I'm not a manufacturer, just a hobbyist woodworker. I drew this drawing just for use in my workshop. FONSON happened to know that I drew this drawing and was willing to customize a set for me. It wasn't my intention to sell it, also not my business.
Good for you to reply. I get your not the supplier my point is there are 1 million ways to design a product and a rail square for example is a rectangle but taking the design element of the product to look pretty much the same as someone else product is pretty much why China has such a bad reputation for cheap knockoff products. China like other countries have some great capabilities but just don’t understand why they have to copy others.
@@BenchdogtoolsAll big companies copy each other's design. Just look at the litigation between Apple, Microsoft, Google etc. How many small peoples design ( in our woodworking field) ideas were stolen by big names and sold as their own products. Dissing China is not going to help.
Western model is based on Western costs and minimum requirements of earning in a sale of one item.
That doesn't work for rest of the world. That is where 85% of the population of the earth lives.
Ultimately somebody will start catering to those economic systems.
That you are happy to cater to your manicured garden and ignore the jungle as so eloquently put by Joshep Borell should not be a the fault of others.
I am happy that I have finally discovered a channel like this. I learned through a difficult experience that not all tools are created equally. What I appreciate the most about this channel is that you don't come across as snobby. Woodworking is an expensive hobby/career, and it can be challenging to get started. Thanks again!
Absolutely Great Videos, really like your China Tool reviews; I've purchased many of the tools you've recommended.
Your videos are not only informing reviews, but video instruction sheet since most of these arrive with no documentation.
Quick comment for the Rail Extension; maybe hast to assemble for video, video @ 11:30 you attach the 2 rails and comment on a little movement. You've installed the 2 screws on top side vs bottom side of track coupling piece... if you install screws from bottom side allowing wide shoulder to press against rail channel it's a lot more stable. Using Allen Wrench, tighten screws through the top of the hollow screws.
Not sure if new, they now supply both the larger brass screws and very low profile allen screws allowing rail square to be used with Thinner Material to cut.
Thank you for your excellent reviews. I ordered the large Fonson square but received the Enjoywood instead. It is exactly the same as the Fonson with a slightly different look. It required some assembly but had no assembly instructions. The main issue I have with Banggood is they have a totally unnecessary long drawn-out return process.
Hi Dennis, thanks for the review of the Fonson, I bought one, and also the parallel measure.
As you said a fantastic piece of kit, I was amazed how accurate it is, I would not have looked at these items without your video, so thanks once again.
Hi Dennis,
I hope this message finds you well. I recently watched your video on the Fonson Big Square and noticed a small discrepancy in the assembly process. I thought it might be helpful to share a bit of insight.
Regarding the white, semi-transparent plastic washers you used, they aren't meant to be placed directly under the brass-colored screw caps (as you did in your video). Instead, these washers are designed to fit between the Fonson Square and the T-slot bar.
This arrangement allows for a slightly increased gap between the Fonson Square and the T-slot bar, facilitating easier threading of the guide rail. Additionally, these washers play a critical role in reducing slack in the guide rail and are essential for ensuring a perfect right angle.
As demonstrated in the initial images of your video, the current setup of the Fonson Square appears to have excessive play, making the right angle somewhat reliant on chance. I hope this information proves useful to you and potentially to other buyers who might not be aware of this detail.
Keep up the great work with your content!
Hi, thanks. I discovered this a bit later and corrected it in one of my next videos as well. But thanks for letting us know.
After having some time to work with the large Fonson square over the last week, I found there is a little bit of play in the guide rail attachment on my Makita track. Over a 4-foot (1220mm) length, the play can get as much as 1mm out of square. Once I realized it, I made sure I checked it against my large Veiko framing square and adjust appropriately. The square tightened down firmly and did not move after that. But it was something I found in my sample. Thanks again for the review!
Great review. I did notice that you made the same mistake I made with joining the two extension kit parts at 11:32 in the video. Through trial and error I found that the screws are supposed to go on the inside of the slot. It would have been nice for the instructions to mention that and the Bangood photos do not show it either. I found that trying to get the screws tight on the outside and get them to align only resulted in having to the tighten the screws so hard that it damaged the softer aluminium. Putting the screws on the other side aligned them perfectly without any damage.
Ahh, you are probably right. I check as soon as possible! When this makes it more stable I will come back to this point next video. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Dennis. I ordered the large Fonson and have used it to trim a bunch of 18mm ply for a lego cabinet for my mini me. I found it exactly as you described and well worth the money. Square straight out of the box but easily adjustable if needed. Works on both Makita and Titan (a budget end supplier sold through a well known UK hardware chain). Makes it so much easier to get square edges without a fuss. And small enough to leave attached to the rail without getting in the way. Thanks again for a great review. You completely derisked it for me.
Thanks Dennis, marvelous vid and already ordered the large black one.
Thanks again for all your honest efforts, they are most sincerely appreciated.
Thanks, you will 😊
Hey Dennis. As always, this was an excellent review. I have just received my combo of the large squad and extension. Re-watching your video, I realised why you found the connection of the two extension rail pieces a bit wobbly. Although it seems counterintuitive, you had the tightening grub screws in the wrong way. The large flat edge should be on the underside of the connecting piece. I have found that this overcomes any wobble in the system. Best wishes, Julian
Hi Denis I bought the smaller of the silver rail squares, to make it more stable I used 10 mm neodymium magnets in the two holes at the end away from the track then used a 6mm thick plate which works from both ends of the track to stop tipping. This was before your review
Dennis, I just received my Fonson Tools Big Square today. The issue you had with the stabilizer bending a bit has been fixed. The slot is shorter, so it now overhangs about 12mm. You are right, it is a quality piece.
Just picked up the large Fonson and the track extension kit, got both for $127.45 US shipped, so it was well worth the cost. Would never had tried it without watching your video's, Thanks.
A reason the clamp fastening is slightly better is that the it pulls the guide to an edge on the rail square making sure the squareness is perfect every time. The gap making it possible to slide the rail square on will create a possibility for the square to wiggle a small small bit. It might be small enough not to matter for most wood working but worth considering.
That said, I really hope some of the Chinese manufacturers will start making rail squares for the Bosch/Mafell rail guides.
Thank you for putting these videos together. I have been wrestling with the idea of buying Chinese tools verses Woodpecker originals. Huge price difference! Thanks again
Interesting review, I use the Benchdogs rail square which uses cams to fix the square to the rail, much better than either a clip or under rail screws.
And it has other features missing from these - such as the ability to fix dogs to the underside when working on a curved edge. If Denis gives these 5 then Benchdogs are worth a 10 on the same scale.
Agreed - I was very impressed with the production quality and thought put into the design of the Bench Dogs square. Wish I had more reason to buy their other stuff.
I am sure it is faster with the cams to attach it, but as long as any rail square is square to the track It does not matter in the long run. Besides the BD is nearly 4 times the price. And not all of us have a MFT table so being able to attach dogs to it would be no use. It would be my choice though if I had to choose between the rest of the over priced units out there.
Hi Dennis,
After seeing your review, I invested in the large Fonson square. It arrived today, and you did not lie about the quality. They also listened to your comments about the large knobs on the bottom of the square, and inserted small countersunk imbus HEX screws in the package to resolve this issue. The only disadvantage of this system is that you have to keep your imbus driver by hand to release the square from the guide.
Thanks for your comment!
Thank you for the effort you put in reviewing affordable wood working tools. I really enjoy your videos.
I bought the Fonson Large Square to use with OZITO tracks (sold by Bunnings in Australia). They have a different profile to Makita, Festool, etc, so are too narrow to register on the machined step on the Fonson square. I fixed this by fitting a 148mm length of 1/4" square key steel (6mm was too loose) between the step and the track. This is only $6.60 (Australian) for a 300mm length. It is now perfectly, easily and consistently square.
Parallel Guide System Support: Dennis showed the assembly to be a bit unstable when the two guide extensions are attached to the Fonson square and track. This is because there is only the one (sliding) support on the Fonson Square that is now too close to the track. I fixed this by creating another support: a 70mm x 47mm x 1.6mm aluminium plate secured under the second extension with two M5 screws in holes 10mm from each end and 10mm from one edge of that plate. These went into two rectangular nuts (12mm x 18mm x 4.5mm) slid into the slot under the extension.
Thanks, Denis. I'm interesting for other reviews of accessories for MFT-style workbenches.
Hey Dennis! Perhaps you still read this, otherwise just a tip for the community. I recently ordered the bigger Folsom square since I think the quality is superb and I do not bother with the limitation of the material size. I actually planned, to replace the big srews with ones with a smaller head. Now guess what - the square came with two sets of nuts. The bigger ones you can easily fasten and unfasten as well as some allen screws and an allen key.
They use countersink screws to get a very low profile, but I will add some countersink washers (or different screws) to distribute the pressure more evenly.
Thanks for the good advice. The parallel extensions are also on their way to my workshop.
Cheers
Andreas
Dennis, I've missed you! So to see yet another excellent video review! Thank you, love your videos!
I just want Banggood to know that they sponsored the right person. I bought the Fonson MK1 square (the large black) based on your review. It was dead on 90° cut. However, I pushed the test farther and used the 5- cut method to exaggerate any tiny error by X5. Yet it was dead accurate and the diagonals were within 0.5mm.
I Didn't want to rush and buy the extension kit before assuring the square quality (and convenience). The good news is the square comes with enough hardware to attach the extension from the parallel guide I bought earlier (based on ep.30 review). All I had to do is attaching it in reverse (so I don't mess up with the adjusts) and use the far end (which was reading 1395mm) for measuring the stop block with a simple formula 1590 - X where X is the desired length in mm.
Thanks again Dennis and keep these episodes coming.
Thanks, great story👍
Hi Denis , I've just ordered the small fonson rail square after watching your review, now just the wait until July for delivery 😀
Hi Denis, following your excellent review I purchased the large Fonson square and the extension bars for my Makita track saw. I attached the square and checked it with 3 different woodworking squares. But unfortunately each time I tightened the second screw underneath it moved the it very slightly out of square. Then the second issue was with the two T nuts used to attach the extension rail, they were both seized into the flag stop body. Only by using a pair of pipe grips was I able to free them, which then revealed one of the screws was slightly bent. I've reported this in my review but await a reply. I'm a bit gutted but will see how I get on.
One year on, did you get the problems resolved?
Watching this in 2024. You’re an amazing reviewer and I appreciate your videos! Excellent work; really helps noobs like me.
Hi Dennis! Always nice when you upload 🙂
You are going to save me a lot of money. I try to watch all your episodes
Ordered the small Fonson model - arrivd today - superb! Thanks for the review.
Would be nice if you could mention if the squares can be adjusted if they are out of square!
Denis, I love your insight on these tools. I have purchased several of your recommendations and I am happy I did. I would like to see some more of your project videos. I guessing you have made some while building you new shop. I look forward to those as well as more of your China Tools review. Great work.
The absence of the stabilizer with the silver one can be quickly mended with a bolt (or a threaded knob) and and some flat piece of metal.
I bought one like the last one you showed but it has 2 clips. It was a tiny bit outta square but I adjusted with a machinist square and it's been perfect
Hi Dennis, Thanks for keeping us in the loop with affordable China Tools, saving us from wasting money without prior Knowledge before purchasing. I have an MFT style bench Inspired by your bench. I have bought Clamps, Hold downs Squares etc. All after watching your reviews and using your links. My latest purchase arrived yesterday, The Large Fonson Rail guide square, Good solid quality as you said. Mine has an issue which I'm hoping Banggood will rectify. One of the screws holding the Aluminium strip to fasten the rail to the square is cross threaded. The unit was shipped with small allen screws holding it together and when I removed the screws to fit the brass knobs I noticed one screw needed the allen key to remove completely, once loose the other one was removed without the tool but the damaged one was super tight. When attempting to put the brass know in at started damaging the thread so i stopped immediately ( The first two threads are now missing) I'm hoping there is a solution and wonder if you or any of your other viewers have had this issue and how they fixed it. Many thanks, Deon
Where are you from? Let me know how things will work out. I did not have problems with mine
@@HookedonWood I’m from Australia, I haven’t had any problems until now, it’s a minor problem but it occurred in assembly not transport. I logged a ticket on Banggood’s site and they asked for pictures which I sent. They then passed my query to Fonson who are sending me replacement parts.
The whole experience has been a pleasure, Banggood and Fonson tools have been great to deal with.
Just for your interest I paid 75 AUD for the large Fonson Guide and 75 AUD for the rail.
Thanks again for a great channel.
@@HookedonWood Hi Dennis, I received my replacement parts from Banggood, very happy
Great to see videos from your new shop Dennis. Can’t wait for some more China Tools and woodworking videos from you.
Got my large Fonson rail square today. It also fits my Parkside (Lidl) rail.
i tried my friend's fonson square, which he uses with his festool rail and works fine, on my parkside rail, but it doesn't hold itself really square in place.
Excellent review. Just ordered the large Fonson.
Die bestellten ersten 3 Tools sind heute schon gekommen! Toll.
Connecting to the bottom rail has also the advantage of working with tracks that don't have the top facing rail (Metabo, Evolution, Scheppach).
I bought the smaller silver square and it was too inconsistent for my work in a sign shop. I also got the larger Fonson square and the parallel guide. Both work great for my application & well worth the money. I would spend a little more for some documentation &/or an instruction sheet. All of Banggood products would benefit from printed documentation.
In your opinion, the inconsistencies is due to "the square size versus your long cut length ratio"? Or is it due to the product design or manufacturing quality?"
I also bought the small silver one and it’s accurate enough for what I want. Let me explain that. Few things in woodworking are or need to be as accurate as, say, building space rockets. Given that wood has a large movement potential than other materials (although they all move in extremes) cutting a piece one day to within .001” doesn’t mean it will be that dimension next week, next month. Also the items most of us use to measure accurately with (such as vernier gauges) have a tolerance on accuracy themselves unless you pay many hundreds of pounds - and then, again, you are measuring something that won’t be that measurement next week.
So I tolerate inaccuracies - but different amounts depending upon the project. For an exterior project I may use a carpenters pencil and really +/- 1mm is sufficient. When making small boxes, I will use a marking knife and hope to get within +/- 0.25mm. There seems to be a lot of (false) prestige about piston fit drawers. There are not that hard to make if you are happy to spend a long time fettling the drawers. But what do you achieve with those piston fit drawers? Well, one thing is that every time you shut one drawer, the air movement opens another. Secondly, piston fit easily becomes jammed fit when the humidity changes.
Back to the squares. The inbuilt inaccuracies include registering a short length of the square along the side of the panel and then having 1400mm or longer of guide rail along the long edge of the panel. Geometry will tell you that 0.01mm inaccuracy on the square or the fit of the square results in a large discrepancy along that long edge. So, I never think it’s going to be accurate. I found that my square, when trying to make a cut no more than 5 times the length of the square gave me good cuts; measuring the diagonals I easily got to +/-1mm using a Hultafors tape (if you are using a big box store tape, then that is taking a real chance. I actually bought another of the same squares so that I could more accurately slide the rail and square up and down a sheet. This should give my parallel cuts with 90 degree angles whereas the Festool parallel guides rely upon you eyesight along a ruler and we know that varies depending on your body angle to the ruler.
In any case, I really only a track saw for cutting sheets down in size of where I can tolerate the inaccuracies of that system. For those purposes, I’m more than happy with the silver squares.
I agree that many of these products come without a manual. However, I’ve yet to buy one where I can’t find a review online which gives me all, or virtually all, that I need to know.
I don’t feel good about buying Banggood stuff. I can’t think of a good thing to say about the zchinese leadership or it’s politics. However, when I look at many other brands which seem “Western”, I see that they are made in China. So, they are getting the cheap manufacturing but not passing on the savings. When I see premium brands that are made in the UK or USA or Germany as examples, I ask myself why are they so much more expensive than Banggood items? Take these squares in question; they are made from the same aluminium stock as everyone else with aluminium being a global price; they are made by CNC as everyone uses; made in fact with very little human labour. There may be a pound or two labour cost saving but generally shipping across the seas is much higher than across a country. In summary, I can think of only only reason why a branded square in more than the silver one or the Fonson one - it’s because the manufacturer of the branded square can sell loads at the inflated price. His beam counters have sat down and worked out that 20% of the market at 500% mark up makes money out of you and me than 60% market share at 100% mark up.
@@AnasSuhaimi The block that slides into the rail doesn't register to the guide square, alowing it to pivot. I assume that's a design flaw, a slight mortise would solve the problem.
I bought the to save me time & improve my consistency. If I have to double check every step of the process, the tools aren't worth the money.
@@AnthonyStabler you’re entitled to your view. It may depend upon each person’s definition of accuracy and therefore consistency. I believe my comments will assist many woodworkers.
Thank you very much for your work! I always enjoy your videos. I would like to see a video with track saw accesories. As it is the method tha I most use in my workshop!
Great video and thanks for bringing the more budget friendly products to test. Just ordered a rail guide after watching this. 👍
Took a while to arrive but I think following your review the demand has been high, £43 sterling delivered, the quality is amazing!!
Hi Dennis, thank you for the review provided in your relaxed manner. I must say as a pupil of your videos you teach very clearly and accurately about the products. I look forward to your next video. How is your new shop coming along?
Great advice thank you. It’s good to know what products have your recommendations. I have bought products due to this and really happy.
Great to see you back and hope your enjoying your new work shop. I’m so glad to see china tools back and as always great honest review they look to be of great quality and priced well. Thanks for sharing
Well done Dennis. But then, you are always a genius. To which we love and please keep on sharing your talents, with us. NONE Finer to be sure!
I bought the small fonson square, and it is indeed a very nice product. Unfortunately it does not work well with the scheppach rail that I have. It is able to mount to the inner groove of the track just fine, but the recess that squares up the device with the edge of the rail is sadly 1mm too narrow, so when tightening, the square is free to rotate within the play afforded by the thumb tightened bar. I am considering now obtaining a different rail to go with this square, as I am using two original scheppach rails joined together, and as you point out, this smaller square lends itself to a shorter rail anyway. Thanks for the excellent info and lovely video
Having said that, it's true that if I'm willing to square up manually and give it a good tighten, it will still function with the rail I have, but this does rather take away the convenience
Hi Dennis my fonson mini rail square just arrived - and it has 2 extra screws which I can't work out go where! Please can you tell me what they are for (if you know)? There are no instructions included in the box so thought I would ask. Thank you very much! Great review video :)
I have two of the Fonson squares and love them so far! Seem to be quite accurate
I also purchased the larger Fonson square. It's built very well! Like you, I found the tab a little floppy, but it looks like there is enough depth in the slot to increase the thickness of the tab a little bit without affecting the guide attachment you described. I wondered what those other holes were for!
Or drill and tap a second hole for another screw on the opposite side
I bought the larger silver one and often grab it over my TSO one
Great to see another episode of China tools missed ya buddy
With the Fonson Extension Guide Rail, why don't they provide the bar for doing thin rips? They provide bars with the Parallel Guide System, so they already have them.
Hello
Thank you for your nice videos.
I didn’t find the reference of your orange bench dog lifter that you are using to not cut your bench, could you please tell me where did you find them ? Thank you in advance
Thank you for the review. I've been looking at rail guide so he timing of this is perfect.
Hi Dennis,
many thanks for another great China Tools video. I'm a Banggood customer for almost 10 years now and already discovered some of the tools myself ... but with your videos, it's much easier to decide if such tool really helps me ...I'm planning to buy a track saw soon and your video just arrived in time. I think I'll probably go for the bigger Fonson square and extension kit. As I'm 3D-printing for almost 3 years now, i think i have an idea how to stabilize it at the end ... a little bracket is very easy to design & print, also to attach some adjustment screw(s).
Please do make a video on all the accessories for your table. Looks like you have some interesting ones.
I will do this
Thank you Dennis!! I go for the smaller Tonson
I'm waiting for my TSC 55 to arrive. might just be enough time to put in an order for the rail guides! thanks for all these awesome informative videos!
Great video, i was looking at these squares to potentially fit my dewalt track saw. I do not love the system dewalt uses but this video was very helpful in letting me understand how they work.
Did you find a good fitting square for the r dewalt track. Which one did you purchase thanks
Vielen Dank für die Vorstellung. Werde damit meine Mafell Schiene erweitern.
Great video Dennis! I have already purchased to of the China Tool products you reviewed today and love them. Keep up the good work.
Hey Dennis,
Super toffe aflevering!
Ik twijfelde heel erg i.v.m de prijs om die van festool te kopen. Maar door deze aflevering heb ik zojuist de Fonson besteld ;-) Al veel aankopen gedaan op basis van jou beoordeling, waarvan ik geen enkele spijt heb!
It would be pretty easy to add an outrigger support to either of the 'No Name' squares, just countersink the round holes at the end (probably put there to hold the piece down when being machined), add a short CS bolt and knob. You can cut the support from a small piece of aluminium, brass or stainless steel ( hobby model shops sell small strips of metal
A used hand planer blade would be a nice candidate for the support as it's hard and flat and already slotted. Just have to blunt the sharp edge first.
I have Ben watching since the first show am saving to buy a lot of these tools thank you for doing these videos
Hey, there is a hole in your saw to change the blade. There re (3d printed) covers for that, improves dust collection. I printed one for myself, works like a charm
Really enjoy these reviews. Thank you Dennis.
I really like and appreciate your videos and reviews.Really got me thinking about the Fonson units.
Yes another great video, I was a little bit excited when it popped up.
I'm interested in those small bench dogs you have. Been using Eureka for many years but they've shut down operations yesterday. I'm keeping what I have but will need to be creative for the future. Thanks.
Nice one Dennis, you just save me and nodoubt other's a small fortune !
I'm definitely going to be buying both the Fonson products from Bangood today. As always buddy 💯% 👍 🇬🇧.
I just bought the largest one from Amazon in CANADA $ 94 can. Like it so far only tried it once
Great video series, the only problem is you keep causing me to spend money.... Thanks for your hard work :)
Thanks for the review Dennis, they look very good. I bought a set of TSO parallel guides and squares a year ago, but wish I had seen these! Not that I’m unhappy with TSO but I would have saved a lot of money. Keep up the good work. 👍
Saved money, but also probably saved yourself lots of headaches and frustration when you avoided bang good
Your video just in right time! Thanks!
The moment I heard you talking I knew you were from the Netherlands! Dank u wel voor de video, van de Verenigde Staten!
Fantastic review, Dennis! Thanks!!! 😃
I don't have a track saw yet, but I already bookmarked those!
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
That was a great review. I am glad I had not already bought a square for my track saw.
For $26 dollars, I said why not and got the mini.
I recently picked up the Makita track saw and I’m obsessed. Going to have to pick up a set of these for sure 🙌🏻
Thanks for making this video!
Love the Makita tracksaw as well. I use the Festool because it is a bit more robust. But I like the sound of the Makita. It runs so smooth. Fine choice
Thank you once again, looking forward to the next vid.
Great video, thank you for showing us all of these lower cost options. I absolutely Love your workshop, it is perfect! You do so great work sir, I hope to have your skill someday.
Hi Dennis, love your content. Just starting on woodworking and taking up your tips and advice. I you have a suggestion for a square guide for a DeWalt rail?
I'm always amazed at the premium price brand name manufacturers charge for what is basically simply tools they make. I picked up an off-brand square for my Powertec rails nd it works perfectly as about 1/4 to 1/3rd the cost.
What brand did you get for powertec rails
Thanks, Dennis. Awesome video.
A new video from Dennis and I'm straight off to banggood 😂 I actually have the small aluminium colored one already but it's not spot on for me so I hope the undermount variety will be better. Glad to see a new video from you!
Thank you for this comparison. Very helpful. Will the extension you demo with the large Fuston square work with the small Funston Square as well?.
Was super excited to see this episode in my feed, as I had just finished cutting down 10 sheets of OSB and was thinking that there should be a faster way. Bit disappointing they don't have any options for Bosch though :-(
It is a shame. Maybe they come up with one🤷♂️
Benchdogs UK may help you
Thank you Denis for another quality job, I will havev to get one on order . How's the new machines in the workshop preforming or project video next ?. Happy woodworking.
Brilliant video. Thank you Dennis.
Great Review, love it. Already bought some other parts you recommended in earlier Reviews and the are really good to work with. Unfortunately the tested rail guides are for Festool (and the other manufactures using the same guide rails) and not for Bosch versions. Is Bosch really so unpopular? I lookes for such a tool since more than 2 years. The only one I found is produced in Scotland. Costa 150 GBP ( special offer) + 35 GBP for shipping, and as UK is no longer in the EU I also had to pay ~60€ for customs clearance. Hence I paid close to 300€ for this part. May be you can ask Bangood to develop something for the Bosch rails too. I think they could sell a lot.
the Benchdogs one is 100 gbp ex vat approx but agreed - hard to find many Bosch guide rail squares .. only FC and Benchdogs - possible Taiga too
Thanks Dennis, brilliant info as always
Good reviews! Just subscribed, again well done. Now I will explore your other videos
Hi Dennis! My parallel extensions have arrived and at first glance, I thought Enjoywood had picked up your suggestion to mount it slightly proud of the square edge, because I found a row of holes, that would allow to mount it like that. Unfortunately those holes are threaded, so you cannot use them for screws that clamp T-track nuts.
Do you have any idea, what those holes are for? My best guess would be, that they can be used to mount the square to a hinge, that you can fasten to a worktable. Festool has something like that on their MFT3. Unfortunately I cannot find anything from Enjoywood. Since you have deeper insight in their portfolio, do you know of such an accessory? Would be a nice upgrade.
The small offset for the parallel extension is BTW a brilliant idea. I will drill and countersink two additional 6mm holes into the square. That should do the trick.
Cheers
Andreas
Banggood/Fonson should incorporate their square guide rail extension flip stops to their parallel guide. These flip stops have the needle indicator which is much better.
Hi, Great video, very helpful, thanks. Have you found a Guide Rail Square suitable for the DeWalt Guide Rail?
Useful and thorough review as usual, Dennis! I have been considering a rail square since buying a Makita track saw last year, so have just ordered the larger Fonson square and extension kit - looking forward to trying them out when they arrive in the UK!
I think you will 😊
Tim: Plase report back when you try it with the Makita rail, thanks.
@Tim Rastall have you tried the square with the extension on the Makita rail yet? Thx
@@lazz3446 hi, sorry for not following up on this. Yes, it all arrived just in time for me to fit our new kitchen, so got quite a lot of use! As Dennis says, the quality of both is excellent, it fits my Makita rails perfectly with no free play and is as square as I could want or need! The square does not quite fit my Evolution rails, though, which is a little disappointing - the block is just slightly too large to slide into the slot.
The extension piece is quite easy to set up and calibrate to your rails, and once done saves so much time without the need to measure and mark each cut. I measured the first cuts to double check, but found the scales to be very accurate. With both extension pieces connected, it does make the assembly a little unwieldy and mine did fall on the floor. The only damage was to the extension bar’s joining piece, but it was easily returned to its original shape and recalibrated to be safe!
So far I’m incredibly happy with the purchase of both!
You have the splice connector screws the wrong way, the guide that slides into the t track has is recessed for the round flange in the Allen screw. The way you have it set up won't allow the t track to lay flat and is also why you had lateral movement.
Excellent review, thank you.