Betterley connector

[Mrs C]

I have just seen a reference to the Betterley connector in another thread to accurately join two rails.

Anyone else use these? What other alternatives are there?

Thanks

 

[Braddersmd]

Odd you should say that - I just read that also, and have been googling furiously since. Only found it available in one place so far in the UK, and frankly, it's rather expensive. The alternative seems to be a TSO connector product, stocked by Axminster at £75 for a $50 product (as a professional importer for 25 years, I know the perils of cross border price comparisons, but even so, this seems a decent markup). Two reviews on Axminster for this, one positive, one middling.

Have to say, if the Betterley was priced more reasonably, I'd have pushed the button (it's sold at £125).

ETA - perhaps a UK firm specialising in aluminium would fancy making their own version........Benchdogs, if you're reading this?

 

[pcb1962]

What other alternatives are there?

I press the back edge of both tracks firmly against my 1.5m spirit level whilst tightening the joiner bars, never had an issue with it not being perfectly straight.

 

[Nelsun]

The Betterley predates the TSO connectors by a number of years and solves a problem that a normal straight edge does too. I never quite got my head around what benefit it really brought other than being prettier.

The TSO connectors in my experience are a much better product in that they actually join rails and join them straight without the need for anything else. I've had them since they came out (vthey were £50 back then) and I'd make a point of checking they'd joined rails straight for a year or two... then gave up checking as it was a waste of time; they were always straight.
They also have the added bonus of not marking / denting the rails like the Festool ones would do when "generously" tightened thanks to a much bigger contact area on the tightening mechanism.
Makita joiners were my weapon of choice before the TSOs came along for similar reasons of not deforming the rail - but you still needed check them for alignment and we're a bit more fiddly to fit due to having two metal bars to get in the slot. They also didn't work out that much cheaper (at the time) than the TSO ones... something like £35 Vs £50. Not sure I'd pay 75 for them now though!

 

[Rorschach]

Oof rather expensive. Probably better to put the money towards just buying a longer track?

 

[pcb1962]

Oof rather expensive. Probably better to put the money towards just buying a longer track?

I was going to say that but if you work onsite and you have to put your track in the back of the van at the end of the day then having a 3m track isn't very practical. Fine if you're workshop based.

 

[Rorschach]

I was going to say that but if you work onsite and you have to put your track in the back of the van at the end of the day then having a 3m track isn't very practical. Fine if you're workshop based.

Depends on the person I suppose but putting away a 3m track doesn't seem that bad to me, they are very thin and it seems most people who have long tracks come up with storage for them.