General plywood advice

[woodbloke66]

Ply is not ideal for shelves as the loading is all in one plane and only half the layers of ply are working in your favour.

I tend to agree and as a large bookcase/shelving arrangement is in SWIMBO's cross hair sight, it's something I need to give a bit of serious thought to...there are ways round it, but it's convoluted - Rob

 

[pollys13]

Whats that square your using to set the track?
Cheers.

 

[Teejay]

I have now found a source of 18mm Birch plywood where I can get full sheets for £45 including VAT. - and it is good stuff with no plugs etc.

Well? Do you have anything to share with the class Bodgers?

Apologies, lost track of this thread.

The answer is: Fall Timber, near Bedale

Haven't got a better a shot, but this give you an impression of one of the faces. Zero plugs, it is super stuff.

I have the same plunge saw and rail as you. I saw a thread which said you could use the other major manufacturer's rails with this, like the Makita which is actually the cheapest. From my own searching, it does not look like this is true, at least not in the sense of them being cross-compatible (combining a dewalt rail with a Makita). I am sceptical that others can even be used with the Dewalt saw because the Dewalt connector is mounted in the middle and the others mount on the edge?

 

[Doingupthehouse]

I have the same plunge saw and rail as you. I saw a thread which said you could use the other major manufacturer's rails with this, like the Makita which is actually the cheapest. From my own searching, it does not look like this is true, at least not in the sense of them being cross-compatible (combining a dewalt rail with a Makita). I am sceptical that others can even be used with the Dewalt saw because the Dewalt connector is mounted in the middle and the others mount on the edge?

Don’t know about the Makita rail, but it runs very happily on Festool track. Not a good idea to swap from one make to another though, as you have to adjust the friction guide thingies, so best to make your choice and stick to it. I prefer the Festool rail myself, although sometimes miss the ability to cut on both sides of the track.

Here’s mine...

Simon

 

[Teejay]

I agree. Yesterday I decided it was too much agro and ordered a third rail to be cut down (I'm thinking 1m & 50cm might be useful)?

 

[Bodgers]

Whats that square your using to set the track?
Cheers.

Swanson Metric speed square

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[Bodgers]

I have the same plunge saw and rail as you. I saw a thread which said you could use the other major manufacturer's rails with this, like the Makita which is actually the cheapest. From my own searching, it does not look like this is true, at least not in the sense of them being cross-compatible (combining a dewalt rail with a Makita). I am sceptical that others can even be used with the Dewalt saw because the Dewalt connector is mounted in the middle and the others mount on the edge?

As doingupthehouse said you can use it on other tracks.

You have readjust the cams.

And yes, one big caveat: because the DeWalt rail has a centre ridge and not an offset one, you can't joint the DeWalt rails to Festool or Lidl rails for example. But the saw itself does work on Festool/Lidl type rails.



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[Teejay]

Thanks for clarifying. Those who use tracksaws, what do you find the optimal rail length to be for most of the jobs you need it on?

 

[Bodgers]

Thanks for clarifying. Those who use tracksaws, what do you find the optimal rail length to be for most of the jobs you need it on?

I use the 1.5 meter ones the most. I have the shorter Lidl ones but I don't use them that much, as by the time I am down to those shorter lengths, I'm switching to the table saw.



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[Turnr77]

"in this case is birch ply the way to go, or can a cheaper ply be used, are there any downsides?"
if you need cheap and high quality plywood, I can advise www.plyterra.com . they helped me . I really liked the quality of plywood, it’s been a year of use, and plywood still looks like it is new. In general, very high quality plywood from this company.

You bought plywood from Russia?

 

[petermillard]

Thanks for clarifying. Those who use tracksaws, what do you find the optimal rail length to be for most of the jobs you need it on?

About 250mm longer than the one you’re using I find the ‘standard’ length rail (1400) to be pretty handy, though it’s useful to have a short one when working in tight spaces. And a long one, if you have the space to store it.

Re. guiderail compatibility, pretty much all saws will run on Festool (or Festool-pattern) rails, even the ones who’ve gone their own way in rail design (DeWalt, Mafell/Bosch) as, back when Festool were the only game in town, any manufacturer hoping to entice you away to their saw system realised what a big ask that would be if it also involved changing all your rails...