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Not being a victim of Br*x*t, I can just order tools (and many other items) on Lidl's online shop in Germany and have them delivered. Not gloating, you do understand....... ;)
 
Well i made it this morning Lidl early doors and am now the owner of a plunge track saw . SWMBO actualy reminded me as i woke up to not forget , Now the first question can you clamp the track to timber you are cutting or do you just rely on friction from foam rubber strips Second question if you can clamp it where do you get the clamps
 
Well i made it this morning Lidl early doors and am now the owner of a plunge track saw . SWMBO actualy reminded me as i woke up to not forget , Now the first question can you clamp the track to timber you are cutting or do you just rely on friction from foam rubber strips Second question if you can clamp it where do you get the clamps
Clamping is personal choice, I know many "experts" claim it's never needed (just rely on the track grips) but my preference is to clamp if the cut is long enough I need to move my weight to complete it. The only downside is you need clearance underneath which precludes initial cutting of sheets on the floor atop battens, but that's probably just my bad practice.

As for where to get them, plugging "track saw clamps" into Amazon found them straight away, it isn't the kind of thing I'd get too particular about, but I haven't bought them separately, instead using the ones that came with my rails.
 
Well i made it this morning Lidl early doors and am now the owner of a plunge track saw . SWMBO actualy reminded me as i woke up to not forget , Now the first question can you clamp the track to timber you are cutting or do you just rely on friction from foam rubber strips Second question if you can clamp it where do you get the clamps
I have that saw (or perhaps an earlier model). I bought a couple of extra tracks from Kompernaß (one of the many upsides of living in the EU 😉). I use the Makita rail clamps, not much more than the cheap cr*p ones you can find on sale - I find that I'm not happy with just friction to hold them in place....
 
Woodwork Journey Dean
u'll be very happy with the screws....
I buy all I can...high quality, strong, def not cheese "Gromit".....
they are around 1/2 the cost of screws here.....
 
I have that saw (or perhaps an earlier model). I bought a couple of extra tracks from Kompernaß (one of the many upsides of living in the EU 😉). I use the Makita rail clamps, not much more than the cheap cr*p ones you can find on sale - I find that I'm not happy with just friction to hold them in place....
That was my thoughts friction verses vibration bound to move , So i will have a look at the makita ones you have thanks
 
I have the Parkside saw and also bought the Evolution tracks from Amazon. £80 for two 1400mm tracks with (not great, but useable) clamps and a storage bag. I also made some right angle guides from plywood offcuts and a couple of bolts. Very useful saw.
 
Well i made it this morning Lidl early doors and am now the owner of a plunge track saw . SWMBO actualy reminded me as i woke up to not forget , Now the first question can you clamp the track to timber you are cutting or do you just rely on friction from foam rubber strips Second question if you can clamp it where do you get the clamps
Thankyou for reminding me, I forgot so went in today (Monday) warwick branch, about midday. There were two on the correct shelf and a further two in a bin for other parkside tools. I bought one, not opened it yet.
 
I bought one, not opened it yet.
Have now opened it. Started off by joining the two 700mm tracks together, laid it on the kitchen worktop, one track flat on the worktop, far end of other track about 10mm in the air, no way this will work without clamps. The joining bar is not flat/straight. Also there is only one joining bar so the tracks look like they could twist out of alignment. The tracks do not line up perfectly, bit of a lip.

I then attached the saw and adjusted it for a tight fit, bit fiddly to get it right. Slid nicely along the first track, got to the joint and it jammed. Backed the adjusters off a bit and it worked but obviously now a bit of slack.

I could do a bit of fine tuning on the joining bar and probably get it better, but it would still have only one bar and be a bit delicate, I can see the track having to be stored as two pieces.

It is unfortunate that the 1.4m of track does not come as one length especially as it is made in a continuous length and cut to size. No doubt all to do with packaging and transportation.

I already have a home made track for my circular saw. I can see that this saw will need a new track for me to be happy with it, possibly a pair of evolution rails.

Would appreciate comments from anyone who has used the parkside tracks.
 
Have now opened it. Started off by joining the two 700mm tracks together, laid it on the kitchen worktop, one track flat on the worktop, far end of other track about 10mm in the air, no way this will work without clamps. The joining bar is not flat/straight. Also there is only one joining bar so the tracks look like they could twist out of alignment. The tracks do not line up perfectly, bit of a lip.

I then attached the saw and adjusted it for a tight fit, bit fiddly to get it right. Slid nicely along the first track, got to the joint and it jammed. Backed the adjusters off a bit and it worked but obviously now a bit of slack.

I could do a bit of fine tuning on the joining bar and probably get it better, but it would still have only one bar and be a bit delicate, I can see the track having to be stored as two pieces.
Full disclosure - I haven't got, or looked at the Tracksaw you have.

However - if you look at the FESTOOL website, they give some tips on lining up the tracks. Basically - put the saw on the track across the join - so the saw is aligning the tracks - then do up the connector grub screws. That should get it straight - and probably solve two of your problem. I don't understand how the joining bar isn't straight?. Those on my 1400mm Evolution rails are pretty chunky, and would take a LOT of effort to bend?
 
Would appreciate comments from anyone who has used the parkside tracks.

I had a similar one - different brand, bought on the internet which had similar issues. Could not get the saw to transition smoothly. I measured the sections of the extrusions (across, i.e. to see how wide the ‘rail’ that the saw mounts on was, and how high etc) with a set of calipers and could show that they were just not the same size. Got the rails swapped.

You’d think it would be extruded and then a 1.4m length chopped in 2 and put in the box - to cut down on variation between pieces… but I guess they all get chopped up, whizzed in a pile and swapped around before boxing.
 
Thank you for the replies.
Had a look at joining festool rails, they have a bar on top and a bar underneath. Mine has one bar underneath, so cannot fit bar with saw in place. Tracks seem to be the same profile, there is sufficient play in the bar/track to get the track horizontally aligned bit I get a vertical step, due to the bent bar. Have attached a photo of the gap below.

I could straighten the bar but I think that to get this working, as I would like, it needs new rails. Pair of 1.4 evolution rails with accessories is £80, box for the saw £35, possibly some decent track clamps £20. So north of £200. For twice that I could get a Makita complete with two rails, box, bags clamps etc.

I had hoped to use this as is then add more tracks if required. I am tending towards taking it back and continue as before with my homemade track and borrowing my sons festool as required.

If the rail had been in one piece I would have been happy.


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