Track saws

[DiscoStu]

Ok I hold my hands up, I don't get it.

Why are people buying track saws? I assume most people probably have a circular saw, assuming this is the case why would you buy a track saw? Doesn't a guide rail do the same thing?

I'm asking this as I wonder if I am missing the point.

Oddly though I nearly bought one at the D&M show at the weekend just because everyone seems to have them, but I really couldn't see the advantage and even the sales guy I spoke to couldn't really sell the idea to me.

 

[Doug B]

Simply because it's the quickest way to cut MFC & veneered board on site without breakout & splintering, times money & my TS55 has saved me no end of time, even on daft things like trimming the bottom of veneered doors.

Add to that that with the Festool the track is compatible with their router so I can make units on site, not only cutting sheet material to size with the saw but also running in back board grooves & it's bloody quick to do.

 

[8squared]

I think they're too expensive for what they are, but as a beginner woodworker I don't do a lot of sheet cutting...

I did make this easy diy track for when I do...

http://youtu.be/vYcdHlwKsOg

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

They are basically a hand held circular saw on speed. These are the advantages as I see them:

- as Doug says, because you can do an easy scoring cut they pretty much eliminate splintering and tear out of laminate tops like mfc
- there is no need to work out the offset to allow for the distance between blade and end of foot when using a straight edge guide because you align the track directly on the cut line. Admittedly this is a small issue but its a niggle that really bugs me to the extent I have a pre-cut mdf straight edge with the offset width so I align that with the cut line and my offset is handled. Right up to the point you need to do a bevel cut...then its wrong again! With a track saw, the bevel cut is still aligned with the track edge on the cut line so no faffing with offsets. Just quicker and more accurate.
- the plunging is easier to do cut outs for insets like sinks not least because there are witness marks on the casing showing where the cut needs to start and finish much like you would scribe on a router table fence when doing a stopped groove.
- extraction seems to be better

There is nothing (I believe) that a regular circ cant do but the track saws just do a better and more slick job of square and straight cuts it seems to me. However, once, I was scribing the underside of floor joist 4x2 in an old cottage to old oak joists that were as pissed as heck. They needed to scribe to the existing twisted beams underneath and be flat on top for a bathroom floor which had to have the necessary fall for the plug ie be dead flat. So we scribed the beams and then hand cut to the line with a skilsaw. Try doing that with a track saw

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Having defended track saws....I don't actually have one myself

I also agree that to some extent there is a bit of dick waving going on in that they are the must have new tool but then again anything which improves accuracy (saves on wasted material) and is faster to setup (time saved) has a business reason to be justified on site.

 

[Mark-numbers]

Because track saws are simply the dogs nuts for joiners/carpenters etc.

I no longer work on the tools, but have recently refurbished our house from top to bottom and used one the track saws from work to cut and swing the doors in old frames. Using an angle finder and some basic maths I got all 9 doors swinging in the frames in about 3 1/2 hours, every frame was different and most doors required 25mm knocking off the long edges.

 

[DiscoStu]

I hadn't realised that you didn't have to allow for any offset, that makes a lot of sense and I can see how that would speed things up. I am beginning to see the advantages for someone on site or earning their living from it. Still not sure it makes sense for the home wood worker, but that said I am beginning to desire one, but thats probably more to do with me just liking tools!

 

[Wizard9999]

Ok I hold my hands up, I don't get it.

Why are people buying track saws? I assume most people probably have a circular saw, assuming this is the case why would you buy a track saw? Doesn't a guide rail do the same thing?

I'm asking this as I wonder if I am missing the point.

Oddly though I nearly bought one at the D&M show at the weekend just because everyone seems to have them, but I really couldn't see the advantage and even the sales guy I spoke to couldn't really sell the idea to me.

IMHO if you always work in a workshop and have a table saw then probably won't do much for you. I bought one on Friday at D&M in part because I have a very old knackered circular saw that needs replacing anyway, but also because I am only just building my workshop and I do not have a table saw. In the short term I plan to use one of Stu_2's CNC drilled MDF tops to build a MFT/3 type table and to use the track saw on that.

Having defended track saws....I don't actually have one myself

Yes, but you did say on Friday you don't need one now because you can borrow mine if you ever need one!

Terry.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

You're right....I do have one......Terry's

 

[Stu_2]

+1 for track saws for all the above, and the fact that they're much safer, cleaner and quieter than my table saw (Bosch GTS 10), which I hardly use any more since getting the Festool Parallel Guide kit (both parts).

I'd liken it to having a well trained obedient Collie to help you, as opposed to a snarling Pit Bull, that does what it's told, but you know it'll have you if it thinks it can (apologies in advance to any Pit Bull fans).

 

[RogerS]

Just be wary if you are thinking of the Festool TS saw and its guide rail that you don't get seduced - sorry, suckered - into buying one of these. For unless Festool have changed the design they truly are pants and Not Fit For Purpose.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Its funny with Festool isn't it. On the one hand they produce some absolutely amazing innovations like the domino which are superb quality. On the other hand they knock out a cheap mdf table with clamp rails and charge nearly £600 for it! Also this that Roger has posted. I know their engineering is pretty dam good most of the time but when they do produce a duck its fairly convincing!

 

[Doug B]

Just be wary if you are thinking of the Festool TS saw and its guide rail that you don't get seduced - sorry, suckered - into buying one of these. For unless Festool have changed the design they truly are pants and Not Fit For Purpose.

Ironically I bought this off Roger (he did tell me it was pants at the time) but I've found it really useful & it gets used quite often when I can't be arsed to put the Kapex in the van.
The only problem I found was the plastic knob didn't tighten up enough, so the angle could slip, but since I've changed the knob for a nyloc nut I've not encountered that problem. Admittedly a poor design in the first place re the knob but not insurmountable.

 

[Bradshaw Joinery]

tracksaws main advantage for me is that they hold the saw on the rail. no chance of a cut wandering away from the rail, it also helps when your doing an awkward cut on a sheet that you cant climb on to guide the saw across. you only have to push it not hold it in place aswell.

there also handy or following lines say if your cutting marked out ply for flooring, you just sit the rail on and cut. no need to clamp it, and its always straight.

i use mine a lot for trimming horns from door stiles, as opposed to manhandling them onto the crosscut.

 

[Stu_2]

Just be wary if you are thinking of the Festool TS saw and its guide rail that you don't get seduced - sorry, suckered - into buying one of these. For unless Festool have changed the design they truly are pants and Not Fit For Purpose.

+1. The only Festool thing I've regretted buying. It's toss!

 

[DiscoStu]

i must confess I am finding that I am not using my table saw as much as I expected because of the faff factor, basically it needs a lot of space and that means moving a lot of stuff to enable its use. I'm warming to the idea of a track saw.

 

[Wizard9999]

Just be wary if you are thinking of the Festool TS saw and its guide rail that you don't get seduced - sorry, suckered - into buying one of these. For unless Festool have changed the design they truly are pants and Not Fit For Purpose.

+1. The only Festool thing I've regretted buying. It's toss!

Is it just the dodgy nut? Whilst having the angle change mid cut is not a minor issue, it does sound like it can be solved with a new nut. Are there other factors that contribute to its 'tossishness'?

Terry.

 

[RogerS]

That's the main problem...the fact that there is huge amount of leverage on whatever is used to keep it fixed at the angle you want. Now imagine it attached to, say, a very long 2.7m rail then trying to get that butted up against your edge and the rail in the right place...especially as the rail has a grippy piece of rubber making sliding it difficult then the whole thing just becomes a nightmare.

 

[Stu_2]

Afternoon Terry

It's not really the knob that I have problem with, as I roughed-up the nylon washers which made it better. Like Roger said, it's just not nice to use. I also don't think my angle markings are that accurate, either. I suppose it'll be OK for rough stuff, but I wouldn't ever use it for anything that needed to be spot on.

 

[Doug B]

Terry other than the knob I've found it very accurate, I don't go by the graduated scale & pointer for setting the angle rather I use that as an indication of approximation then use an angle finder to ensure the angle is spot on, much as I would do when setting an angled cut on the table saw.

I've used mine for many things other than breaking down sheets, this is my set up when cutting architrave http://instagram.com/p/r4ejqTg0Nt/. Not my first choice of how I'd cut it but a handy option when nothing else is to hand.

Its main use though is for when I'm cutting panels & I want them exact, like in these doors I made Monday afternoon

If you look on the Instagram photo one mod I have made is a small hole by the F in the Festool logo, I have a pin that registers in that hole & a corresponding hole below, this sets the jig at 90 degrees which is the main angle I use this for, so makes it very quick to accurately set up.