Make your own track saw tracks

[Edwin Santos]

For years I used a DeWalt circular saw with a home made guide for breaking down sheet goods. Usually I cut on the ground or on my assembly table, using foam insulation board underneath for support and protection.

Last year I upgraded to a Makita track saw, mostly for the dust collection, partly for the plunge cutting capability. The saw came with a 55" track but I thought the price for the 118" version was astronomical (I think the oversized shipping has something to do with this). Some woodworkers like to make their solutions to problems rather than buy them. So I made my own tracks out of 1/2" MDF which turned to be surprisingly easy to do. I made one about 115" long and another 72" which works out well for 5x5 Baltic Birch sheets. To give them some non-skid grip, I sprayed the underside with Plasti-Dip. They seem to grip pretty well, but occasionally I need to wipe them down to clear off dust.

There's no difference in the performance of the shop made tracks versus the aluminum, but the aluminum ones are cooler, a little lighter, and say "Makita" on them. Make the guide a little oversize in width and trim it to zero clearance with the first cut. The aluminum ones come with an extruded slot for using their spiffy clamps. I kept a clamping ledge so I could use regular old F clamps. With the non skid backing, many people don't clamp at all, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

I've posted some photos. For anyone who needs tracks and wants to save some coin, I hope this is helpful.

By the way, the other thing I learned about track saws is they come with a very fine finishing blade. If you're going to cut thicker or denser material, it pays to buy a coarser tooth blade or the saw will labor. Mine came with a 48 tooth, I added a 28 tooth and 14 tooth blade, both from Freud.
Edwin

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[Rob Wolfbrandt]

This is awesome! Nice work!

[Frederick Skelly]

That's a great idea! Thanks for posting it!
Fred

[Bill Space]

Great idea!

Makes me feel much better now when I use a long homemade straight edge and my cordless circular saw...:)

[Art Mann]

Well done! I was contemplating buying the long Makita track because I have an onsite job where I won't have a table saw to rip full sheets of plywood. I may just build one of these first and see how it works out.

I used a Dewalt circular saw (non plunge) and home made cutting guide for decades before getting a real track saw. My opinion is that the track saw is worth the money. I can achieve a level of precision and quality of cut that exceeds that of a saw made for house construction.

[Dave Richards]

Very nice. I made a miter box sort of thing for my track saw which I've found to be very handy and taking it to the work site is a whole lot easier than bringing the 12" SCMS.

[Mikail Khan]

Nice. Thanks for posting.

MK

[Jamie Buxton]

How did you ensure the straightness of the track -- particularly the long one?

[Edwin Santos]

How did you ensure the straightness of the track -- particularly the long one?

Jamie, I'm not sure I understand your question, but maybe this will answer it - I cut the track blank a bit oversized at the table saw where the fence is parallel to the blade. Then I cut a shallow groove at the table saw with a dado set for the rail the saw rides on, which is a very snug sliding fit, like how you would fit a table saw sled runner. Once the rail was glued, I think I used a spacer to glue and brad nail the outside left ledge. I milled a tongue on the ledge to preserve the anti-tip mechanism feature on the Makita saw. The first cut with the track saw trimmed the right (cut) side to exact size and zero clearance and parallel to the rail. I then waxed the whole face so the saw would slide nicely.

The longer track required joining two pieces which I did with dowels and glue with pocket screws for clamping.

One minor drawback of the homemade track is a loss of cut depth capacity by about 1/4" because the aluminum stock track is thinner. Other than that, wherever you place the track will be the exact cut line.

Edwin

[Bill Space]

I do not have a track saw so this thread is especially enlightening for me.

I did did not notice the shallow dado into which you inserted the guide track. So the answer to Jamie’s question is the track will be as straight as your table saw made the dado. I suppose if one wanted to, the straightness could be measured.

But “the proof is in the pudding” method seems to indicate you are satisfied with the result in practice, so it must be pretty straight.

Bill

[Pat Pollin]

I can't see these photos. Is it my account or are the links broken?

[Frederick Skelly]

Good idea Edwin. Thanks for sharing it!
Fred

[Frederick Skelly]

I can't see these photos. Is it my account or are the links broken?

Hi Pat. This post explains what's changed. LINK (https://sawmillcreek.org/announcement.php?f=12&a=26)

[ChrisA Edwards]

Very nice... If I didn't already own a couple of 4' Festool tracks, I'd be copying your project.

[Phil Gaudio]

Nice! -------------------

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Very nice. I have seen similar for saws AND for routers. I have made a couple of these. One of them was a "special purpose" version for cutting counter tops with a lip so that I needed to literally turn a corner in the cut.

[Steve Kang]

Great tip Edwin, thanks for sharing. If one were to by a 2nd blade for 8/4 hardwoods, would your recommend the 28 or 14 tooth?

[Edwin Santos]

Hi Steve,
I would recommend the 14 tooth for ripping 8/4 lumber. I have it and it works very well for that. I ended up getting the 28 tooth also and I use it for Baltic Birch, undercutting doors, other stuff. Cheers

Edwin

[Alan Schwabacher]

It looks like a very nice way to get whatever rip length you want, cheaply and conveniently. The question I have relates to the differing thickness of your two types of track.

The track acts as a ZCI on one side of the cut, but to my thoughts, that's not enough. If I need to leave material to trim, I might as well cut roughly and trim to size on a tablesaw. So I'd want both sides of the cut to be finish cuts, which means I want something to act as a ZCI the non-track side of the blade. That's easy to add, but with two thicknesses of track, I'd need two thicknesses of offside ZCI, or three if I want to use the saw without a track.

How do those with tracksaws deal with this? Is it simply that a good sharp blade makes a good enough cut without the ZCI, or is this a real consideration with two thicknesses of track?

[Edwin Santos]

It looks like a very nice way to get whatever rip length you want, cheaply and conveniently. The question I have relates to the differing thickness of your two types of track.

The track acts as a ZCI on one side of the cut, but to my thoughts, that's not enough. If I need to leave material to trim, I might as well cut roughly and trim to size on a tablesaw. So I'd want both sides of the cut to be finish cuts, which means I want something to act as a ZCI the non-track side of the blade. That's easy to add, but with two thicknesses of track, I'd need two thicknesses of offside ZCI, or three if I want to use the saw without a track.

How do those with tracksaws deal with this? Is it simply that a good sharp blade makes a good enough cut without the ZCI, or is this a real consideration with two thicknesses of track?

Hi,
The general presumption is that the non-track side of the blade is waste. In other words you're laying your track on the keeper workpiece. If you have a lot of waste and you would use it and cut again, same thing. The other thing is if you're trying to treat the waste side as your keeper, things get a little complicated because you will have to allow for the blade kerf in arriving a precise finished dimension.
Maybe I don't understand your question?
Edwin

[lowell holmes]

You can take a 16"x 60" (or whatever length you want) of 1/2" plywood, nail a 3/4"X 1 1/2" strip to it wider than the sole of your skill saw to about center, leaving a width that is wider than your saw. Then place the saw with its base touching the strip on the right hand and rip the right hand side. This leaves a crisp edge that will define the cut line when you place it to rip a cut line edge on the ripping jig.

After that you clamp the ripping fixture to the plywood with ripping guide where you want it and cut away. It works like a champ.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Hmm, good reason to switch.