Jointer required after track saw?

[andrew whicker]

Hi all,

To those who have high quality track saws (I'm set on getting Festool), do you have to joint after you cut or can you go straight to glue up? I'm building a table top with 2" walnut.

Thanks and cheers,

[Jim Becker]

"It depends". You're at the mercy of both wood movement and minor variations in the saw cut. And with 2" material, it's also not unreasonable that you may want to do it in multiple passes with a track saw. So I'm going to side...on the side...of the edge likely needing to be cleaned up in this situation, even if only in a minor way.

[Lee Schierer]

I have glued up boards that were ripped with my glue line rip blade on my TS with no issues. My saw leave almost no visible tooth marks so the surface is pretty near jointer quality. If you can see tooth marks easily after a cut I would recommend running the board across a jointer or running a sharp hand plane down the length of the board.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Plan on a little cleanup.
2" Walnut is a lot to ask of a Festool TS 55. The TS 75 is the better choice for that.

BUT. IMHO, the TS 55 is the better choice for all around use. It's lighter & more nimble.

I'd expect some minor burning of the wood with either - more so w/the TS 55.
A rip blade would probably help some, but, mine (an Oshlun in a Festoool TS 55EQ) does leave some marks that need attention on the jointer.

[Jared Sankovich]

No, but only if you "kerf joint" but cutting both edges at once. To not and just rely on the saw to maintain a perfect 90 degree edge leads to disappointment.

385939

[Mike Cutler]

Hi all,

To those who have high quality track saws (I'm set on getting Festool), do you have to joint after you cut or can you go straight to glue up? I'm building a table top with 2" walnut.

Thanks and cheers,

I'm going to say, no. I don't think you can straight from the tracks to glue up for a few reasons.

-The track saw is going to follow the track, and if the surface the track is setting on is not dead flat along the track's length, than distortion can occur.
-2" thick walnut is relatively soft, but I think you're in the TS75 range for the cut. I don't think the TS55 will give you enough cut depth. It would be very close, but you probably would not have the gullets exposed. It also may be a little underpowered.
-The rip blade for Festool is the Panther, and it's a fairly aggressive blade. I haven't gotten kerf free marks with mine yet, but I haven't actually tried either.

The example Jared posted is how Bob Marino demonstrated the Kerf cut method with John Lucas many years ago. This way, no matter how far off you are from 90 degrees, you end up with complimentary angles. I accomplish the same thing on the table saw, by flipping the board faces.

I have the Festool, TS 75, and have done a fair amount of ripping thick material with it, including 2" thick walnut slabs, with a Panther Blade. It will do the work for you. It will bog down if you try to go to fast, and you will need the guide rail clamps, or at least I do.

[Michael Pyron]

NO

the biggest issue is getting a totally square cut...I've found this to be basically impossible with a track saw...

second issue is getting a totally straight cut (yeah, I know "track saw" should be perfectly straight)...

what I've done when using a track saw for "joinery" is to use a top bearing flush cut bit to bring the cut into square...I learned to do this when making up a door and of course finding the rails not being square to the stiles, so figured out that doing the above worked quite nicely.

either way, considering you are talking about 2" material I'm going to state that you really need a jointer to true up the edges as any little wackyness is going to be exacerbated because of the thickness of the stock

[Mel Fulks]

As recently stated ;many jointers have slightly low out feed tables that make joints that are open at the ends. It's entirely possible that some track saw joints are better ,since they do not require adjusting.

[johnny means]

I've done all sorts of seams with a track saw. The key is to cut your piece a hair big so you can do a light finish cut. In fact, I've got an 1 3\4" thick maple bar top on my bench right now that is getting several joints cut with a ts 75. I guarantee every seam will close up tighter than a gnats... err yoga pants. Check your saw for square. If your using a Festool don't over tighten the clamps on the rail,doing so will cause the rail to cup ever so slightly.

[Mike Cutler]

I've done all sorts of seams with a track saw.
The key is to cut your piece a hair big so you can do a light finish cut.
If your using a Festool don't over tighten the clamps on the rail,doing so will cause the rail to cup ever so slightly.

Johnny
I noticed the cupping with the tracks also. I've also clamped blocks to the material, up against the track edge to make sure it stays in place.
I know you're only supposed to have it lay it down with no clamps, but the majority of time I'm using it, I'm using it to break down a rough cut board, or put an initial edge on one side, and there is not enough surface adhesion to keep the track in place without clamps on rough cut lumber.

Good advice on the 2nd light finish cut. I like it. I Haven't had to make a "glue" ready joint yet with my TS75, but if I have to, I'll remember this.
What blade(s) are you using on your TS75?

[Charles P. Wright]

I made a 7' long breakfast bar from 2" maple. I straight lined it with the track saw (TS75); but there was still a noticeable gap in a few places when I brought the pieces together (maybe 0.5mm). It would have worked fine, but I could see it. I ran it through the jointer and the gap went away.

[Brian Holcombe]

I've been using my Festool track saw for about 8 years now. I've never produced a glue ready edge with it, and probably never will. It's a great saw, but that's asking a lot of a handheld machine.

[Jared Sankovich]

Id suggest the tenryu 28t gp blade. This 120x42x1.375" sapele table never saw a jointer and was glued up at just over 11'. All glue joint edges were kerf jointed with my makita track saw.

385983
385984

[Brian Holcombe]

Very nice! I think I'll pickup a Tenryu. I have a Tenryu miter pro on my Kapex saw, it's very sweet. Miles ahead of the blade that festool supplies, oddly enough even with more teeth and a wider kerf it clears through the material with noticeably less drag on the motor.

[Mike Heidrick]

Id give up my tracksaw before my jointer.

[andrew whicker]

Sorry for the late response. Thanks for all the replies. I like the kerf idea. Was just wondering if it saved a step. I joint with my table saw quite a bit.

[Jim Becker]

Sorry for the late response. Thanks for all the replies. I like the kerf idea. Was just wondering if it saved a step. I joint with my table saw quite a bit.
Many of us with Sliding Table Saws, will go right from cut to glue-up when we can pin a board down on the wagon for the cut and the material was already flattened and thicknessed. What enables this is that the board cannot move when clamped or is otherwise held down to the wagon through the cut and the edge is "worthy" if the blade is sharp. With the track saw, you're "mostly there", but you can easily slightly distort the cut line because your hand is moving the saw down the track and it's just not going to be perfect. The kerf cut that others have mentioned where two boards are side by side can account for the variations...some folks use a router and rail for this instead of a saw to the same effect...any slight deviations are mirrored on the adjacent piece of material.

[andrew whicker]

Haha, I've been sold on the sliding table saw ever since I saw someone tapering a leg on one with a jig and hold down clamps.

I might try the kerf thing, but it sounds like it might be finicky to set up. I'll have to make a stand for my jointer so that I can move it and then have it sit stationary again. I just don't have enough length one way as it sits right now. So using my jointer is going to require more work.

My other option is send the wood to the local woodshop have them do the table top for me. I'm already sending them the pieces for flattening (10 ft x 2 ft x 2" thk pieces, qty 3) and will have to send the glued table back to them for flattening / sanding. Probably save me a lot of money too if I consider the tracksaw a necessity. In reality, I could probably use a worm drive saw and a straight edge. Still have to make a stand for the jointer though.

I'm delaying making a decision, but need to make one soon.

[Jim Becker]

Anybody local to you have a 10' slider? wink, wink...nod, nod.... :D

[andrew whicker]

Haha, I'm not that cool.

[andy bessette]

On heavy stock I will make a light skin cut after cutting nearly to size. My Festool TS55 produces glue-ready edges.

[Brian Holcombe]

If you have a 7 plane or try plane, just tune the edge by hand after cutting with a tracksaw. I've done that enough times for nearly invisible glue lines.

Two things have produced near invisible glue lines in my shop with consistency and ease.

One is jointing then using the thickness planer to bring the stock to width. The thicknesser produces a better edge than jointing (so long as the reference edge is totally flat) because the scallops are smaller and more consistent. I do this on everything under 9" wide.

The other is jointing then finishing the joint with a hand plane. I do this on everything over 9" wide.

I don't have a slider or tablesaw, so I don't reference to them.

I'm pretty impressed by those turning glue ready joints off a tracksaw, that's really cool.