My Dewalt Track Saw ROCKS!!!!

[Frederick Skelly]

I bought this baby about 18 mos ago to break down sheet goods. I use it every couple months and I'm always happy when I do. But today, I used it to trim the bottom of 3 doors. (New carpet.) First time I've ever done that. I didn't have to, but I used the DW track clamps to hold the track in place for the cut. The task was easy and the results were perfect! Didn't even chip the paint on either side of the door.

Note: If you order a set of Dewalt track clamps from Amazon, the picture they show is the old style clamp. To see what you're really getting, go to Dewalt.com. There were several complaints that the new ones aren't as good as tne original style. But the new style worked just fine for me today and they cost half as much. For hobbyist use, I think the new model is fine.

Fred

[Rich Engelhardt]

I swear - one of these days, I'm going to start a thread about the uses of track saw beyond simply breaking down sheet goods :D...

Then, when someone asks a "How do I make this cut?" type question, that's mindlessly simple to do with a track saw, I can just direct them to that thread :D.

I have to trim the bottom off a door for my sister in law in the next few weeks. We just put in a new floor in her kitchen & it raised the floor up a little under a quarter inch - underlayment + groutable peel and stick tile.
Should be a snap & mindless for the Makita cordless track saw.

[Van Huskey]

Dewalt went the extra step by having a flat side with low friction strips so it can be used as a jamb saw. I imagine my track saws are underutilized.

[Nick Decker]

I recently used my Makita to trim the end of a butcher block table that I made for the kitchen. No muss, no fuss, no dust and as clean a cut as if I'd been able to cross cut it on the table saw.

[Carl Beckett]

What I am not completely clear about, is why a track saw produces a better cut than a traditional circ saw with a good blade and straight edge guide?

Sheet goods I get that it is quite convenient to have a guide that helps keep the saw on track over a long distance (there are other guides out there that can do this).

Not trying to pick a fight, but have been looking at these track saws and wondering just how much I would use it and not coming up with that much. I do like the cordless concept and have a small makita cordless that I run on a guide when I want something to break down material off my tailgate. The last door I trimmed I just put it on the sliding tablesaw and trimmed it.

[Nick Decker]

I think the cut quality has a lot to do with the rubber strip that the blade rides against, providing a zero clearance cut.

The Makita (corded) that I have is obviously expensive, and I held off for a long time. I really don't break down sheet goods that often, but this table project came along and I knew I wanted a perfect cut in solid 1.75" ash. I was blown away, wish I'd bought it long ago.

Edit: If your slider allows you to cross cut things as large as doors, a track saw might not be as valuable to you, don't know.

[Jeff Bartley]

Carl,

I think the biggest improvement might come from the zero clearance lip on the edge of the guide.

I used a plywood guide with a normal saw for years and it was fine but the track saw is much easier and quicker in use. As well, the blade seems to have less run-out than a standard circ saw which translates to a cleaner cut.

Where and when you'd use a track saw is definitely specific to the person. I almost never use mine to break down sheet goods but I use it all the time to trim old windows and doors. Most of those cuts are not square so even if I had a slider onsite it wouldn't help. (But I sure wish I had a slider onsite!)

Hope this helps or shows the utility of the track saw; I know for my work if I was suddenly without a track saw I'd immediately order another (the Dewalt)!

Van, I never thought about the low friction strips on the Dewalt; I may put that to use this week....I have some doors to trim!

[Warren Wilson]

> What I am not completely clear about, is why a track saw produces a better cut than a traditional circ saw with a good blade and straight edge guide?

There are probably several factors, but after using the circ saw with a good blade and a guide for years, I bought a DeWalt track saw and found the difference both in handling and cut quality quite marked. The easy precision of the setup, the plunge action, the rubber “zero clearance” strip and the glassy-smooth cut quality all contribute to more pleasure in the work.

[Mike Cutler]

What I am not completely clear about, is why a track saw produces a better cut than a traditional circ saw with a good blade and straight edge guide?.

It has to be the ZCI edge.
I have a Festool TS75 and a 30 year old Makita that runs on EZ rails. The quality of the cut is identical. One uses Festool blades,$$$$, and the other uses Freud Diablo's from Home Depot.
If you completely tape the cut line, both sides, with a circular saw and edge guide, you'll probably have about the same quality of cut.

[Carl Beckett]

Very insightful comments, thanks.

Fred kicked it off with how well his Dewalt does with door bottoms - thanks for sharing Fred! Rich suggested a list of uses beyond breaking down sheet goods, I would read such a thread...

[ChrisA Edwards]

Other uses, for my vertical wood storage rack, I wanted to rip a 2" x 4" x 8' diagonally down its length. I laid 3 2x4's, side by side on the 4" face, to provide support for the track and achieved my diagonal cut with my Festool track and saw.

[Tim M Tuttle]

I got the DeWalt Flexvolt track saw this past summer. I love it. I used it for quite a bit beyond sheet goods while flipping a house. Trimmed the deck boards on a deck we built. We didn't have a table saw on site so it was used a ton for random stuff as well. I think the thing I like most about a track saw is that, for the most part, the errors arise in prepping a cut rather than while making the cut if you're just using a regular circular saw.

[Bernie Kopfer]

And don't forget how nice it is to have no sawdust at the completion of a cut. The vacuum feature alone is to me worth having a track saw.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Just beware that the 165mm x 20mm arbor blades are hard to find in US Markets. See my thread earlier this week on that. If you find them, buy two or three!

[julian abram]

Just beware that the 165mm x 20mm arbor blades are hard to find in US Markets. See my thread earlier this week on that. If you find them, buy two or three!

Amazon has been my friend for 20x165 blades (Diablo), about 40 bucks.

[Justin Ludwig]

I've used my track saw in a vertical position to rip down stile on a cabinet without taking the cabinet down. I got a funny look from some guys but I'm pretty sure they were taking mental notes.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Just beware that the 165mm x 20mm arbor blades are hard to find in US Markets. See my thread earlier this week on that. If you find them, buy two or three!I expect that situation to improve tremendously with the rise in 165mm saw popularity.
Makita, DeWalt and Triton are increasing their market share all the time.