All I Can Say is WOW!

[Lisa Starr]

As many of you know, I came by a Festool track saw, tracks and accessories this summer for a very reasonable price. Even then, I was hesitant to purchase it. In the end, I did. Just today I wanted to whip up a quick and dirty cabinet in my workshop. Out came the track saw and in no time I had the components cut from various left over pieces of sheet goods. It makes breaking the sheet goods into manageable pieces so quick and easy, that I find myself much more willing contemplate cabinetry when I need to increase storage.

If your on the fence, buy a track saw. They're great. :)

[Jay Michaels]

Keep working on convincing me -- because I am vulnerable to such efforts.

Why is it so much better than my current method of clamping down a straightedge and then running my circular saw along the cut?

[Jim Becker]

Jay, your method certainly does work, but the track on a "true" tracksaw is designed to support the edge of the cut without dealing with the painter's tape method and since you put the edge of the track literally on the cut line, there's no measuring for offset from the blade. This applies not only to the Festool, but also to the Makia, Triton, DeWalt, etc., where they are designed specifically as track saws. That makes it easier to achieve precision on the cuts and they are pretty darn clean cuts, too.

[Lisa Starr]

Jay-I used your method for a long time. As Jim said, it eliminates measuring the offset. When I used a straight edge and circular saw I usually "rough cut" the panels and then ran them thru my table saw to finished dimensions. That means 4 passes/panel. My track saw allows me to cut the panels to finished size and completely eliminate the table saw operation in most cases. I find it much quicker and sometimes get better yields from the sheet goods.

[Dennis Peacock]

You will never get my Festool tracksaw and rails away from me! To me, they were a real game changer when it came to complicated cuts as well as a much easier way of breaking down sheet goods. Love it!

[scott lipscomb]

Also, the saw rides on the straight edge, and its amazing how the track never slips on the wood so clamping is rarely necessary. Its just fast and very accurate.

[Doug Garson]

Don't do a lot of panel work or I'd probably get a track saw but I have a simple trick for the offset issue. I cut a pair of scrap blocks from some MDF (plywood, particle board or solid wood would also work) the exact width of the offset. Temporarily clamp them at each end of the cut on the cut line, push the straight edge against the blocks and clamp it, remove the blocks and make the cut. No measuring required.

[Rob Charles]

Interesting and a timely post. I also picked up a Festoo track saw kit earlier this year at a bargain but was hesitant to purchase it. I gave it considerable use over the summer. Last evening, I loaded up for an out of town trip that will involve sheet goods & other remodeling carpentry. That was the first saw I packed. With that said, it still feels fragile to me.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Just today I wanted to whip up a quick and dirty cabinet in my workshop. Out came the track saw and in no time I had the components cut from various left over pieces of sheet goods. It makes breaking the sheet goods into manageable pieces so quick and easy, that I find myself much more willing contemplate cabinetry when I need to increase storage.The longer you have & use it, the more things you'll find are super easy to do.
There's another thread going on about cutting stair treads to size. The track saw makes this mindlessly simple.



Why is it so much better than my current method of clamping down a straightedge and then running my circular saw along the cut?That's as crude as using a 2x4 for a fence on your table saw by comparison.
Track saws - as mentioned - hold the saw captive so they can't shift or wander.

[Mark Bolton]

Its still only a coarse method of breakdown at best which if your work allows for that is great. I use a makita track saw with 55" and 118" guide rail regularly to break down solid surface slightly oversize but its no where near accurate enough for day to day use. Handy as heck for sure and the major gain for me is dust collection. That alone would be worth the price of admission (which is nuts high for non-green options).

[Edwin Santos]

Keep working on convincing me -- because I am vulnerable to such efforts.

Why is it so much better than my current method of clamping down a straightedge and then running my circular saw along the cut?

For years I used what we used to call a Sawboard, which is a home made straightedge made so the saw runs on a ledge and the edge of the sawboard is exactly the cut line, so no offset. It works just as well as a track saw and will cost you no more than some scrap MDF or other sheet stock.

HOWEVER, the advantage of the track saw in my mind is the dust collection and the plunge cutting capability so I own one and am glad I do. I broke down a sheet of god forsaken MDF the other day and there was hardly any dust anywhere. Without the dust collection, I and everything else in the shop would have been covered with the special gift of fine powder that mdf gives.

By the way, I love the stock Makita rail, but being a cheapskate, I made longer ones to supplement, and other than losing about 1/4" of cut capacity, they work just as well. Search here for a thread called "make your own tradk saw tracks" and you'll find the thread and photos.

[David Utterback]

Are the results good when using rough cut, air dried lumber that may not be completely flat? I am not talking about a big bow or twist in the board but maybe some slight cupping. Thanks

[glenn bradley]

Keep working on convincing me -- because I am vulnerable to such efforts.

Why is it so much better than my current method of clamping down a straightedge and then running my circular saw along the cut?


I also used a straight edge and still do depending on what I am doing.

420483 . 420484

The captured path of the track saw allows me to concentrate on feed speed and control. The ZCI feature is also nice. I especially like the Makitas little gizmo that keeps the saw from tipping when making bevel cuts. The Festool has a riving knife though ad that is nice.

420485

[Mike Cutler]

Are the results good when using rough cut, air dried lumber that may not be completely flat? I am not talking about a big bow or twist in the board but maybe some slight cupping. Thanks

David
Absolutely. I purchased my Festool TS 75 for just that reason. I needed to cut a 32" wide, 17' long, piece of Padauk that was just over 2" thick. The slab had a slight cup to it,maybe an 1/8" to 3/16ths across.
I've also used that saw for material much more cupped than that. I was cutting "true" 2"x8", 1"x12", rough cut pine, this past summer to rebuild a section of my porch. They were just stickered and stacked at the sawmill. I didn't have any issues. Some of the boards were maybe at most a 1/4" cup.
I was also up on the roof cutting sheathing and installing the rough cut 1x12's to replace some cracked barn board and batten on the house.
It's not a saw that I use everyday, but it is nice to have.

[Warren Wilson]

I imagine there are very few track saw owners who did not first use the “straightedge” method. I certainly did and it was huge improvement over trying to follow a line freehand.

I have found several advantages to the track saw that you might use to talk yourself into a purchase — one is that the saw clips into place and cannot bear away from the track or wobble in the slightest, producing a very nicely-controlled cut. Other reasons have been mentioned: cut quality, accuracy, ease of set-up, plunge capability. I imagine safety is also better with anti-kickback pawls, a riving knife and a fully-shrouded blade (on my Dewalt).

[andy bessette]

The Festool track saw requires no clamping or measuring. Just lay its edge on your layout marks and cut.

[Jim Becker]

The Festool track saw requires no clamping or measuring. Just lay its edge on your layout marks and cut.

That's one of the primary reason's I love mine...it's 100% as accurate as my measuring and pencil marks and the track stays put, too.

[Rich Engelhardt]

The Festool track saw requires no clamping or measuring. Just lay its edge on your layout marks and cut.Same with the Makita - - but - - I've found that clamping is the only sure way to go.
I've had both Festool and Makita tracks slip.

[Derek Arita]

You always have the option to use clamps with Festool tracks, however I've never had a rail slip or not be glue-up ready. Since I work in my 2-car garage, the advantages of track, saw and table have been immeasurable.

[andy bessette]

Never had a track slip in many years of use. Proper technique, which includes cleanliness and applying light pressure to the track ahead of the cut, should assure this. Only once have I used a clamp; that was when making a vertical cut on a bulkhead already in place on a yacht, since gravity could not aid in keeping the track in place during the cut.

[Jim Becker]

I've used clamps for my rail a few times for "unusual" circumstances, such as when using the track saw to "adjust" something on an already existing piece of furniture or something fully or partially assembled, but in general, on flat surfaces, I've not felt the need to clamp them. The Festool and Makita rails are virtually identical...I have one of the latter for "really short" cuts.

[Mark Blatter]

I have the Makita along with two 55" rails. I have used it much more than I ever anticipated, however, I am still annoyed with the Makita rails because both of them are bowed. Not lots, but perhaps 1/16" so every cut is bowed.

Recently I was making some desk tops out of 6/4 cherry that were going to be 112" long. I didn't even try to joint the boards. Instead I used a long straight edge to mark the boards on one edge, then used the track saw to joint them. Instead of the rail, I used an 8' piece of plywood off-cut from anther job. With one exception, every cut was good enough to use for glue ups.

I would like to get a new track saw since mine fell off a cutting table and bent the base, but it still works well. I won't buy another Makita since the rails were both wrong. I have read reviews that say this is not an uncommon problem and I will not reward Makita for making an inferior product. Grizzly has their track saw on sale right now, but not sure I want to go that route either. I will not go green either as the money is just too much, so I make do with the Makita, but I don't recommend the saw any more to anyone.

I do like what a track saw brings to the table though. Can be very handy and useful, more than I ever thought reasonable.

[Benjimin Young]

wow, I always thought of track saws as expensive and not justified for my hobby shop. Now I hear a voice coming from my wallet, "Danger", "danger" , Danger". LOL. This just went up a few notches on my wish list.

[Lisa Starr]

Benjimin - Me too...if mytrack saw hadn't about fallen into my lap, I'd still be figuring offsets, using a straight edge and then running everything thru the table saw 4 times to clean it up. I always felt it was an expensive luxury, now I think it is an essential tool.

[Todd Zucker]

The Festool track saw and MFT got me started in woodworking. I don’t own a table saw. Have gone back and forth on that for years, but the precision of the track saw, along with the band saw and hand planes, are enough for me at the moment.

[Rich Engelhardt]

wow, I always thought of track saws as expensive and not justified for my hobby shop. "Good" hardwood plywood is expensive stuff. It adds up quickly when you either throw away some of it on having to make adjustment and/or cleanup cuts - - or - -if your shop made circular saw guide moves a bit and you lose a good sized chunk of it to an - oops.

I won't lie about it - I'm a cheapskate and I'm not the most adept hand at doing stuff. I paid bottom price for things like my initial set of tools ($cheap Ryobi circular saw) and $cheap blade. I was struggling to cut a sheet of 3/4" plywood using a shop made guide & right in the middle of the cut, the blade bound & the saw stopped. I had it at that point. An upgraded saw was going to run from $125 to $200. I'd ruined a half sheet of $50 plywood - and got to thinking abut the whole thing.
I went out right then and there and spent $800 on a Festool TS55EQ, extra track, connectors & track clamps & haven't looked back since.

My quality of work has soared - things are much simpler - I actually enjoy doing stuff now, where before it was just a frustrating struggle that ended up with a crap outcome.
Plus - from a cost standpoint, I've saved almost as much in terms of trimmings and unruined pieces of plywood & not having to lay out for a really good circular saw as I have invested in the Festool track saw...

Huge, huge, huge plus for the Festool is - I can turn around after using it for about 7 or 8 years and reclaim a huge chunk of my initial outlay.

[Roger Feeley]

Edwin, I used a sawboard for years also. I had a 4' one and an 8' one. My standard skil saw was unbalanced on the thing so I found a porter cable saw with the motor on the other side. A guy gave me a Festool track saw (long story) so now i have two portable circular saws that I almost never use.

Other tools that are mostly obsolete:
Corded hand drill. I still use a big right angle drill for high torque but my little 20v Dewalt Max gets used a lot.
Corded angle grinder. I was traveling and needed an angle grinder and bought a Dewalt Max to use the same batteries. Never went back.
Aforementioned portable circular saws (2)
small hammer drill. I have a Bosch Rotary hammer that makes the little one look pretty wimpy

[Curt Harms]

I also used a straight edge and still do depending on what I am doing.

420483 . 420484

The captured path of the track saw allows me to concentrate on feed speed and control. The ZCI feature is also nice. I especially like the Makitas little gizmo that keeps the saw from tipping when making bevel cuts. The Festool has a riving knife though ad that is nice.

420485

I have 2 of the sawboards - 54" & 96". I use a PC 314 trim saw, it's worm drive so is quite a bit longer than it is wide. IMO that makes it easy to keep the base from drifting away from the fence. I used 1/8" masonite for the sawboard base to minimize cut depth loss. I used a scrap of aluminum/graphite honeycomb panel for the fence, it doesn't seem to move at all with the seasons. I made the base overwidth then carefully ran the saw along the fence so the edge is zero clearance. I don't use it much but it seems to work pretty well and the price was right.