Set up a track saw to fold out of the way and store vertically ?

[Mark Koons]

Here's the situation:

I have a 4' X 12' X 5" thick stress panel or torsion box made of 1/2" MDF and sealed with epoxy. It was built at least 15 years ago for a large vacuum veneering project. As I approach 70, it is too heavy, too cumbersome, to move alone. Originally I used it on horses and stored it on edge in the parts room. Now I it to serve as the multi-purpose work surface of a glue table with storage for a truckload of stuff underneath… a vacuum pump, bagging materials, clamps, shopvac, tracksaw and 118" guiderail, all ready as possible to use.

I have a table saw with a good fence and powerfeed. The tracksaw will only be used to straighten one edge of various lengths and thicknesses of solid lumber. I'd like to keep the tracksaw and shopvac ready to work and to store the somewhat unwieldily guiderail edgewise, under the glue table's top, against the top stretcher.

There's a lot of brains, imagination and experience here at Sawmill Creek. I'd like not to waste a lot of time reinventing the wheel on this project.

What can you recommend to secure the track so it doesn't get away from me when trying to install boards to be straightened? I'm hoping for a setup that will allow the track to pivot and/or stow out of the way when the table needs to serve some other function. The usual use will be one man straightening several dozen boards at once but the ideal setup should be quick enough to make sense when dealing with a single board.

Thanks to all who reply with your thoughts.

Mark

[Loren Woirhaye]

Festool track with that t-track on the edge?

[Jim Matthews]

Will you always cut, standing on the same spot in your shop?

I would store it overhead, if you have clearance.
overhead storage.jpg

[Jamie Buxton]

When you're straightlining with the tracksaw, there's little reason to involve your big table. Put the workpiece on a pair of sawhorses, put the guiderail on top, and secure it with those C-clamp accessories that Festool sells. They slide into grooves on the underside of the guiderail, and don't interfere with the saw running on top of the guide. However, they do hang down below the workpiece, so putting the workpiece on the sawhorses provides space for them. http://www.festoolusa.com/power-tool...4-11-16-489570

I make upsidedown shoes for my sawhorses. They're just scrap wood -- 1x4 or so -- which drops on top of the sawhorse, with cleats to stop them from sliding off the horse. The saw cuts them instead of the horse itself. Eventually they get all chewed up, and I make new ones.

[Sam Murdoch]

I have a similar set up. My work table is a 4X8 of 1-1/4" thick MDF mounted to a 2 x 8 strong back all supported by a pair of aluminum folding work platforms, with all manner of tools and stuff stored under. I really like the stability of a big flat platform for using the track saw. I add a sheet of 1/2" foam board under my work as a throw away sacrificial cut surface. Since my overhang is not 5" thick but only 2-3/4" or so I can most often get away with using the smaller 4-11/16" capacity guide rail clamps but in your case a good investment would be the Festool #489751 clamps with the 11-13/16" capacity.

As for storing the guide rail it sounds like you already have that figured out - "to store the somewhat unwieldily guiderail edgewise, under the glue table's top, against the top stretcher". Maybe you could refine this by adding a pair or 3 of these to the underside of the table -

Screen Shot 2014-02-23 at 4.13.11 PM.pngSimply slide the rails on when not needed.