Difference between Track saws and Circular Saws??

[Edward Weber]

The OP was asking about the difference between a regular circular saw and a track saw, so built-in accuracy is one aspect of the latter than many of use really enjoy.

Built in accuracy?
I'm not sure what you mean by that. Just because you have a track saw doesn't mean your cuts are always accurate. Your cuts may be straight but accurate is another thing entirely.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just pointing out that there's more to making a proper cut than the tool you choose to use. A track saw makes a straight cut, regardless of much else, making it easier for most users by eliminating that basic skill. This frees the user up to focus on other aspects of the cutting. You still need to know how and where to make the cuts for your project to come out as planned, no matter what tool your using.
If I use a straight edge with my circular saw, I have an accurate, straight, splinter free cut. The same can be said for my table saw, it's just method of work.

[andy bessette]

Built in accuracy?...You still need to know how and where to make the cuts for your project to come out as planned...

Oh boy! Here we go.

[Tom M King]

I'm sure a commercial track saw is nice, but I've never needed one bad enough to pay for one, and I don't skimp when buying tools, if they will pay for themselves. I used one of these today, to halve a couple of sheets of MDF, so I could easily get them to the table saw by myself.

This was a 20 foot long, angled finish cut, started in the middle of the run with a plunge cut, using two mirror image saws that work in opposite directions on the same guide.

[Mark W Pugh]

Out side of general carpentry the only use I use a circular saw is to brake down sheet goods. to a manageable size. And price verses amount of time spent using it determines the cost value ratio. I broke down the two sheets of plywood in about 15 minutes, actual cutting time less than 1 minutes for both pieces. only two 8 foot rips. And my question is how many sheets of plywood do you actually brake down in a year for your hobby?

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The rest is sized on a table saw. I have an add on when I need help loading wood into the saw for safety sake. This just happen to be a straight line rip pictured.

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I am sorry but I Attachment 460503 just can't find any reason to spend the money on Festool products. If you say dust collection , I have a broom.
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The extension on your table saw for laying sheet goods, did you make that, or buy that? I need one of those.

[Jim Becker]

Built in accuracy?
I'm not sure what you mean by that. Just because you have a track saw doesn't mean your cuts are always accurate. Your cuts may be straight but accurate is another thing entirely.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just pointing out that there's more to making a proper cut than the tool you choose to use. A track saw makes a straight cut, regardless of much else, making it easier for most users by eliminating that basic skill. This frees the user up to focus on other aspects of the cutting. You still need to know how and where to make the cuts for your project to come out as planned, no matter what tool your using.
If I use a straight edge with my circular saw, I have an accurate, straight, splinter free cut. The same can be said for my table saw, it's just method of work.

Let me rephrase...accurate when used properly as designed. The human element is always a factor with any tool. The track, however, helps quell some of the variables, including inadvertent lateral movement of the tool and the edge of the track helps tame tearout risk over and above using a quality blade. Etc. There's nothing wrong or bad about doing things they way you indicate you operate. The same is true for folks who enjoy using a track saw to best advantage. There's no competition here...

[Phillip Mitchell]

You guys that are hollering about the excess that is a track saw and have never used one are missing the boat. I have worked as a professional carpenter, timber framer, woodworker, furniture maker, etc for many years and have free handed or used homemade sleds with circular saws for so many types of finish cuts in so many odd situations, as I’m sure many others here have as well. I’m no stranger to this approach, but it is old-school and short sighted to discount a good track saw.

There is a degree of precision that you get from a good track saw and track without even having to think about it that is unmatched to any freehand circular saw. Then you factor in the efficiency of time savings when setting up the cut, and the extremely effective zero clearance/splinter free cuts (also on the bevel) and there really is no comparison.

Of course it’s fine to say you don’t want to spend the money on a track saw setup, especially if you don’t really have a recurring/professional/high need for it, but you don’t know what you’re missing if you haven’t had the chance to put a good one through the paces with some odd cuts or even straight lining plywood in order to establish a reference to squaring up a sheet and later cutting smaller on a (non sliding) table saw.

I own and use a Makita and have used both Festools.

[Tom Bussey]

Yes, Jim you are correct about the SMC.

And you are correct about good proportion of people who make their living or part of their living via woodworking and related activities., but the person who is asking what is the difference between a track saw and a circular saw it is probably not in that category. If he was, he wouldn't be asking that question on a wood working forum.

Again you are correct about the point about the "money cut" is valid for anyone, not just folks who are "pros". But go back and read Andy Bessette's post. I will skip the cheap plywood comment but every thing he wrote otherwise I do on a table saw routinely. So when it gets around to money cuts, a high dollar track saw it the only way to achieve it? And the comment, the Festool is well worth its seemingly extravagant price. That is purely opinion and He is more than welcome to that opinion. And I truly am happy that he is able to afford one and that he has one and I believe he sets great store in it.

And some of the other comments from others about how thy use there track saws are they any more valid than my saying that a track saw is not the only way to make all the cuts described.

I totally agree with Rick Englrlhart's first post except for the part ( much better than the edges left by a table saw - unless a very tight fitting ZCI is used.) because the quality of the blade need to come into focus on that one, and the material being cut.

I apologize because I did the same thing a lot of us do here on this post. The person asked the simple question what is the difference between a track saw and a circular saw. I read into it that he was a beginner. Mainly because if he was even somewhat experienced he wouldn't be asking the question. Again I apologize it I read into it that track saws are the only way to go and are necessity if you wish to advance with the hobby. And the underlaying theme that the more expensive it is the better it is.

AND all of that, including what I wrote is only true from a particular point of view. Please forgive me for getting on my soap box.

[mark mcfarlane]

FWIW, I like to see both the blade and the cut line on some cuts. The blade is visibly obscured inside the housing of my Festool track saw, so my 35 year old PC still gets occasional use.

For accurately breaking down sheet goods or putting a straight edge on a board the track saw is nice, but I pretty much use my 8.5' Minimax slider for those cuts nowadays. Once you get a full sheet onto the slider it's very easy to move around. My Festool traksaw is hidden away in a drawer and comes out maybe once a year.

[lowell holmes]

I have a straight 1x4 that I clamp to the piece and cut it with my four inch Porter Cable circular saw.
It works for me.

[Jim Dwight]

The one kitchen I made all the cabinets for was before I had even heard of a tracksaw. I used my circular saw for break down cuts and my table saw to make all the finish cuts. My late wife like the results so it was at least good enough. We also made money on that house when we moved so the next owners must have thought they were at least OK.

But I would not do that again. I will second the input that people that make a lot of sawdust and think they don't need a track saw have most likely never used one. With a big shop and good table saw setups and material handling setups, maybe. But for a little home shop like I have, man handling sheets through my table saw would be a nightmare compared to using my track saw to make finish cuts on all the larger pieces. I still use my table saw to cut all the smaller pieces. Even if you have a very nice slider and room in your shop it seems like you would want a track saw if you ever have to work away from the shop.

My track saw is a DeWalt and it works well enough that I have no desire to "upgrade". But if I was buying one it would probably be the Makita. I think Festools are typically a bit of a waste of money when there are other good brands at roughly half the cost. My only Festool power tool is a Domino XL (which I love but use CMT and Amana bits in and I make my own tenons). But I am sure the Festool track saw is better in some ways than my DeWalt, just not enough better for me to want to pay the price. I also use my DeWalt track with my PC 690 router to make dados in large pieces. Works great.

I volunteer one day a week at my church doing maintenance tasks. I mainly make sawdust - relatively crude cabinets making small pews out of large pews etc.. I convinced them to get a track saw and it is a low end evolution saw we use with Wen tracks. It is not a plunge cut saw and uses 7.25 inch normal circular saw blades - or track saw blades but we haven't done that. It is just wearing a 40 tooth blade I donated at the moment and the cut quality is about like it was on my Milwaukee circular saw. I think it will do better with a 60 tooth blade but I will be surprised if it gets up to the quality of my DeWalt. I would have bought a Wen plunge cut if it had been available at the time. I am not sure if the low end track saws make table saw quality cuts. The reviews I've seen say the Wen needs a new blade to do it. But that is not a big deal.

I consider my track saw to cut equally as well as my PCS table saw. Both cut quite well as long as I am using a clean sharp blade. When I built my 10 foot long dining room table, I prepared all the glue joints using only my track saw. The glue lines would not be visible except for the grain change in the boards. I don't think I could have done this any other way. Some of you have bigger jointers and better technique with them and could have gone that way. Maybe some could do it with a circular saw and guide and really good blade. Maybe some would use a table saw. But I think the track saw is the easiest and worked great for me.

To me the difference is circular saws are break down tools not suitable for finish cuts in "nice" furniture. Track saws are fully capable of finish cuts but quite challenging to use on smaller pieces of wood.

[Edwin Santos]

Dust control is one big factor that has made me an enthusiastic track saw owner, after having been reluctant to join the club for years.

I have just become less tolerant of working in a dusty environment as the years have passed.
The track saw shroud (mine is a Makita) does a fine job of capturing dust. Last week I was cutting up 1" MDF and 98% of the dust was captured. If I had been using my old skilsaw/shop made guide combo, I would have been working in a MDF dust cloud with a big mess to clean up afterwards.

One time I did a built-in garage organizer job that involved 8 sheets of melamine. By the end of the day, the vacuum was completely full. I realized had I used a circular saw in the traditional way, the PB dust would have been all over me, the floor, and the whole garage.


On another note, I do not believe the term "money" cut refers to pro vs. non-pro or anything financial.
As a former photographer, the term "money shot" was very common, and it referred to the shot that counted. So IMO, a money cut is the critical cut that counts, probably the one you have only one shot at getting it right. Too much information?

[Tom Bussey]

I made it and since then I remade it out of wood. I used individual ball bearings staggered verses rollers. You can get cheap ones at harbor freight or Menards. I have bearings on the bottom of the legs also so I can slide it side to side. I will take a picture of the hinges. I got the locking hinges from Rockler a long time ago and couldn't hind them on line again but didn't want to spend a lot of time looking I have since the pictures moved my work bench into the area and I have sold the General saw pictures and replaced it with a saw stop so I am in the process of shortening it again. So the hinges are on the bench.

[Brian Holcombe]

Difference is that one has a track, the other doesn’t.

[Jim Becker]

And you are correct about good proportion of people who make their living or part of their living via woodworking and related activities., but the person who is asking what is the difference between a track saw and a circular saw it is probably not in that category. If he was, he wouldn't be asking that question on a wood working forum.

All of us have tried to answer that question to the best of our ability from both knowledge and experience. Where that comes from isn't necessarily important...it's the information that counts. There really are some clear operational benefits to a track saw. Whether or not they are compelling enough to balance the additional cost over a more traditional circular saw approach is up to the individual woodworker. Your point of view is just as important as all the others for sure. The OP and others will benefit from it all.

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ANd as always, Mr. Holcombe has distilled the answer down to the sharpest tool advice there is...

[Rich Engelhardt]

Difference is that one has a track, the other doesn’t.

Not only that - but - one seems to draw all sorts of condemnation & the other one doesn't
I don't know what exactly it is that rubs people so far the wrong way about track saws?
I have to wonder if it's the track saws or is it because for so long Track saw meant Festool?