Which Track saw? or is there better option? Opinions requested

[John Lifer]

I rip half inch MDF lengthwise into 13" strips using my table saw and then crosscut using RAS. This maximized the rectangles from each sheet. If I crosscut both directions, then I lose 3 pieces per sheet. And this adds up. (along with, crosscutting sheet with tablesaw is way harder than ripping. Ok, so I'm getting old and manhandling the sheets is getting harder, especially due to my low rollup door I have to go through.
All that to say I'm looking for alternatives and thinking about a track saw to do the initial ripping and then crosscutting on RAS. (that part is easy enough)
Could possibly stack two sheets and save more time and effort.
What say you guys that use track saws often for long cuts?
And which brand? I'm not into battery operated items. Corded tools will last forever while the batteries have a relatively short life and are expensive to replace.
And it won't be daily use, usually monthly on a half dozen sheets, say 20 long cuts or so.
Thanks!

[derek labian]

If your concerned about getting old and "manhandling" sheets, stacking two sheets doesn't seem to be a good idea.

If your cutting all strips the same and need repetitive cuts, it seems like a track saw with a parallel guide would help you get the bulk cut down. Finish anything that is hard to put a track saw on with your table saw.

Several fenders for parallel fences, like Infinity, Woodpeckers, Festool, etc.

[Mike Kees]

John you are going to hear all sorts of things with this question. Basically there are three main saws most end up with, Makita ,Dewalt or Festool (of which there are two choices). There are others as well. Some are cheaper than these and at least one is more money yet. Any of them will do what you are looking to accomplish as well as many more things. if you stated a dollar figure that you are looking to spend that would help narrow things down. There are also tons of threads on this forum of brand x vs. whatever. (And almost as many different opinions).

[andy bessette]

Extremely happy with my Festool track saw. Bought the saw, 54" track and Systainer with accessories, used, for $350. Added 6' and 10' tracks later.

[James Cheever]

I love my Festool TSC 55 KEB Track Saw. I no longer use my table saw to break down sheet goods. I also double stack sheet and cut them together.

[Robert Engel]

I think dust collection is probably what separates them. And that's important with MDF. So Festool is known for excellent dust collection on all their products and the track saw no exception. I've found having the splitter guard down helps.

I think a parallel rip guide is pretty much essential for what you're doing. Right now I'm using the Kreg tape measures but has its limitations. The TSO products were unavailable last time I checked. I didn't want to spend the money on the full Festool system.

A crosscut guide will enable you to eliminate moving the sheet to the RAS. I use the Festool product, but there are others available.

The other thing to think about is dust extraction. Again, Festool (and others) have an excellent unit. If you can stand the noise, a shop vac can be used, but it needs to be HEPA especially with MDF.

You can easily have north of $2000 wrapped up in a system. That gives most of us some pause. For me, if it saves a herniated disk, its a cheap price to pay.

Handling sheet goods with a bad back, a system that employees a roller and a swing up arm mounted to my assembly bench.

[Jon Grider]

I went with the Makita and saved more $$ by buying Powertec tracks on Amazon. Dust collection is great using an adapter to shop vac. Smooth cuts, good power, good value for me. I'm not against Festool, I have several of their products, but the cost savings in this case was what steered my choice.

[Michael Schuch]

I don't see the purpose of buying an incredibly high priced track saw to use with a guide fence. I don't see how that would buy you anything over a circular saw with a guide fence at 1/10 the price?

I wouldn't even buy guide fence for a circular saw, I would make one out of a 14" x 10" piece of 1/4" ply with a stick on the side parallel to the blade to act as a fence then bolt it to the bottom plate of my skill saw.

If dust collection is important to you (which it would be to me) I would make the guide above with a hollow box with about a 1/2" void between the top and bottom pieces. Then the blade would pierce through the top and bottom pieces of the empty box and the vacuum hose would be plumbed to the void in the middle.

I would further refine this design by making the guide fence wrap all the way around the mdf (assuming the strips you are cutting are only a few inches wide) like a "]" and cover the bottom of the blade under the mdf sheet being cut to collect even more dust.

Without knowing the dimensions of the strips you are cutting it is kind of hard to say if this would be practical or not?

If you just want to buy a tracksaw to cut multiple sheets at once I would recommend looking at the Mafell MKS 185 Ec. The Festool TS75 would also be worth a look. They both have more power and bigger blades than a "standard" tracksaw.

If you are only going to cut one sheet at a time I LOVE my Mafell MT 55 cc track saw with Bosch tracks! When I bought a track saw a few years back I researched, read and watched everything I could. My conclusion was the Mafell saw was the best available as far as features, power, dust collection and tracks that connect quickly without leaving a bump and the joint. For me a track saw is a once in a life time purchase so I bought what I believed to be the best available. I couldn't be happier with my choice.

If you want to go all out crazy I would recommend a Mafell PSS 3100 SE:
https://produkte.mafell.de/en/sawing...em-pss-3100-se

pss3100_zoomEyg3IoEZFqjBK.jpg
Line it up then press a button and it feeds through the cut itself.

[Jim Becker]

The lateral stability that a true track saw provides is the big-kicker and I agree with Michael that if one is going to invest in a track saw, they also need to invest in the actual matching track. A piece of plywood or other material is not going to perform as well because the human hand is failable.

[John Lifer]

Good points, No, the width of the strips is 13 inches, so not narrow. And I've looked at just a circular saw, but I want first, yes, some dust control and NO plain circular saw gives you that, quite the opposite.
And I do want straight and repeatable with somewhat ease of use. So no cobble together. As far as stack, I can pull out of pickup bed and slide onto a cutting table much easier than lifting and carrying a full sheet 10 to 15 feet to my tablesaw while trying to avoid hurting myself or losing the sheet on the floor. Door entrance height is only 7 feet. And I CAN set up outside to rip these. That is one option I've thought about. Dust collection then isn't quite the issue. Yeah, makes zero sense in a Festool, even though I drool looking at their offerings. Makita does look interesting, I'd go put my hands on a grizzly, they offer two, but neither have been in stock when I've been on their website.

[Michael Schuch]

Makita has a good reputation! Grizzly didn't have a track saw out when I was researching and looking.

[Jim Dwight]

I own a DeWalt track saw with all three of their tracks. I also use an Evolution track saw when volunteering at my church, we use Wen tracks with it. I like the DeWalt and see no need to "upgrade". It is a little more powerful than the Festool and I think the dust collection is good from it as long as the blade is buried in the work as it sounds like yours would be. To my knowledge there is no parallel guide for it but I made one but I don't use it. I also made what I call track positioning guides which I find handier.

The Evolution track saw cuts surprisingly well with Diablo 60 tooth 7.25 inch blades. I think it's about as good as my DeWalt, it may be as good. The ability to use 7.25 inch blades (or track saw blades) and a 15 amp motor are key advantages of the Evolution (my DeWalt is 14 amp, I think). I have not hooked it up to dust collection, we do not have the hose at the church, but it throws a lot of dust out the dust port. I think it would be better than a circular saw but I doubt it will be as good as my DeWalt track saw. The blade guard of the Evolution is exactly the same as a circular saw. It is not a plunge saw. I like my plunging DeWalt better but the Evolution is surprisingly good for it's ~$150 price. They include a few little pieces of track but they aren't terribly useful.

I don't love the Wen track but it works. Each piece is only 50 inches long so joined they are only barely longer than the sheet goods. If it was my money, I would have bought the PowerTec 55 inch tracks. I also had to move the sacrificial strip and one of the glide strips but that isn't hard on a new track. I don't think I would have had to move the sacrificial strip if I used a track saw blade, the 7.25 mounts a bit further from the motor. But those blades are a lot cheaper and seem to work well.

Long tracks are nice to have, very convenient, except you need to plan how you will store it. Mine is on the garage door. But two joined tracks works fine as long as you use a straight edge to join them. You could save money buying 3 55 inch tracks and just leaving two joined all the time - but I would still check the joint.

I read good things about the Makita saw too. I'm sure the Festool is nice but it has the smallest motor, the shallowest depth of cut and costs a lot more, especially if you also get the Festool track. They make nice stuff but I just don't believe it's that much better. (my only Festool is a Domino XL which I really like)

If you want to stay below about $300, I would get the Evolution and 2 or 3 PowerTec tracks and some clamps (DeWalt clamps may be the best). I think it will make good cuts for you but will probably not collect as much dust as the others. If you have about twice as much money to spend I would look at the Makita and DeWalt. Kreg also offers on in this price range. You can also use PowerTec tracks with all these saws to save money but they don't offer a long one.

[Michael Schuch]

(DeWalt clamps may be the best)

Whether they are the best or not how do you like your Dewalt track clamps? I haven't picked up clamps for my Mafell and the Mafell clamps are ridiculous. I am looking for a set of good clamps at a reasonable price.

[Andrew Seemann]

I broke down and got the Makita last year for a specific project, but I had been on the fence about getting one for years. I used the circular saw with guide bar method for a couple decades, but I was never overly happy with the results.

It was a toss up between the Makita and DeWalt; I wasn't going to pay Festool prices, plus they were out of stock. The guy at Acme said they sold far more of the Makita, and my previous experience with Makita has been that they tend to have better balance and vibration control on their tools in general, so I went with them. I am quite happy with it. FYI, from what I gathered while researching them, the Makita tracks fit the Festool, and apparently a lot of folks that buy the Festool saw get Makita tracks for it, something about the track joiners working better.

[Larry Frank]

I have had my Festool for years and love it. Worth every penny to me !