Kitchen Cabinets

[John M Wilson]

If it works, then I will make the cabinets using only the track saw without upgrading to the Sawstop.

I suggest looking up Peter Millard (10MinuteWorkshop) on Youtube. He is a retired professional woodworker in London, and has built (and documented on video) a ton of cabinetry primarily using a track saw. He has many tips & techniques for getting professional grade accuracy from a very tiny shop. I'm sure you can find a video that will give you an idea of how to accomplish your plans.

[Jim Dwight]

John beat me to it. Peter Millard is not the only youtuber who does a lot with a track saw (even picture frames) but he is a good one. There are techniques to using a track saw that support improved speed and accuracy. Cutting to a mark is not my favorite but it works better when you make the mark with a 0.5mm pencil and take care to put it where you really want it. Very different from rougher work. Better is to use a jig to position the track. That also supports repeat cuts. Peter uses that sort of jig. I made mine that works a bit different but is exactly the same idea.

Unless you want to make a Paulk style workbench (another youtuber who uses a track saw a lot, he is a professional trim carpenter) or a MFT equivalent you will need an accurate and fairly large square of some sort for cross cuts. I use a plywood square I got somewhere with a fence attached. I think it is 18 inches.

If you are working in your shop you could use a corded saw. I'd like to have that Milwaukee too, it is getting great reviews. I use a corded DeWalt at home and a "Evolution" saw volunteering at church. The Evolution is an inexpensive saw that works fine and can use 7.25 inch blades like a circular saw. It's blade guard is also like a circular saw. My point is just to let you know that there are alternatives, I think you picked a good way to go, especially since you already have batteries.

There are also less expensive alternatives to Milwaukee tracks. Powertec is one brand. Nothing against Milwaukee but you might want to see how much an "off brand" would save you. You can use other name brand tracks but they probably cost at least as much as the Milwaukee.

I've made cabinets using nothing but my DeWalt track saw and it went fine. Years ago, before track saws were available, I made an entire kitchen using a table saw no more capable than yours and a circular saw with a guide to break down the sheets. So the people telling you that can work are right. But I'd much rather do it with a track saw. But I'd make some sort of jig to help with positioning the track and make sure you have a good way to mark right angles.

[Terry Therneau]

One very handy accessory to a track saw is a saw table -- I made one years ago and use it often. 6' x 2.5' rectangle of 2x4 with 3 extra crosspieces; when put together be careful to put all screws in the bottom half. Add a pair of what I call "church table legs", the kind on the tables that are quickly set up and taken down again ; I think they cost me $15 at the big box store. The legs fold and it hangs on a wall. Set the saw about 1/8 to 1/4 deeper cut than your material; those extra kerfs in the 2x4 don't mean a thing. A plywood scrap and a clamp makes it a good stand for a miter saw or small table saw --- mine travels along to the jobsite when working on one of the kid's houses.

The knees are getting too creaky for the styrofoam on the floor method.

Terry

[Thomas McCurnin]

I built two kitchens with a Craftsman table saw and a simple Skill type saw and a metal straight edge. I used a Porter Cable sidewinder trim saw which was very light weight to handle but one had to go slow. Assuming these are face frame cabinets, a gap of a 32nd is no big deal. Even a 16th wouldn't show.

[Rich Engelhardt]

The knees are getting too creaky for the styrofoam on the floor method.

+1.
The table I use at home in the shop is one from Gary Williams, referenced in this thread:
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ables-(please)!
I can't take crawling around on my knees anymore.
Cutting things a waist level is so much more civilized.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Just to throw out another idea. My vertical panel saw is becoming more and more important as the years go by. I received doctors orders to stop wrangling things like sheet goods several years ago. Of course I ignore the recommendation. With the vertical panel saw I am able to continue wrangling sheet goods. My little saw is good enough for final cuts. I had to create a full length bottom rail for it. Dad has an original Safety Speed Cut that was used to make cabinets for over 50 years. He still uses it at 85!

Milwaukee Panel Saw — 8 1/4in. Blade Size, Model# 6480-20 | Northern Tool

[John TenEyck]

Even if a track saw can be made to be accurate enough, why? Your table saw can do anything a track saw can do, faster, easier, and with accuracy at least as good and usually better. Use a circular saw to break down sheets and then cut them to final, accurate, dimensions on your table saw. I cut dozens of cabinets on a 1980's Sears table saw, with the crappy stock fence. I eventually put a better fence on it; it's easier to use but accuracy is on the operator in both cases. As someone else said, if there are issues besides the fence, fix them. I still use that Sears saw with a big crosscut sled for cutting cabinet parts square. It's very, very accurate and parts come out square without burn marks.

Cutting sheet goods on the floor is for young people. I do it on sawhorses with a 2 x 4 grid to support the sheet and parts cut from it. It breaks down for storage in less than 5 minutes.

My experience with my Milwaukee battery powered circular saw (not a brushless) is that it lasts about 2 rip cuts on a sheet of 3/4" plywood and the 6 ah battery is drained. You'd need 12 ah batteries for sure, and more than one, to do any real work with it. Breaking down multiple sheets of 3/4" plywood is a job for a corded saw.

My 2 cents.

John

[Jim Becker]

E.

Cutting sheet goods on the floor is for young people. I do it on sawhorses with a 2 x 4 grid to support the sheet and parts cut from it. It breaks down for storage in less than 5 minutes.

The trade-off is whether kneeling on the floor (with appropriate padding) is more tedious for the individual vs lifting the sheets up onto a support structure.

[Bruce Wrenn]

One very handy accessory to a track saw is a saw table -- I made one years ago and use it often. 6' x 2.5' rectangle of 2x4 with 3 extra crosspieces; when put together be careful to put all screws in the bottom half. Add a pair of what I call "church table legs", the kind on the tables that are quickly set up and taken down again ; I think they cost me $15 at the big box store. The legs fold and it hangs on a wall. Set the saw about 1/8 to 1/4 deeper cut than your material; those extra kerfs in the 2x4 don't mean a thing. A plywood scrap and a clamp makes it a good stand for a miter saw or small table saw --- mine travels along to the jobsite when working on one of the kid's houses.

The knees are getting too creaky for the styrofoam on the floor method.

Terry

A winner, we have a winner! First saw this idea in FWW, Aug 2000, and have been using it since. My table is just under seven feet long, and three feet wide. The reason for the seven feet length, is it will lay flat in bed of trailer. Three foot width, means I can rip a sheet in half lengthwise, and not have it fall off bench. I use it with a shop made guide, and a DeWalt 364 saw. I chose the 364 because you can adjust it so blade is parallel to the edge of the base. Break sheet down into managable sizes, and then cut exact size using table saw. Cross cut to length, using a NYW style panel cutter on TS. Over working lifetime (since Aug 2000) built HUNDREDS of cabinets for several local YMCA's using this method. Instead of lifting sheets onto table, add a couple of swinging cleats to side rail of table. Swing cleats out, lay table on it's side on floor. Load sheet goods on cleats, and lift table and sheet goods up at one time. Last week, replaced top pieces for the FIFTH time, hopefully my last!

[mreza Salav]

I built the cabinets in our house (and it was a lot of cabinets) and used tracksaw to cut down about 80 sheets of plywood. Everything was accurate to 1/64" and didn't need to use table sawnon anything.
You can buy or build (as I did) parallel guides and you get repeated and accurate cuts.
I have a 118" and a 55" track.

[Dan Rude]

Take a look at Nick Engler's Workshop Companion Video on YouTube "Cutting & Handling Plywood in a One-Person Shop". He covers handling Plywood sheets and making a cutting guide.

[Alex Zeller]

For those of you who aren't easily able to manhandle sheet good (3/4" plywood can be tough) look into how glass shops deal with large plate glass. If needed they will be carried but usually they use a simple glass dolly. While they are expensive to buy they are also easy to build. The table tilts so there's almost no lifting. It wouldn't work well with a table saw but it would complement a track saw very nicely.
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[Jim Becker]

Alex, that tilt table thing in the second image reminds me of similar functionality (but done differently) that comes with the Festool STM 1800. I've been seriously thinking about whether to do something like that or to just build a cutting table surface and still lift manually.

[Jim Dwight]

I just is not true that breaking down sheet goods with a circular saw and cutting to finish size on the table saw is "faster and easier" than cutting to finish size with a track saw. It may be fast and easy enough for you. I have no problem with that. But I can cut sheet goods to final size on the trailer I brought them home in and not have to pick up a full sheet. I handle pieces once, not twice. Currently I have and use my pickup to bring the wood home. But I can slide the sheets from the bed of the truck onto my worktable/out feed table/ track saw cutting station. I slide a partial sheet of foam board insulation under the sheet. Then I cut it in one step to final dimension. Again I pick up pieces, not a sheet. If you use a circular saw or a track saw to cut to near final dimensions then you have an additional step to feed what is potentially still a pretty good sized piece through your table saw. You can bunch up cuts through the table saw but that involves more handling of partial sheets. You can use a jig to make repeat cuts that are exactly the same with the track saw and not have to make them one right after the other.

In reality, once you learn to use it, the track saw is much faster and significantly easier than a circular saw + table saw. I would not want to get rid of my PCS and I use it where I think it makes sense including on cabinets. But I am also very happy I have a good track saw so I can use that where it is the best tool in my opinion. I think these two tools complement each other very well. I do not see them as competitors.

[John TenEyck]

Whatever works best for you, Jim, is best for you. I prefer to rough cut with a circular saw, carry the long pieces to my TS, and then gang rip them to final width. All I need with the circular saw is a straight cut, no worries about measuring or using a spacer to get finished cuts. For me, it's faster to cut a whole run's worth of cabinet sides with one set up of the TS. Then I cut them to length using my large sled and a stop. Again, one set up.

How you handle the sheets off the truck is a separate process, and yours is very well thought out. No truck in my garage so I have to use other means.

John