Will a track saw ever replace a table saw?

[Jim Becker]

My opinion...and it's based on actually trying it briefly when I was in the "temporary gara shop" is the answer is "no, and they are complementary tools". I made an effort to work with just the tracksaw, both with rails and with my MFT and it was not a successful experiment. If one only worked with sheet goods, it might work most of the time, but there are too many things that require smaller components or very narrow rips. I ended up grabbing a cut down PCS so I could do the projects I needed to do until I had the new shop building up. I still was using the track saw and uncharacteristically for me, the miter saw also got a lot more work whereas in the new shop it's "parked" and rarely employed. In the new shop building, my cutting gets done with my short stroke slider and the tracksaw is employed when I need longer rips on sheet goods since it's easier for me to get the sheet onto my flattening/cutting table and use the track saw than it is to try and do a conventional rip on the short stroke slider. So again, track saws are very valuable as a complementary tool to the table saw IMHO.

[mike stenson]

You end up having to build a work surface that acts as a jig. Allowing for a fixed position for the track, repeatable positioning of the work, a fence, etc. If you can do that, and you're making simple boxes, yea it can. The problem with all of these hypotheticals is, the answer is always "it depends". After all, I don't even "need" either to make furniture.

[Dave Sabo]

Reading the comments, many of you fellas sound like old, closed minded curmudgeons.

Tom probably should have refined his question a bit more but................

Rod has the correct perspective : "it depends"

For many of you, it cannot replace a tablesaw. But not everone has a bazillion one off jigs for their tablesaw, or gives a hoot about finger joints (which can be done w/ a router) ((which we all know you have multiples of !)), or needs to rip solid timber into little strips.

And some need probability. A contractor saw isn't exactly mover friendly on a regular basis. And I'd love to hear your thoughts on getting your cabinet saw up to the 40th floor penthouse to fit some new side panels for a fridge or bookcase. I personally know a dozen or more cabinet installers who ditched their tablesaws last century in favor of a track saw and have never looked back.

And accuracy has more to do with the tool's user than it does the tool itself.

[Jim Dwight]

I am in the "complement, not compete" camp. I am glad to have both. It is hard to cut small pieces with a track saw. It is hard to cut big pieces of wood, solid or sheet, on a table saw. Especially in a small shop by yourself. It is much easier to use a track saw on big pieces. I processed some 8/4 cherry this morning, for instance. I wanted to rip off a piece a little over 3 inches wide from a 12 foot long piece. I cannot manuver a 12 foot piece through my table saw in my shop. 8 feet is the absolute limit on the infeed side. Managing a board this heavy is an issue too. But it was pretty easy to make the cut with my DeWalt track saw. The board was rough and a little over 2 inches thick so it took a second 1/4 inch deep cut to finish but the tracksaw worked fine 2 inches deep in the cherry with the stock blade. I processed 10 foot cherry boards for the top of my dining room table making glue ready joints with the same track saw. I couldn't do that on a table saw nor on my short jointer.

If you want repeatable cuts with a track saw it takes a jig but it isn't hard to make. Most of us know how to make the jigs we need to do things on our table saws but I think the knowledge base of useful jigs for track saws is much shallower with most of us. But there is no jig I am aware of that makes taking 1/32 off a 2x2 inch piece easy on a track saw. Just like ripping 8/4 12 foot long stock in a small shop isn't easy with a table saw.

[Darrell Bade]

They compliment each other in my opinion, I have both and use both. I do not have any fancy jigs for the track saw, I use it to break down sheet goods oversize and then final size on the tablesaw.

Without a jig you use a measuring instrument, make a pencil mark on the wood, lay the track on the mark and cut. Many say this is an accurate as a table saw. Could be, I'll not argue that point, but I do wonder if these folks also post that something on their table saw is .001 out using a digital measuring instrument and wondering if that is good enough or they should make it better.

[jack duren]

I’ve been setting saws up in shops for almost 30 years and haven’t ever needed a digital guage yet.

They purchased an Oliver jointer at the furniture company. The Forman used digital gauges to set the outfeed table. The operator came and got me as he couldn’t hardly push the lumber because it was catching on the out feed table. I had to adjust the out feed table without gauges to set the out feed correctly.

So much for digital gauges..

[Chris Parks]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on getting your cabinet saw up to the 40th floor penthouse to fit some new side panels for a fridge or bookcase. I personally know a dozen or more cabinet installers who ditched their tablesaws last century in favor of a track saw and have never looked back.

And accuracy has more to do with the tool's user than it does the tool itself.

If Festool were honest I think the original purpose of the track saw was for it to be an onsite saw for trades people and like other items in their range has morphed into the hobby sector. Festool in my experience are first a trade tool supplier and secondly a hobby supplier at least that is the situation in Australia.

[Michael Burnside]

I take the OPs question as a question for ME. So I answered no. Now if the question is for the world, that seems obvious doesn’t it? They both exist and are used extensively depending on purpose. Just watch a few UK YouTubers and you’ll see they can get by. Granted they use a lot of sheet goods and MDF over there, but the point stands. Rob is probably spot on…it depends.

TBH, if I did a lot of 40th floor penthouse work I’d buy the portable Festool tablesaw

[Edward Weber]

Well curmudgeon or not, the question was "will a track saw ever replace a table saw".
The answer is no for many reasons.
If you want to delve into why one does this or the other does that, those are entirely different questions.
The answer doesn't needs to be so adversarial

[Rod Sheridan]

“ If you have a cabinet saw, then a track saw could be more accurate for sheet goods.”

How would a track saw be more accurate than a cabinet saw?

Does one not know how to use a cabinet saw?


let’s take the internet and forums away and go to 10 cabinet shops in the area. Report back with what they are using to cut sheet goods…

If I do that in my area the answer is format saws.

Straight lining sheets, and cross cutting sheets on a cabinet saw is extremely difficult.

A track saw can straight line rip, and cross cut sheets.

Yes, I know how to use a cabinet saw, a cabinet saw certainly wouldn’t be my choice for sheet goods.

Regards, Rod

[Andrew Joiner]

Yes. Take the saw out of the track flip it over and screw it to a large flat surface preferably cast iron. Then flip that assembly over and put a fence on it and there you go!

[andrew whicker]

Is this a horror movie script where someone steals my table saw and I still have to complete a set of cabinets with only my track saw by the end of the week or I lose my house?

You're welcome for the run on sentence.

[Joel Gelman]

I once had a Delta Unisaw, and I now have both a slider with pneumatic clamps and a Festool track saw. If you ask me will the track saw replace my table saw ---- NO. However, that is because I have the space for the slider along with the needed allocation for infeed and outfeed. I now also have a separate jointer and planer and shaper and 2 bandsaws. Let's say I had to reduce my shop space. As much as I love my slider, I think maybe just maybe the table saw would go before any of my other machines. I was very impressed seeing video demonstrations of what can be done with a tracks on the larger modern benches with perforated tops and accessories.

I think it comes down to space and how the shop is used. My 0.02.

I

[Jack Frederick]

Where would TweedleDum be without TweedleDee. IMHO, to Tom, No it won’t, but they sure do work well together. In my space it is a safety issue having both. If you are shoehorned into a small space you quickly find handling big/large material is a safety issue. It’s just sensible to break it down on the Track first.

[glenn bradley]

Confess Tom. You only asked this question to see how many responses you get within a specified amount of time, right? Can I do a lot of things with a track saw that I can do on the tablesaw? Sure. People also do all sorts of things with routers, drill presses, and Dremels that could be done another way. I do a lot of operations at the tablesaw that I would not immediately picture myself doing with a track saw. Too many variables available to make quick work of your question. But fun to read through the responses.