Good and reasonably priced track saw
bradleyheathhays
| Posted in General Discussion on
I’m tooling up to do my first resin table and I’d rather not spend the $600 for the Festool track saw I’m seeing in all the videos. Is there a comparable model that performs as well? I definitely won’t be a high volume producer. Don’t need it to do any specialized functions. Just need it to have settings for cut depths and use a vacuum system.
EDIT: After seeing how much the alternative track saw systems are I’m probably gonna have to cheap out here considering all the money I’ve spent on new tools already.
Can anyone recommend a good deep cutting regular circular saw that would work well with an improvised straight edge guide system (maple board and clamps)?
Replies
If all you need to do is rip a live edge slab any circ saw with a good blade should be fine, you just might need to clean up the edges later. If you have a tablesaw that will handle the cut you could fasten a plywood guide to the slab to run against your fence and cut it that way.
This article has a shop-made zero-clearance guide on the last page:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/1992/08/01/cutting-sheet-goods-down-to-size
Kreg's Adaptive cutting system was a great investment for me (and yes, the complete system is more costly than you wanted to spend, but it's been so great for so many purposes already I would tell you it's well worth the spend.) It greatly simplified sheet cutting, squaring stock, matched cuts for multiple parts, etc. I've always struggled cutting sheet stock precisely with my circular saw, various edge guides and the plywood laid on saw horses. Now I cut with confidence, and get perfect results every time.
I don’t have a track setup, but rather a homemade guide I made from hardboard and hardwood. I bought a DeWalt saw with the electric brake and it works great for my purposes, which is generally ripping sheets of plywood. For ripping boards I’ll often use the bandsaw then joint that edge, but the table saw works on thinner boards really well.
In most bake-offs the Makita comes in 2nd in performance but lowest in price. I have been very happy with it.
I've done this with a homemade plywood saw guide. Usually I'll cut it a 1/16" longer then make a pass with a flush trim bit in the router to clean the edge better than what the saw leaves.
It's been awhile since I made a cut like that. A lot of people put a strip of painters tape on the cut line to reduce splintering which I've never done but seems like an excellent idea.
Mike
Maybe you should pay attention to Dewalt DWS520CK. Several months ago, my old saw broke down, so I really needed a good substitute to my old one. Dewalt DWS520CK track saw seemed to me the most versatile saw, so I chose it. Of course, I read the reviews about it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the number of positive ones.
So, I use this track saw for about a couple of months, and can truly say that it worth every penny I spend on it. Incredibly accurate. I like it has a slow start, so it keeps the saw from moving when you have it aligned. I’ve already made a couple of projects with it can say that I received the exact size of the pieces I needed to cut. The edges are perfect, the motor works quite smooth. I feel this is a good investment.
After researching a few years ago, I went with the dewalt Trak saw instead of Festool. I like it, it has performed well. I didn’t have any other Festool machines and the total price seemed so high. The advantage to Festool in my opinion is that you can build towards an “entire system”, eg the MFT portable table, the parallel guides, etc. Kreg’s system with the table looks very interesting but still pretty new - I don’t know much about it. I chose the dewalt because of the availability of their 102” track and the overall affordability of the accessories including track, clamps and a router guide that fits to the track. If all your going to do is occasionally rip live edges I would advise to just get a circ saw. If you are ever going to build cabinetry, and/or want easy, very clean, precise sheet goods breakdown you will appreciate the trak saw.
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