looking fo a track saw recommentation...

[steve_g]

I know this isn’t strictly ShopBot related, but I want to ask woodworkers who have many things in common with me for a track saw recommendation…

I’m getting to the age where I don’t enjoy wrestling a large slab across my table saw and am wondering if taking the saw to the slab isn’t the wiser solution!

Many of my slabs are 8/4 thick, this eliminates many brands as they are designed for cutting sheet stock up to ¾” thick. Some brands that will cut 2+” thick are reported in reviews to not have enough power to cut ¾” hardwoods!

I don’t think I want a cordless model… How a manufacture can “brag” that their cordless (battery) version “can cut 18 meters of ½” particle board on one charge”, and sell it is beyond me!

I guess what I’m looking for is a tool and not a toy!

Has anyone out there found a tool that would do what I’m looking for?
Thanks!

SG

[Stephen50]

Inquire if anyone in your area builds timber frame homes you can construct your own guide for the saw.

[Ken Sully]

Steve,
My favorite tool in my shop is the Festool track saw. It's a little pricey but is well made. They make 2 sizes of saws, the bigger has a cut depth of 2.75. You lay the track on the work. The tracks come in various lengths and can be joined to make as long as you like.
Don't forget $$$$$. Have had mine for many trouble free years.

[ddrumguy]

i also have the festool TS55REQ . fantastic saw - Highly recommend it

[tri4sale]

I have the Festool TS75, bought it cause I don't have room for a tablesaw, and like you said, it's easier to bring the saw to the slab. I was cutting down 10 reclaimed solid mahogany doors, and they were heavy! Laid them on the shop bot and used the track saw to cut them down (after using the ShopBot to cut out all the panels) It's an awesome saw, and pair it with their dust extractor and it barely leaves any dust. And when I was shopping, it wasn't that much more expensive than some other brands.

[Joe Porter]

Just to add to what others have said, the Festool track saw, mine is the smaller version, is one of the few tools I have bought that has performed as expected from day one. I also have the dust extractor with the extension arm and it works well also. Festool products are a little pricey, but I feel I got what I paid for and use them regularly...joe

[phil_o]

I made my own "shoe" to fit my skillsaw and run on an aluminum guide. It works great. I'm sure the Festool is better but this was easy to make and didn't cost much at all.

[waynelocke]

I have the smaller Festool which I purchased for a specific installation. It works great though I don’t use it a lot. I have done a 7’ long miter in plywood with it. Really a fine saw.

[srwtlc]

Only seen some ads, but the Kreg unit doesn't look bad either.

[Red F]

I bought a Makita track saw to save a little money over the festool. The quality wasn't good enough for me, so I sent it back and bought the smaller Festool corded saw (TS55?). I couldn't be happier.

The track on the Makita was not flat, and when the saw went to 45 degrees it didn't follow the same pencil line as when it was 90.

[steve_g]

Well… I’ve made a decision!

Thank you everyone for your input!

I tried to convince myself that https://www.truetracsaw.com/ would work with my existing circle saw… until I measured the runout of saws arbor… the past few decades haven’t been kind to it! Plus, the shoe no longer resembled flat after a few trips off roofs. A new saw would be required…

Other desirable things I would loose using a framing circle saw:
1. dust collection
2. No guarantee that a new framing circle saw will have better runout than my worn out one…
3. Lack of a fully enclosed blade.
4. A circle saw doesn’t have a riving knife
5. A nice case for all the components
6. Loss of easy, reliable depth control.

Another consideration is that my preteen and early teen grandsons are very interested in what I do… the safer I can make my shop, the better!

In the end I decided that the High cost of the Festool TS-75 was actually reasonable for the well thought out design and engineering.

SG

[Ken Sully]

Steve,
Let us know how you like it!!

[ddrumguy]

TS75 is a beast of a saw! im sure you will be happy with it and if you got a festool dust extractor also i yhink you will be extremely pleased. One other saw i forgot about sinve i dont own it but gets lots of attention is the Mafell saw (Mafell is said to be the step up from Festool and costs even more money and yep its german). So if you havent bought yet, heres another to look at: https://www.timberwolftools.com/mafell-mt55cc-plunge-track-saw

[steve_g]

My new Festool TS-75 Track Saw came yesterday… I finally got to try it out today!

I trimmed some live edge Pecan slabs. My commission is for a 36” X 78” “farmhouse” table with live edges, I needed to trim the edges of the interior boards and be left with a glue line edge. The slabs averaged 15” wide by 9’ long… The trimming resulted in a tabletop undulating between 36” and 38” wide.

The TS-75 was certainly up to the task… I had one major blunder, but it ended up fine. As I was cutting my second board, unbeknown to me, the power cord got tangled up and pulled the saw out of the track. This resulted in a horrific kickback and destroying the last 2’ of the track.

I’m now a wiser operator with a better appreciation of the saw’s power!

SG

Whats with the forurm... I can only load photos sideways! If I rotate them, it still loads them wrong!

[coryatjohn]

>> Whats with the forurm... I can only load photos sideways! If I rotate them, it still loads them wrong!

I think the issue has to do with the aspect ratio of your photos. The wider side will be the horizontal.

[Jerry Carney]

My new Festool TS-75 Track Saw came yesterday… I finally got to try it out today!

I trimmed some live edge Pecan slabs. My commission is for a 36” X 78” “farmhouse” table with live edges, I needed to trim the edges of the interior boards and be left with a glue line edge. The slabs averaged 15” wide by 9’ long… The trimming resulted in a tabletop undulating between 36” and 38” wide.

The TS-75 was certainly up to the task… I had one major blunder, but it ended up fine. As I was cutting my second board, unbeknown to me, the power cord got tangled up and pulled the saw out of the track. This resulted in a horrific kickback and destroying the last 2’ of the track.

I’m now a wiser operator with a better appreciation of the saw’s power!

SG

Whats with the forurm... I can only load photos sideways! If I rotate them, it still loads them wrong!




Did it cut good enough to glue up without joining edges ??

[tri4sale]

The TS-75 was certainly up to the task… I had one major blunder, but it ended up fine. As I was cutting my second board, unbeknown to me, the power cord got tangled up and pulled the saw out of the track. This resulted in a horrific kickback and destroying the last 2’ of the track.


Yeah, it's got some serious power. I had a kickback when I was learning to use it, luckily didn't damage the track so badly that it interferes with use.


Did it cut good enough to glue up without joining edges ??

I've made 3 tables using just the TS-75 to cut the boards and glued up without using my jointer. That's one of the selling points of the Festool Tracksaw is to be able to do that.

[steve_g]

Did it cut good enough to glue up without joining edges ??

Yes… and no.

Originally this table was supposed to be made from 3” random width and length strips of wood. The 5/4 slabs I chose would have worked well for this approach. When my customer saw the beauty of the grain in these slabs, she decided to leave them as large planks. This is a problem due to the cupping of the slabs. If I surface them flat as is, I’ll run out of wood in the center! I plan to split each slab down the center, surface them and re-glue them together. This will require jointing the edges as they will have slightly changed relative angles…

However, the cuts made by the Festool TS-75 track saw were good enough to glue without jointing. In fact, my current plan is to use the saw as the jointer after surfacing my split slabs.
I’ll let you know how it all works out!

My new “normal” is partly due to my business partner retiring… I’m an ageing one-man shop who is having issues handling heavy material. It appears that the track saw will help me keep active for many more years!

SG

[steve_g]

Apparently, my inability to load “rotated” images is an iPhone thing… after I load my images into photoshop and then save, I can get them to behave as expected!

SG





http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32879&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32880&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32878&stc=1

[srwtlc]

That is some beautiful grain! What, no pic of the track carnage? :) Glad you weren't hurt!

[steve_g]

As requested!
The damage is in the first 2’ of my 12’ track. I haven’t tried to clean it up… I think I’ll cut out an 8” section and splice it back together with a connecter kit.

SG
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32881&stc=1

[Ken Sully]

Ouch...Good idea for repair. No blood no problem! As they say if you can fix it with money........
Great looking wood!

[steve_g]

Here’s the first project using the Festool track saw to cut glueline rips in large pecan slabs… I couldn’t be more pleased with the results!
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33118&stc=1
SG

[scottp55]

BEAUTIFUL tabletop Steve!! :)
Must be great to feel as well as look at!
scott

[Ken Sully]

Steve,
Beautiful table and wood grain. I tell everyone my favorite tool is the track saw! I find myself using it for a variety of things. The saw has cut lots of board feet and still going strong!