Track saw

[maineshops]

Is it worth having a track saw? My eyes are getting too bad to rip an 8 ft to a chalk line. Input is appreciated ....Dan

[scsmith42]

Dan, it depends upon what you need it for.

I have two Festool track saws and around 28' of track.  We used them to make glue-line rip cuts in large slabs for bookmatched glue ups.  They absolutely excel at this task, to the point where it can be difficult to see the glue line on well matched glue ups.

For small work, using a track saw is slower than a sled on a table saw.  

What is your intended use?

Scott

[trimguy]

I have a makita track saw, I like it. I have a 55" track and a 118" track. I cut one side and run it through the table saw.

[firefighter ontheside]

A factory edge on plywood used to be synonimous with straight.  I could count on ripping plywood on my tablesaw and get straight edges.  Now some factory edge plywood is 1/4" out.  I had to get a track saw so I could have straight edges to put against my tablesaw fence.  Since I bought it, I have used my tablesaw less for dimensioning plywood.

[Otis1]

There are track/ straight edge clamps that you don't need an entire new system, will work with just about any saw. Or there's a guide thing made by Kreg that clamps on a circular saw. I got one and it works pretty good for ripping or cross cutting plywood, it's not nearly accurate enough for actual woodworking. I assume since the OP is talking about ripping a chalk line then were not dealing with jointed seams or anything too fancy. 

[charles mann]

Iv looked into a track saw, but depth of cut isnt as much as a regular circle saw, and even then, i still have to make the final cut with a hand saw. So far, only unsurfaced 3" slabs wont allow my regular saw to cut all the way through. Plus running an odd size 200#+ slab through a table saw isnt practical, nor after pulling a slab out of its mold. 

Most use for me would be a track saw for cutting down the melamine for molds and final trimming of slabs after flattening. Plus a track saw takes up much less room than a table saw. 

[maineshops]

I'll be using the track saw to get straight edges on8 ft boards to sheet a storeroom off Mas sewing room. Walls and ceiling will be popal and the floor will be fir. I edge most on the mill but after the dry down they are no longer straight. I'm guessing I can even turn a track saw around and do the other side of the board to get it parallel too to save running it through the table saw. Just looking for a nice butt joint for the boards. Boards are random width .75 thick. Having the usual age related issues I need to work smart ,not hard. Any suggestions are appreciated. Tx Dan

[terrifictimbersllc]

Look down a page or two in this board for a title "I love this track saw".

[barbender]

I would just stand those boards back up on edge on the sawmill, and re-edge them. It cut them straight the first time😊

[customsawyer]

I second putting them back on the mill. Put a 6x6 cant on there and clamp several up against it at a time.

[Don P]

If it is going up square edged, remilling and then rip the parallel edge on the tablesaw, or mill, depending on how tight you are shooting for would work fine.

If you are going through a shaper or router table, you can set the infeed fence to take one more straightening bite.

I have an 8' homemade wooden table, plywood top with a big router stuck up through the middle of it. Most of the time it is set up with an 8' fence that is offset 1/16" on the infeed side, it is a quick edge jointer for boards before the tablesaw.

On jobsites we would make a "shooting board" with plywood scraps, I sort of think the track saw was an evolution from someone using one of those. I've also just clamped straight steel to the work. An 8-1/4" skill saw will cut 3" deep.

[YellowHammer]

Track saws are incredible for what they do, but mass ripping straight edges isn't one of them.  Very Slooowwww for that.

A 6 or 8 foot auxiliary fence attached on a table saw works well, as well as re-edging on the mill.  

[kantuckid]

My eyes are sort of old but they also have new lenses and 20/20 vision still. If I couldn't see, I'd stay away from sharp tools... :D

 In my shop work I'll never justify a track saw. I get by just fine with jointer and a table saw, or a straight edge and/or a chalk line and a circle saw. Some track saw users it's a very logical choice such as the huge slabs mentioned above. For me an occasional slab gets done the hard way. I've free handed a few warpy ones on a table saw. 

[maineshops]

Even when I joint the blade on the mill the cut is a little rough for me. The 8 ft fence on the router table sounds interesting ideas,ideas. Thanks Dan

[Crusarius]

I have a love hate relationship with my track saw. I love it, works awesome for straight lining anything with live or funky edges.

I like it, I don't know if the track moves or if the tension is released in the board and I get a curved cut. But I can recut it and usually get a straight cut. Plus I can butt two boards tight together and get a glue joint in one pass.

I hate it for narrow boards because a lot of times I do not have a solid surface to sit on or clamp to. If I clamp on the edge of a board the track lifts up the enough to mess up the square edge. My track is pretty wide so this becomes a pretty big problem. I have an urge to redesign the track and the saw base to work with boards in the 4" wide range.

Overall I love the saw and would not hesitate to buy another one if anything happened to this one. it really is very versatile and so much easier to work with than a circular saw.

[YellowHammer]

Before we get our SLR, we straight edged wood on the table saw using a 3 pass approach with a long 6 and 8 foot fence.  Put the "straightest" edge against the fence and rip the other edge off, as best you can, and make it kind of straight.  Then put that edge against the fence and rip the other side, and that will make it pretty straight, and then put that edge against the fence and rip the first edge and it will be very straight.  A 1,2,3 process.

A longer fence makes a huge difference.  

Or do one edge on the mill and use the long fence on the table saw to clean them up.

  

[barbender]

I know the edge from the mill will need cleaned up, but it will eliminate most of the bad edges quickly and save a lot of steps in further processing.

[alan gage]

I bought my track saw specifically for straight lining a big whack of boards to line the walls of my shop. This happened in the middle of winter when my mill was put away so that wasn't an option. The 2nd pass for the other edge was through the table saw. 

No doubt there are faster ways to do it but it went quick enough and the saw did a great job. I laid a few 2x10s across some saw horses and then laid a piece of 2" construction foam over this for a platform to set the boards on. The foam keeps them from sliding. I believe I learned that from Yellowhammer.  

If I was ripping narrower boards that were too narrow for the track I'd just lay another board next to it to help support the track. 

I've done similar projects since but now I have a nice jointer and I tend to use that for straightening instead but the track saw still comes handy for other uses. 

Alan

[Crusarius]

I have been using my tracksaw to break down rough boards so I can get them to roughly the size I need before surfacing them. the biggest issue is not have clean flat faces or even thickness boards I can't just put another board next to it and expect a clean cut. so it just adds a little more work but in the end it works out fine.

[Machinebuilder]

I've been using mine to straight edge rip some of the first boards I cut on my mill. about 20 110" long 1 1/2" thick red oak.

It is a slow process.
Make sure your track is enough longer than the board, I boogered a small section of track when the saw kicked back while plunging.

I need to do better with the mill, I understand MUCH better many of the comments from different members about logs and mill setup and proper stickering/drying.

[maineshops]

Got the track saw set up. The anti kickback cam feature puts enough drag on the saw to move the board underneath. Did you disable that feature? Otherwise it is a bit fiddely but does the job. 
Is there a way to flop the board over and get an accurate parallel cut? Bad eyes so I need something positive rather than measuring? Thanks for any advice. Dan

[Crusarius]

I use an adjustable square set the location of the track. But this only works if the board is wide enough.

[maineshops]

I was thinking the same thing and the narrow boards are light enough fo me to handle on the table saw

[Crusarius]

long boards are still a challenge for me on the tablesaw since my shop is so cluttered. and I only have a small contractors saw. If I had a nicer larger saw it would probably be step 2. most of the time I use the tracksaw for both edges. THe best part is butting 2 boards together and making a single cut to get matching edges for glueups.