best way to show a Newbie the advantage of the FESTOOL Track Saw vs table saws

[Klemm]

From time to time I come across someone who only knows table saws as a solution for cutting sheet goods or maybe a Skil Saw.
So as not to confuse or overwhelm such an individual with FESTOOL buzzwords and acronyms, what would be a great way to open someones eyes and mind to a better approach?
YouTube or other recommendations appreciated .

Hans

 

[Wooden Skye]

If they are asking you personally, I would just do a demo for them.  I don't know if a video really shows how a track saw excels. Really need to try to fully get.

 

[Klemm]

I agree a hands-on demo is the best way. But I have encounteed more than one instance in my travels when people find out what I do and are interested in learning more. That's where the internet is needed,
Hans

 

[tjbnwi]

I have a You Tube channel. Be aware I don't edit my videos, what happens is what you see.

Tom

 

[nickao]

It's pretty simple actually no video or demonstration needed to explain it. Of course a video will show right off what a track saw does.

A track saw gets taken to the work and the tool moved over the material. With a table saw the material is taken to the tool  the material passed over tool. It really is that simple.

This explanation also demonstrates that each tool excels at certain tasks. Some people want to replace one for another(normally a track saw to get rid of or in lieu of a table saw for someone just getting into woodworking), many of those people are simply choosing an exercise to prove a point(yes we know you can take extreme measures to set up to cut small hardwood parts), others claim they don't have space for a table saw(when the material itself and/or the track saw tool boxes and rails take up near as much space or more than a small table saw).

In reality both tools are warranted in any shop or on any job site. I use both, but if I could only have one it would have to be a table saw since I work mainly in hardwoods. If sheet goods was a persons main interest and they could only have one  then likely the track saw would be the tool for them.

 

[Elmar50]

Jointing butcher block strips is a great application of a track saw vs a table saw. I completely agree with Dovetail65.  I could not choose a track saw over a good table saw, but a track saw and a MFT table or two makes an awfully good edge jointer. Then if the Newbie does a lot of sheet goods and has used a table saw for dimensioning a 4x8, it will promptly dawn on him/her how much safer/easier/more space efficient it is to use a track saw.   

 

[mkasdin]

Safety. No loose fingers and spinning blades with the track saw. The saw pass over the wood rather than wood passing over a very sharp inverted blade. Just takes a split second

 

[clark_fork]

Safety. No loose fingers and spinning blades with the track saw. The saw pass over the wood rather than wood passing over a very sharp inverted blade. Just takes a split second

With a track saw, good quality square and rail do a five cut test

demo the four S's ..... Straight... Smooth... Square.. and Safe..

 

[eddomak]

The Festool product video/advertisement for the TSC55 did it for me. I remember watching in awe as the guy cut through only the top panel in a pile, and saying "One day I will get one of those!".

For me, there are 4 main things:
- "What you see is what you get". Put the rail down and that is EXACTLY where it cuts. No guessing, no clamping guides, no wandering. This is where it it is instantly better than a standard circular saw. It is like a guillotine for wood (instead of paper).
- Dust collection - this was an eye opener for me, but once you've worked dust free, it's amazing.
- Portable - you can't take your table saw everywhere
- You don't need to struggle to manipulate 25+kgs of sheet goods through a table saw

 

[Kev]

I have a You Tube channel. Be aware I don't edit my videos, what happens is what you see.

Tom

The donkey frightened the heck out of me [eek]

 

[rst]

Just show someone trying to break down a full sheet of 3/4" plywood on a portable carpenters saw, a good cabinet saw (I have a Powermatic 66 with a Jet customized sliding table that I haven't used since I bought my tracksaws) and then using a pair of saw horses and a tracksaw.  No brainer!!

 

[KRKWW]

Be honest and recognize that both the table saw and the track saw have their respectful places. Get to know the customer and understand his/her previous background and what they aspire to do. I learned on a table saw so there can be some bias. If you learn they will be working with mostly rough cut hardwoods or small pieces, the track saw may not be the best option unless they do not own a planer and/or a jointer. Will they be working alone or with a helper? Will they be working in a shop or in the field? From a safety standpoint, breaking down sheet stock on a job sight table saw can be very dangerous unless you have help and even then, the track saw is still safer in my opinion.

As a qualifier and for what it is worth, I own both a cabinet saw and a track saw. I love them both for what they can each do for me.

 

[Holmz]

... to open someones eyes and mind to a better approach?
...

I am getting a table saw again.

Compared to a skil saw a track saw is eye opening... but the idea of opening someone's eyes may be misguided.
The expression "I'll believe it, when I see it", has a buddhist corollary of "when you believe it you'll see it". So one needs some Koolaid concepts before they can believe.

 

[Shane Holland]

According to OSHA statistics, back inquiries are the second most common injury aside from general sprains and strains. Lifting heavy materials onto a table saw is not good for your back. And, as others have said, not the safest thing. A debilitating back injury or catastrophic loss of limb makes it easy to justify the price of a Festool TS saw.

But, there are a lot of videos out on the web that show the many advantage of the saws.

If you can, get in front of one of the many great Festool reps like Larry Smith, Danny Hale, Brian Sedgeley, Steve Bace, etc. Those guys can show the benefits in minutes and they are all guys that use tools. Not just some suit that talks about how to use tools.

 

[Holmz]

I doubt many will argue that flipping a sheet of plywood onto a small table saw is an easy way to do things, nor that ripping a sheet is easy, nor cross cutting a sheet.
A large ship may be able to afford a panel saw, but for the rest of us a track saw is nice.
And there ends the advantage.

Once you have small pieces then most people will be heading to a SCMS to trim them or a sled on a table saw or a pull saw.
And for rips on narrow pieces then a table saw.

Score:
Braking down sheets - Track saw
in-situ 'jointer work' - Track saw
Long rips on long boards - Track saw

Repeatable cuts - Table saw
Narrow rips  - Table saw
small pieces - Table saw with sled, or pull saw

We can all skew the work so that one or the other wins.
And we can all get most of the work done if have on one or the other.

I can break down sheets with a jig saw and a rail, and if I only had a table saw and jig saw this would be a good way to get the parts to a smaller size. So if I had the choice of 2 out of 3, it would be table saw and jig saw. But it is hard to beat a track saw.

Anyhow the OP specifically mentioned sheets. And seeing a track saw in action, it does not take long before an observer's eyebrows to move upwards.

 

[Brent Taylor]

I use both in a professional setting and feel both has their strong points, is a TS a replacement for a table saw, in my world no. Is a TS good for a person starting out, maybe. Can they get hurt with a TS, yes. Is it safer than a table saw, maybe, depends on the saw. Which tool is the most usable, table saw.
I my opinion, as I have said in other post, education is the most needed thing in woodworking today. Before I would tell someone what to buy, I would ask if they know what they are doing, first. I think TV and the net have done more harm that any tool could in today's world. No more shop class in school, fewer and fewer trade schools and no more going under the wing in the work place. Stupid and dangerous. Ok, I will get off the soapbox before I fall off.

 

[roblg3]

Make list of ways to get injured or killed by both pieces of equipment. That's a simple way of illustrating how much safer an option the track saw is.

 

[Holmz]

The ability to string together corporate risk law with the decline in American schooling and making America great again is astounding.
Next we will hear that sawstop is so concerned about our fingers that they are giving up the patents.

This thread has gone from the sublime to the cognitively ridiculous.

 

[duburban]

I don't think the question is phrased properly, but for selling something to someone perhaps that is the question that makes $.

You need both. Its not and either/or.

 

[JimD]

Trying to cut up a full sheet on a small table saw in a small shop should convince anybody that they need a better way.  On the other hand, a big shop with a sliding table saw and a good setup for material handling could be even better than a table saw.  But I will not have either the big shop or the slider anytime soon.  In a small shop, It's great to be able to plop the sheet down and cut it to final size with minimal additional handling.

On one of Ron Paulk's videos he uses the Festool parallel guides to quickly make some garage cabinets.