Has anyone used a track saw for cutting tough laminate flooring?

[idratherplaytennis]

As per the title- I've got need to rip some laminate flooring out of my kitchen (floating floor) to install some new cabinets, as well as to cut out a damaged piece in the middle of the floor and I was curious who had done something similar before with a tracksaw.

Normally.. I'd buy some cheap blades and use my skilsaw and freehand, especially considering how tough this laminate is- I remember going through 4 laminate blades (at least) installing a small 500 square ft or so in my place. But the thing is I now have the new ts60 as a result of a double birthday gift- and I just wondered if anyone had used their track saws for tougher- more water resistant (ie denser, more plastic less organic) laminates around 12mm thick I believe.

My alternatives- stick with the cheap diablo blade and skilsaw or use my now backup Makita blade and track(s) with questionable blade life left. I can't easily get the Makita tracksaw blades, but I can get the skilsaw blades and the Festool blades locally. Or I try the ts60 with I'd assume the laminate blade and risk damaging the sacrificial cut strip on 1-2 tracks.

Just wanted to check if anyone had gone with any method over the other and had any experience and if the festool blades are all currently pretty good at keeping the cut strip the same or not. I'd read mixed reviews as to swapping blades, even if they have the same diameter kerfs and blade thicknesses, but those posts also went back years and years and unfortunately my local festool dealer lost their most knowledgeable guy to retirement so I've got to check where I can for info.

The safe money I think is risking the older Makita blade or skilsaw.. but the itch to use the ts60 is strong if the laminate blade is good for more than just melamine/formica type of stuff and not risking messing up my sacrificial cut strip(s).

 

[Michael Kellough]

Just get a smaller blade made for the 55 saw since you only need about 20mm cutting depth.

But I guess you need a thin kerf blade so you don’t overcut the splinter guard? Check the tooth offset relative the blade blank. If the offset is the same as the oem blade then even a wider kerf blade will treat the splinter guard about the same.

 

[Holzhacker]

I think I might have a laminate blade for my TS75 but don't remember using it for flooring.
I've done a lot of laminate flooring repair jobs. Using a track saw seems not necessary from my experience. I chop out, hack out, whatever it takes to remove the damaged piece, it's damaged so who cares. Then splice in the repair pieces from there. Not sure why I would care about making a clean cut. Once the damaged piece is removed, other pieces can be pulled apart as needed.
Or maybe I'm misunderstanding what you are trying to do.

 

[idratherplaytennis]

I'm less concerned over the damaged piece, but I have lengths of the laminate that i need to remove out, 2' from the walls over the course of about 6-8 feet on two different walls. The tracksaw is the easiest fastest one shot method for that line, vs slowly freehanding the cut with a skilsaw even if it's going to be covered with shoe base

 

[tjbnwi]

Often.

I use the solid surface blade for the TS-55, when the job is done I send the blade out to be sharpened.

Laminate over Dri-Core in a basement I had finished out.

Tom

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The TS60 is so new that blade selection is a bit hit or miss so far, so that could be a hindrance?
I have done this several times with my TS55 and a solid surface blade. That is my go-to for all kinds of plastics. The main concern, for me at least, is being sure of the depth of cut. There may be screws or staples in the sub-floor, you don't want to get into those.
I actually use mine once to cut out some sub-floor that was under a bathtub, during a remodel. It took a little bit of multi-tool at the ends because of walls, but it worked great. It's very easy to patch back in when you have a perfect edge.

 

[DashZero]

I cut laminate with mine using the solid surface blade i cut corian with.  Did it for a friend Also on his laminate and got paid enough to buy the saw and a blade.  Tools pay for themself.

 

[idratherplaytennis]

Often.

I use the solid surface blade for the TS-55, when the job is done I send the blade out to be sharpened.

Laminate over Dri-Core in a basement I had finished out.

Tom

Thanks for this. I've only wondered about blade deflection for the thinner kerf blades on denser materials. I have a Makita that suffered a little from deflection (I think) when cutting thicker items like doors, when I'm trying to shave something by just a hair and it seems to want to ride on the surface of the previous cut. That could also, however, be partly due to my tracks or something. I swear that my Makita track saw had some slight deflection sitting on the rail and I wasn't sure if it was the padded strips or whatnot. I have a lot more faith in the Festool track saw. Just from how amazingly better the adjustment to snug it up to the rail is.

 

[Boski]

I done some laminate flooring last week and was looking at blades to use for the Kapex 120 or TS60 and was advised to use neither.

I ended up using my dewalt jigsaw with a metal blade and it was really easy to cut, one blade lasted the whole job without causing any blunting issues.