Is ripping narrow stock the TS achilles heel?

[mouppe]

I was trying to show how ripping thin stock doesn't have to be difficult or "annoying."

 

[Holmz]

I've been tempted to buy a Bosch site saw to complement Festool as ripping thin stuff AND repeatedly is the achilles heel of the Festool system.
...

The Bosch clamp slot nearest the splitter strip is about a cm back from the cut.
It is not as easy as a table saw, but it does make it possible and practical to cut thin strips.
Whether it makes more sense to buy a second track saw, or get a small table saw depends on the usual cost, usage and other factors.

 

[peter halle]

Nice jig Richard!  Always enjoy seeing how you come up with simple jigs that maximize the abilities of you saw.

Peter

 

[Woodwork Wizard]

Is ripping narrow stock the TS Achilles heel?

Not at all if you have an MFT/3 and a CMS angle guide. Or you could use bench dogs as a fence and use the MFT/3 protractor in exactly the same way.

It's very accurate, really quick to set up and it is completely safe - I've regularly cut thin strips from 1 - 200mm, though I do have a hardwood block (see photo) as an extension fence that stops thin offcuts from moving. As long as there's plenty of material under the guide rail this method works flawlessly. 

There's 3 strips at the bottom right of photo that are all exactly the same width.

 

[nickao]

It is an achilles heel if we are talking true productivity, it's not really a drawback, a Track saw just doesn't excel as it. The only reason to use a Track saw for thin pieces , IMHO is if its the only saw available for the task.

I can resaw 3" thick or wide pieces on a table saw, I don't because I have a bandsaw and it's meant for the purpose without an extra jig.

I cut off the stack of ply with a track saw, I don't lug my table saw to the pile and toss the sheets across it becasue the Track saw is much simpler to move around than a 4x8 sheet piece of ply.  And it doesn't require a jig or an out feed table etc.

I cut thin and narrow pieces on a table saw. I use my DeWalt 7491, which by the way has the best fence I have ever seen on a  stock table saw for  thin and narrow pieces. This table saw  excels at it.

1 : Fence in regular position, notice the black push stick held tightly in place on the left side of the fence and the second thin  stock fence to the left:

[attachimg=1]

2:

This shows the flipping the thin stock fence over to the right:

[attachimg=2]

3: This shows the thin stock fence in the down useable position to the right of the main fence This is the best system I have seen with a stock fence. The flip fence works very well for cutting thin AND narrow stock and takes seconds to flip back and forth. No matter what track saw or jig set used with a track saw, its just not going to work as well as this. If productivity is the key I suggest getting a table saw to compliment the track saw.

[attachimg=3]

 

[Tayler_mann]

I feel like ripping thin stock is actually extremely easy and quick with the right setup. I use my 4' x 8' Mft in partnership with precision rip dogs, bench dogs and clamps. Also if it is 16-20 mm I stack them and do two at once for the mirrored parts. I do have to say if I had the Festool parallel guides and extensions I feel like I could rip thin material way faster than a table saw/edge jointer can. I actually raced my mentor not to long ago making a standard cabinet doors rail and stile and I wooped him with my TS setup. He tried it though and it took him 4 times as long. So I feel it is what you are used to. Also, I use my TS to cut quarter sawn edge banding about 1-2 mm thick. It really gets a clean cut for that thin. When I do it I always straight line 1/2 a blades width off of my dimensional lumber. Cut as many 1-2 mm strips as I can first to use up my scrap. So than instead of having 20,000 5-20mm twigs of scrap I have nice roles of quarter dawn edge banding. It's a good way to save scrap.

 

[jacko9]

This all sounds like a whole lot of work just to avoid using a table saw which is (in my opinion) safer for ripping thin strips and a whole lot quicker.

Jack

 

[nickao]

I am with you jacko9.

 

[Tayler_mann]

This all sounds like a whole lot of work just to avoid using a table saw which is (in my opinion) safer for ripping thin strips and a whole lot quicker.

Jack

I have found it all comes to one thing, "preferences". Table saws are great but also great at creating more work of inaccurate and poor quality (ie. Contractor saws). Also, it depends on your applications of what you are doing. If you are building a piece that you plan to have someone spend $250 great. If that same piece with more intrict details is being sold for $1,000 you better have some damn perfect construction and I find it easier with my TS. I can mirror parts easily, rip them perfectly square and 90 first go about with 0 kerf marks. It just seems to work better for me than my cheaper table saw.

 

[bkharman]

I like my "best of both worlds".

A TS 55 for rail work, and my TS 75 under a plate in my CMS. It has worked great for everything I throw at it!

I know not everyone can go that route but if space is tight, it is a great solution!!

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[Tinker]

When i brought home my ATF 55 and MFT 1080, I was finally able to ge rid of my table saw.  I have been able to cut very thin strips I never was able to cut before.

For long strips, i have a set of RMW's rip guides.  I have roped thin strips using those up to 7 feet in length.  I could do longer.  I like the set up shown by Woodworking Wizard using the MFT/3 protractor for shorter pieces. 

Cutting very short very thin strips with the table saw to me is a little scary.  Using the methods I describe (as others have explained as well) is very safe and accurate as long as a block is used at end of cut to keep the strip, which is actually the off cut, from flying off into space.

For long thin pieces on my old table saw was a great big hastle.  for cutting short pieces, it was quicker than with my TS 55, i have to admit.  If I were doing a lot of production work, I would figure some way to make space in my shop for a small table saw.  But my work is generally a "one and done" proposition.
Tinker

 

[nickao]

I like my "best of both worlds".

A TS 55 for rail work, and my TS 75 under a plate in my CMS. It has worked great for everything I throw at it!

I know not everyone can go that route but if space is tight, it is a great solution!!

Cheers. Bryan.

Well a CMS for all practical purposes is a table saw. It is another way to go for someone  that needs a table saw. I prefer the stand alone of a bench top type.

 

[mouppe]

I didn't post the 2 minute video to start some nonsense about tablesaws vs tracksaws. I did it because I had to use my tracksaw at home in my garage away from my workshop and needed to come up with a quick and simple way to rip 2 dozen pieces of lumber repeatedly.

The video was just my idea of a quick tip with what was available to me at the time- I didn't suggest it was the best way or the only way.

 

[Holmz]

I didn't post the 2 minute video to start some nonsense about tablesaws vs tracksaws. I did it because I had to use my tracksaw at home in my garage away from my workshop and needed to come up with a quick and simple way to rip 2 dozen pieces of lumber repeatedly.

The video was just my idea of a quick tip with what was available to me at the time- I didn't suggest it was the best way or the only way.

I am with you, it is a nice method.

With the Bosch rail there are 2 clamping slots, so one can clamp something about 1" square and cut it.
Usually one would run something like that into a disc sander or back through a table saw, but if a track saw is the only thing around, then it works well (assuming it is a Bosch rail compatible track saw).

The FT rail appears to have only a single clamp slot opposite the splinter strip.

 

[#Tee]

its annoying because it takes extra setup time + extra parts/jigs thats all. we just want to push the saw/stock and go. end rant.

 

[peter halle]

So perhaps we look at things differently.  Richard revived this thread with an example of "how you can do it" versus "this is that absolutely best way of doing it if you have a shop with a table saw or a ton of accessories".  I can't say that I have ever seen a table saw in one of Richard's excellent videos.

Thinking outside the norm and coming up with ways to make things out of scrap to help you accomplish a task has long been a back bone of carpentry and woodworking since the beginning of time. 

The woodworking industry is probably second to cooking in the peddling of "must need" and "gotta have" accessories that once used end up in a drawer or box.

Peter

 

[jacko9]

This all sounds like a whole lot of work just to avoid using a table saw which is (in my opinion) safer for ripping thin strips and a whole lot quicker.

Jack

I have found it all comes to one thing, "preferences". Table saws are great but also great at creating more work of inaccurate and poor quality (ie. Contractor saws). Also, it depends on your applications of what you are doing. If you are building a piece that you plan to have someone spend $250 great. If that same piece with more intrict details is being sold for $1,000 you better have some darn perfect construction and I find it easier with my TS. I can mirror parts easily, rip them perfectly square and 90 first go about with 0 kerf marks. It just seems to work better for me than my cheaper table saw.

I beg to differ since I have a very accurate cabinet table saw (Powermatic 66) and I do build high end furniture that I sell in the $5K -10K range so I can't afford to make mistakes with exotic hardwoods nor take the time to set up alternative means to ripping a simple accurate cut on my table saw.  I never advocated using a cheap table saw or using a cheap track saw either.

Jack

 

[DanielOB]

a table saw is dangerous for cutting narrow strips, because the strip can bend away from the fence and toward the blade.
It is much safer and more accurate to do it with  [wink]KS track saw:
-put the strip to cut on the table
-put at right side the same thickness stock and a rail over it, and align it to the cutting line (shim it as need)
-put the strip, as a fence, to the left from the cutting strip. Fix the fence.
-cut the strip which is pressed from both sides, and from top by the rail. Do not apply to much side pressure or the blade may bind.
[wink]

 

[Tinker]

a table saw is dangerous for cutting narrow strips, because the strip can bend away from the fence and toward the blade.
It is much safer and more accurate to do it with  [wink]KS track saw:
-put the strip to cut on the table
-put at right side the same thickness stock and a rail over it, and align it to the cutting line (shim it as need)
-put the strip, as a fence, to the left from the cutting strip. Fix the fence.
-cut the strip which is pressed from both sides, and from top by the rail. Do not apply to much side pressure or the blade may bind.
[wink]

A narrow strip cut with TS 55 can become a powerful missile just a dangerous to anything away from the operator.  Becaause of the geometry of the rail and the way you hold the track saw, the missile never is a danger to the operator.  It can be a danger to anybody/any thing to the side away from the operator.

 

[Corwin]

Here's how I go about narrow rips:

Basic Narrow Rip Jig

[unsure]  You are now just five (5) cuts away from your own Narrow-Rip jig.  [wink]

This is just the first portion that illustrates the basic concept. Should I complete this project soon, I will start a separate thread for it here at that time.