Kreg saw guide

[Packard]

IGM (a European vendor of woodworking equipment and supplies) posted this video, offering the Kreg Saw Guide as a viable substitute for a track saw.  I would imagine no one here will agree (or why did we spend all that money when the Kreg guide is just $40.00?).

I do wonder what kind of accuracy it can maintain.  I did consider one of those to cut down plywood to manageable sizes in the parking lot of the lumber yard.  But I got a Chrysler Pacifica which easily swallows up full sheets of plywood so I went with the track saw. 

Could someone produce a satisfactory looking base cabinet using that saw guide and a Kreg pocket hole jig?  I think I could.

 

[squall_line]

My initial thought before even watching the video:

A rip cut with a parallel edge guide is only as straight as the reference face.  Same with squareness.  MDF may have a better record of squareness than other sheet goods, but the beauty of a track saw is that you rip a true straight edge first, before making any more cuts.

FWIW, Festool sells a parallel edge guide for the HK saws as well as one for the TS saws.  It's something I'm curious about but again requires a straight reference edge if you want good results.

After watching the video:

Not only are circular saws messy, but they chose MDF for all of their examples?  I feel like I need to clean my keyboard after watching that!

Also, my "straight reference edge" comment holds true.

 

[Packard]

Her cuts were on MDF.  But it looks to me that his cuts are on plywood.

This brings to mind another issue.  The Festool saw makes cleaner cuts than my table saw even with a zero clearance insert.  Partially it is because I am able to make a scoring cut of about 1/4" and draw the saw towards me, and then make the final cut.   

Now my circular saw, even with a new, high-quality saw blade makes rougher cuts than my table saw.  I do wonder if I can apply the FASTCAP's zero clearance tape to the baseplate of my circular saw.  It would have to run the full length of the saw and possibly another strip would have to run on the far side of the base plate to keep it level. (The tape is 0.024" think).  I think it would work, but I am not certain. 

In any case it would be an interesting experiment to see if I could "go caveman" and make a base cabinet with just a circular saw. 

 

[blues]

Good tools provide consistent professional results in a quick easy way saving you time. And the more you use it is easier to justify the cost (especially if you are a tradesman) and can take the rigor of everyday use. 
So you pay more in up front cost. With festool.. you buy into a system... not just the tool. So the initial cost goes a long way as you add additional tools that play with each other. 

 

[reijos]

Got the rip-cut and accucut about a month ago, made one project and just bought the TS-55K. The reference edge point that [member=75217]squall_line[/member] brought up is certainly true with the rip-cut but more than that, both the base that attach to the saw on both items and the connection between said base and the track of the accucut have a ton of slop. There is no way to tighten them to the track and really no matter which way I tried holding the saw or pressing it the final cut was all kinds of wobbly. Still waiting on the Festool to get here but I imagine that pretty much as soon as it does both the Kreg items are going in the trash.

 

[Packard]

You might, one day, want to rough size a sheet of plywood while you are still at the big box store.  So hang onto that Kreg setup.  With a battery-powered circular saw, you might one day need to use it.  Why?  Because the sheet goods do not fit in your car.

 

[squall_line]

You might, one day, want to rough size a sheet of plywood while you are still at the big box store.  So hang onto that Kreg setup.  With a battery-powered circular saw, you might one day need to use it.  Why?  Because the sheet goods do not fit in your car.

Depending on the box store, you may be able to get them to use their panel saw to rough-cut the plywood before you leave.  Home Depot allegedly give one free cut, maybe two, but some stores refuse to use the saw on anything with significant glue in it like melamine particleboard or even OSB.  And who knows if it's actually a square cut, but it should be?

I had a HD employee rip some sheets of OSB into 16" strips for me once during a purchase.  Considering I was only using them to bridge rafters in my attic to keep from falling through the ceiling, I didn't need significant accuracy or a clean cut, but the cuts were both clean and accurate.

There are plenty of "nightmare customer" stories out there of people asking HD employees to cut studs into 6" blocks and other such atrocities.

 

[Packard]

The Lowes near me has such dull blades on their panel saw that you lose 2" on either side of the cut on plywood. 

To make matters worse, the workers all seem to feed the saw way too fast.  So maybe some of that splintering is from the wrong feed rate and the rest from a saw blade that is way past its retirement age.