Left Blade Track Saw?

[Coen]

[....]
Thoughts today?

We live in a dictatorship of early risers of average length.

The lack of left handed *stuff* is everywhere. Even computer mouses were / are hard to get in left handed version.

I use the TS 55 with either hand. Just a matter of where you can stand while sawing. So right when I can, left when I have to, usually with longer cuts. If the saw was left-handed, the same problem would appear for the other cuts. Just like with nail scissors it's hard to cut the nails from your right hand unless you have a "left handed" scissor.

The bigger issue, I would think, is with drills. Haven't heard any calls for drillbits intended for counterclockwise rotation.

 

[woodferret]

I've been on/off about finally getting a track saw. Watched a recent Sedge video and saw that he always rips with his left hand:
... so hard to know which handed-ness is best. For angled cross-cuts, I'd rather not reach across, but that looks OK.

Thoughts today?

Whatever hand you can comfortably have line of action forward without twist, tilt or any other misaligning thing.  You don't need to see the cut like you do with a CS.

Most of the time, this means rip left.  But I've been known to climb onto the plywood with the rail to my right.  Right hand dominance means I can use the left to lead and apply light pressure to the rail to keep it in position on tricky ply.

Other things like TSO parallel guides can sometimes make you choose saw left, just so you're not bumping into the parallels.

 

[smorgasbord]

If the saw was left-handed, the same problem would appear for the other cuts.

I think if the saw was the other way (blade to the left of the motor), then one would rip with the right hand and still be able to cross-cut with the right hand. Heck, if the off-cut for the cross-cut was smaller than the main piece being cut, then you would be able to do both with the right hand.

Any lefties out here that don't use their left hand for almost all track saw cuts? Maybe on cross-cuts where the rail square can't work on the other side?

 

[rmhinden]

I am left handed.

I never thought of my track saws as either left or right handed.  I think I use the hand that is comfortable depending on the direction of the cut and how the rail is placed on the wood.  I don't think have actually thought about it that much.

Bob

 

[mino]

...
Can you even imagine a right handed person trying to start a car with the ignition switch on the left side of the column? or shifting a manual transmission with their left? (You Brits can ignore and/or laugh at that one)

Fun fact:

Many (most ?) Porsches have the key to the left.

This is annecdotally because in some historic races the drivers had to run to their cars, so starting fast was beneficial.
Also some old Fiats had it the same.

In my first car - a 2000 RWD Lada clone of FIat 124 - being young and all, I casually used to get in with my left leg going directly on the clutch pedal, key going in ingnition by left hand, right hand grabbing the stick, ensuring it is on the neutral. Before I was seated the engine was already started. Ready to go.
Eventually I got to perfecting the "get in and move out" routine, so I could make fun of friends with more modern cars who needed to wait for the computer to boot, find the key hole, search for the burried seatbelt lock etc.

A gasoline car with no real computer except a simple ECU had its benefits.
[cool]

----
As for tracksaws, do not see the point.
I very often use my left hand when making cuts. With the rail there is just no need to use two hands and/or be precise. Just enough pressure to the rail and there one goes! On long rips, I may even walk around the table and swap hands while the saw is still running .. it is just soo easy to control such a smooth running tracksaw like the TS/TSC series are.

With circular saws I can see different preferences justifying different models. One needs to see the cut pretty often for a start.

 

[jeffinsgf]

We lefties have to be a bit more adaptable in life. We're living in a right-handed world, after all, and virtually everything is designed by and for right-handers.

When using my track saw I use left hand most of the time and right hand some of the time. I'm just ambidextrous enough to use my right hand instead of contorting myself into some awkward position just to use my left.

What surprises me is that no one has brought up the Domino in this conversation. If ever there was a tool that appears to have been designed by a leftie, the Domino is it. Being left-handed, that never dawned on me until a right-handed friend and I were talking about the Domino and he complained about awkwardness and knuckle-busting. I picked the tool up right-handed and immediately saw he was right...uh...correct.

 

[rmhinden]

What surprises me is that no one has brought up the Domino in this conversation. If ever there was a tool that appears to have been designed by a leftie, the Domino is it. Being left-handed, that never dawned on me until a right-handed friend and I were talking about the Domino and he complained about awkwardness and knuckle-busting. I picked the tool up right-handed and immediately saw he was right...uh...correct.

I agree with your comments about having to be adaptable.

I think your Domino comments apply to the DF500.  The DF700 seems to me to work well with either hand.

Bob

 

[jeffinsgf]

What surprises me is that no one has brought up the Domino in this conversation. If ever there was a tool that appears to have been designed by a leftie, the Domino is it. Being left-handed, that never dawned on me until a right-handed friend and I were talking about the Domino and he complained about awkwardness and knuckle-busting. I picked the tool up right-handed and immediately saw he was right...uh...correct.

I agree with your comments about having to be adaptable.

I think your Domino comments apply to the DF500.  The DF700 seems to me to work well with either hand.

Bob

Yep. I was talking about the DF-500. Just used a DF-700 for the first time a couple weeks ago, and I agree. It works either way.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Any lefties out here that don't use their left hand for almost all track saw cuts? Maybe on cross-cuts where the rail square can't work on the other side?

I use the saw in my right hand when cutting bevels, exactly as Sedge shows. My left hand is supporting the base, keeping it stable on the rail.

We lefties have to be a bit more adaptable in life. We're living in a right-handed world, after all, and virtually everything is designed by and for right-handers.

When using my track saw I use left hand most of the time and right hand some of the time. I'm just ambidextrous enough to use my right hand instead of contorting myself into some awkward position just to use my left.

What surprises me is that no one has brought up the Domino in this conversation. If ever there was a tool that appears to have been designed by a leftie, the Domino is it. Being left-handed, that never dawned on me until a right-handed friend and I were talking about the Domino and he complained about awkwardness and knuckle-busting. I picked the tool up right-handed and immediately saw he was right...uh...correct.

I noticed this right away. It is rare, but I have had to use my DF500 with my right hand. The placement of the dust extraction port/hose seems to be a bit close, especially for big hands.
I get that it needs to be on that side, because of the rotation direction of the bit. Apparently, it's not a huge deal, they sell at lot of them and I've never heard anyone complain about it.

 

[smorgasbord]

This is the Sedge video that made me think (and where my screen grabs came from):

As for the Domino, I'm right handed and have a DF700. When used with the left hand on the front and right hand on the handle, the dust port is away from you. I believe the DF500 is that way also. For left-handed use, why would you want the dust hose coming right at you?

I use the saw in my right hand when cutting bevels, exactly as Sedge shows. My left hand is supporting the base, keeping it stable on the rail.

I assume you mean bevels when cross-cutting. What about bevels when ripping, which Sedge didn't show? Especially when the off-cut is narrow?

 

[woodferret]

I think the DF500 thing might be a factor of hand size.  I'm med-large, right, and don't have an issue hitting the hose with my knuckles.  Festool ergonomics seemed to have standardized on the lower end of the large size.  Some other brand tools are freakishly enormous to me. 

As for 45's, I think long rip 45's on wide boards are the one cut I still can't find a satisfactory position.  I'm not putting my off-hand anywhere near that saw if I'm to the right of it.  I've only marginally managed with a Triton that has an anti-tip in the rail/saw, but that's not an accurate cut.

 

[John Langevin]

As a career engineer I challenge anyone to defend the so-called ergonomics of a right blade saw to be used without a rail (especially for ripping) by a right handed person. Just my opinion.

John

 

[squall_line]

As a career engineer I challenge anyone to defend the so-called ergonomics of a right blade saw to be used without a rail (especially for ripping) by a right handed person. Just my opinion.

As someone who is engineer-adjacent, I have two words: "institutional momentum".

 

[mcfal12]

IMO - the right handed saw allows (if not clamping) a little more 'security' with the left hand pressing on the track while making the cut. If the saw blade was on the left, then the 2/3rds would be reaching across to place their hand on the track. of course a lefty would enjoy that more than the user experience currently, but its a matter of the market dictation.

There is something to be said for being right handed and having a left hand blade, it certainly makes the sightline better for your cut without having to lean over the saw, sometimes into a precarious or less than ideal body position should there be kick back on a cut. That said, with the track saw line of sight isn't required- the point of the track is to make a straight cut "without following the line" (as you would freehand).

 

[smorgasbord]

I think we have to consider ripping separately from cross-cutting.

For ripping, I don't see an argument for the current setup being good for right handers. As the Sedge video shows, the track is on the good piece, which is typically wider than the off-cut, so you end up using the saw left-handed. For ripping.

For cross-cutting in the middle of a long board, it doesn't matter as you're reaching over in any case. If you don't clamp, there may be an advantage to the current setup in that you can hold the guide with your left as you reach over to run the saw with your right.

For cross-cut trimming, it's kind of like a mini-rip in that right handers would be reaching across while left-handers could just be on the smaller off-cut side (again, with guide clamped).

So, the only time the current setup is good for right handers is when the guide isn't clamped and you're using your left hand to hold the guide down or track square against the workpiece while your right runs the saw and you deal with leaning over the workpiece (and track square).

 

[woodferret]

Actually, I've been using my tracksaw (my Triton, not my TS55) to cut floorboards next to a wall.  The Cover Plate ABSA TS55/HKC55 also has a phenolic skid plate... for parquet expansion joint/false joint reasons if you want to put it up against a wall.

Most of the wall to wall flooring we have on this end of the pond hides the gaps under the baseboard, so it's rarer to see it here as a selling point of having a blade away from you.

 

[smorgasbord]

Here are some screen grabs from Jason Bent's "How YOU should be cutting plywood" (Funny, the "should" is the word to emphasize there, IMO):


For an initial rip to get a "clean" edge, he goes left-handed:
[attachimg=1]

For a middle of the board rip, he switches to right hand, even tho it means swinging his body around his TSO guides:
[attachimg=2]
I found it interesting that he says he rips ⅛" wider than needed so he can clean up on his tablesaw.

For cross-cutting, he always chose right handed:
[attachimg=3]

That was a couple years ago. Since then he discovered the sliding tablesaw:

Of course, he's coming from a cabinet saw with the ungainly Incra aftermarket fence, so no wonder he was such a track saw guy previously.

 

[woodferret]

He's not really deviating from what a lot of people are saying here.  Stay on the side closest and least awkward.  While I might contort a tad because of the TPGs, I also don't have the extra goof margin should I crotch-kick those parallels.  If I'm rough cutting like he is, I don't mind walking around the TPG30s like he is, but TPG50s are getting into International Limbo Championships territory.

Since you're on the fence on getting a TSxx, I'll point out that unclamped rails can shift depending on how dusty/bowed that plywood is.  For extremely long rips, I've had it slide a few mm's if I'm not careful.  To avoid it, you'd need to keep pressure on the rail forward of the saw (which is admittedly safer with the left hand, away from the blade), and watch those TPG stops like you would a table saw fence.  He's not watching that and is more preoccupied with the hose since he's giving himself 1/8" play space.

Or... you could get a STM1800 and clamp the rail to the plywood and avoid the shifting thing altogether.  It's the cutting on insulation foam that typically means we're at the mercy of unclamped rails.

 

[smorgasbord]

Yeah, he mentions the advantages of the shorter TPGs in the video.
Although at the size of panels he’s ripping, I don’t know why he doesn’t go to the table saw, then back to track saw for cross cutting

 

[Lincoln]

Oh, yeah, this is the youtuber that tells you you're doing everything wrong and he knows how to do it properly...then levels a ladder frame plinth with a 300mm level.