Newb needing some suggestions on ripping 8ft french cleat runs

[Ruthless]

So I have an older festool track saw (atf 55 e) and guides. It ripped my panel stock (birch 3/4 ply) perfectly into 7in strips. Now I am trying to split these with 45degree angles. My Table Saw is an older delta contractor, while it's square, the 45-degree angle FEELS unsafe with an 8ft run. Especially with my setup for the track saw, I am cutting on a Centipede expandable workspace with 3X 2x4s as sacrificial support material for the cut.

I set up and secured one of these 7inX8ft strips with others behind it to hold in place, all clamped down. I measured the middle, set track saw to 45-degrees... and a couple things happened. One - The saw started bogging down and the red LED on the handle came on. I backed off, let it sit a min, like it was overheating, and resumed. The second cut slipped some with the track... and caused a misaligned cut.. so I am thinking there has to be a better way.

What is the best way to cut a long run like this? What is my saw doing with the red light? Any suggestions would be splendid!

 

[rmhinden]

What is the best way to cut a long run like this? What is my saw doing with the red light? Any suggestions would be splendid!

Well, given you are making french cleats, they probably don't need to be 8' continuous runs.  You could cut them into shorter more manageable pieces and then butt them up when installed on the wall.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ruthless]

Well for the look, I want them to be full 8ft runs, I had some old grey stain, and some .25i ply that I stained and placed on the wall. I want that dark background and 8ft runs of nice looking birch material. I spend time in there and am setting up to my liking. Furthermore, I am actually alternating 3in and 5 in cleat runs. It looks really good when I build in SketchUp.

So with that as a requirement, any ideas?

 

[RKA]

I would start with adding at least 2 more 2x4's to keep the plywood strips flat.  If they plywood is bowing while you cut, the saw will struggle on a bevel cut.  Make sure the width of the rail is continously supported by material the same thickness as the plywood you're cutting so the track can't twist.  Those two suggestions might address your issues.

 

[Ruthless]

Thanks RKA,

Is that red light the TS bogging down? I see no bow, but that very well might be it, that makes sense. What speed should the cut be at? I had it at 6... I'm not sure if the slower has more torque?

 

[waho6o9]

I would make a jig like an upside down "U" that fits the ripped pieces snuggly, account for blade width and rip the angle.
View attachment 1

Save that, for future cleats I would rip the angle off the 4 x 8 sheet goods. I'm not sure if it's faster but it would be done.

 

[Lincoln]

Cut the angles on the outer edges of your strips, instead of trying to rip the strips in half on a 45, then rip them in half.

 

[Ruthless]

Lincoln, ma man, that's the solution for tomorrow!  its an extra cut, but i jacked up a 7inX8ft already, so duh! Thanks a million. I will report the results.

 

[RKA]

I don’t own that saw, but that would be my guess if I saw a flashing red light on a tool and it was struggling.  [wink]

And don’t judge how much it’s bowing before you start the cut.  While cutting you have the weight of the saw and the pressure you apply to the base to counteract the saw tilted over the right side of the rail and a little more pressure generated by moving the saw down the track.

 

[Euclid]

Do those Centipede tables really provide a genuinely flat 'surface' to work on? (That's a genuine question: I've never used one.)

 

[Ruthless]

Well, not as flat as it could be... I didnt run the 2 sides of the 2X4s through jointer, but the posts are metal and all same height with sticky rubbery feet that hold it well to the concrete on my garage floor. But in that case with equal size 2X4s and as level and flat as my garage floor... its impressed me with just the ever so slightly warped 2x4s I have on there as a sacrificial surface.

The idea Lincoln proposed will work just fine in this setup for the remainder of the runs! I got it on Woodpeckers Christmas clearance. I got them at 50% off so bought 2 to hold whole sheets of ply.

 

[Straightlines]

And the outcome?

 

[Ruthless]

I was shocked.. I thought this might be a 10yr old blade... so I went and bought a new Festool blade for 85$... came home excited to cut..Set to 45, line tracks up to the edge... and.... It bound up that way too! Motor overload and I had to let the saw sit for 5 mins to cool to get in the second third... and then the third after a cool down....

I was thinking the ATF 55 e was solid tech, it had most of the features.. and I got it for near 350$ less than a new one.... But maybe I was wrong to do that...

i ended up setting up some feather boards and had the wife help me with the long strips on the TableSaw.

 

[Gregor]

The issue with miter cuts using a TS and a rail is the offcut moving from tension - when the offcut moves up and/or inward a bit the kerf closes and binds on the blade, same thing happens when the part under the rail moves outward or down, worst case is both sides moving into the kerf as is likely to happen with narrow strips.

What helps is using double-sided tape to keep the strips from moving, inserting wedges into the kerf to keep it open at regular intervals while doing the cut or having someone applying slight outward (seen from the kerf) tension to of the already cut ends.

As does not ripping the sheet into 90° strips to split afterwards in the first place - but cutting them to final size with the miter on both ends (which gives one on the bottom side on the wall too though), then at least the piece under the rail is (except on the very last few) big enough to keep itself from move horizontally.

 

[Sparktrician]

Cut the angles on the outer edges of your strips, ... then rip them in half.

YES!!!  Straighten the first edge at 45°, rip the remainder of the strips at the same time, then reset the table saw and rip the strips in half at 90°. 

 

[escan]

Its application dependent, but if you're having issues getting a true 45, remember your top and bottom cleat are still perfect complementary angles to one another. You just have to install them in the correct order.

 

[Lincoln]

As an alternative, I use rebated cleats probably more than angled ones. There's an extra step in cutting them, though. But, no nasty edges to cut yourself on!