Track Saw Suggestions

[sg1011]

If you get a cabinet saw, I found a mobile base gives me a lot of flexibility. I have all of my larger power tools on a mobile base. The SawStop web site shows an excellent hydraulic base that I have under my saw. I step on the foot pump 8 to 10 times and I can roll the saw around. The overarm combination blade guard and dust collector works very well.

Thanks.  I'll check out their site today and see what they offer.

 

[sg1011]

Having recently been "forced" to make a couple half lap joints with my TS55, I wouldn't wish that on you.  I used what was available at the moment and finished with a plane.  Though it got the job done, it took longer than I would have liked and it's fiddly.  I wouldn't want to make a habit of it.

That's what I was afraid of.

 

[sg1011]

Based on the work that you describe I too, would recommend a table saw. The Dewalt’s seem to be well liked here and they are economical. Like Birdhunter I am sold on SawStop. They are not cheap but they are very well built and the safety features are second to none. They make a job site saw as well as a Contractors variety in addition to the big cabinet saws that Birdhunter and I both have. I have a 3hp Professional Cabinet Saw with a 52” fence. I believe that Birdhunter said that he has the Industrial Cabinet Saw so I am guessing that he has a 5hp motor?

There are so many table saws available in such a very wide range. Wood Magazine has quite a few reviews on line if you are interested.

You mentioned that you work in mostly hardwoods but you did not mention thickness/dimensions. Do you generally work with 3/4” thick boards or 1 1/2” boards or thicker. This will help determine how much power you might need. Just as an example, If you cut a lot of 2” thick hard maple or Oak you are not going to be happy with a dinky portable table saw that you pick up at the Home Depot or Lowe’s for a few hundred dollars. It just won’t have the power that you will need.

If you tell us more about the size and type of work you do and want to do in the future we can try to suggest the type and size of table saw that might suit your needs better. Once you narrow that down then picking brand and specific model gets a little easier.

That's a great point.  It seems that I'm mostly working with 4/4 and thicker boards.  I haven't built anything with a live edge yet, but those are almost always 8/4 and above, and so that would be important to take into consideration.

I'll definitely have to look into saw stop.  Safety is a BIG concern for me.  Who needs injuries!

 

[fshanno]

I built my kitchen without a table saw.  Face frames and all.  Used my TS55 to rip the parts for the face frames.  Used my Domino to put the doors together.

I rigged up a cool ripping platform for my 55 that worked very well.  I could rip a 1.5" face frame part from a 1 5/8" piece.  The wood was European beech which can be a challenging species.  It's dense and hard and loaded with internal spring.  It can be a challenge on a 3 horse cabinet saw.  It loves to burn.

And here's the kicker.  I did most of the crosscutting for the doors and drawers and face frames on my MFT.  And they were dovetail drawers. 

A table saw wasn't essential but in my case a planer and a router table were.  And I did have those.

But then friends and family started asking me to do their kitchens and baths.  While the TS55 and my ripping platform were effective, they were also a bit slow.  So I bought a Grizzly G0691.  They had a special and it cost me only $1275 total to get a 3hp 220v cabinet saw with a 50" fence set up in my garage shop.  And I bought a jointer.

A PCS was going to cost me about $3500 delivered.  The Grizzly did have a true riving knife and for me the knife is the essential safety feature so that was my choice. 

Today the G0691 is over $2100 delivered.  I've never been hurt or even close to being hurt on the Grizzly and it's made 10's of thousands of quality cuts.  I had to replace the capacitor last year but it's been a gem aside from that.  But still, if I was buying today with current pricing, I'd have to go with the 3 horse PCS.  The extra measure of safety and somewhat better quality of the PCS are worth the much smaller price difference.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.

Today the G0691 is over $2100 delivered.  I've never been hurt or even close to being hurt on the Grizzly and it's made 10's of thousands of quality cuts.  I had to replace the capacitor last year but it's been a gem aside from that.  But still, if I was buying today with current pricing, I'd have to go with the 3 horse PCS.  The extra measure of safety and somewhat better quality of the PCS are worth the much smaller price difference.

Does the quoted price on the Grizzly include the tariff? I heard Grizzly is passing on all or part of the tariffs to the customers by raising the retail prices. SS is made in Taiwan and so it is not subject to any tariffs.

 

[Birdhunter]

I don't know the Grizzly saw, but I'm sure it is a good bargain.

If you can afford the SawStop i'd recommend buying it. The quality and engineering is outstanding. No one is forever perfect around tools and one slip around a table saw can cost a hand or fingers. The SawStop goes a very long way in avoiding an amputation.

 

[rmhinden]

I have an ~25 year old Roybi BT300 table saw, a TS55 and TS75, and a Kapex.  The Ryobi has a nice sliding table, but clearly isn't in the same class as the Saw Stop table saws discussed here.  Some times I wish I had room for a larger table saw, but that would also require bringing more power into my shop space. 

I use the track saws for sheet goods and boards that are too big for me to handle on the table saw.  Basically, I bring the saw to the wood.  I use the Kapex (with wings and stops) for cross cuts.  With the wings and stops I get very good repeatability.  I still use the table saw, but not as much before I got the track saws and Kapex.  The TS75 was my most recent acquisition, I partly justified it by saying it was cheaper than a new table saw

As others have stated here, there are a lot of choices depending on what you are trying to do and what you can handle.  What I have works well for me.

 

[SilviaS7]

A true track saw is on my shopping list, but in the interim I am using a circular saw and the Kreg Rip-cut and Accu-cut jigs to cut down sheet goods which is my primary supply to work with.  For cutting down sheet goods, I can get some really accurate cuts, even really thin stuff - I just support the track so it won't move and cut away.  If I was trying to cut down lumber it would certainly be more difficult, but not impossible.

Me, personally?  I'm scared to death of the table saw.  I'd rather use my circular saw and jigs and take the saw blade to the work piece than taking the work piece to the saw blade.  So I already know I'm going to be making cuts that would probably best be done on a table saw, with some other method.  I also have a cheap miter saw that does the job as far as cutting across smaller pieces.  I think a table saw makes more sense for you, but I'm not the right person to recommend it.  I can say that a track saw (or in my case, a cheap circular saw with some swell jigs) can get you farther than you think, you just have to be creative with how you setup and stage your cuts.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.

Me, personally?  I'm scared to death of the table saw.  I'd rather use my circular saw and jigs and take the saw blade to the work piece than taking the work piece to the saw blade. 

I like this self-awareness of yours. I have known a few woodworkers in person who had their fingers cut using a tablesaw. One complained about pain even months and months after the accident. He now owns a TS55 and track, after ruling out the SawStop (because he does not do a lot of woodworking anymore to justify the investment).

 

[JeromeM]

That's a great point.  It seems that I'm mostly working with 4/4 and thicker boards.  I haven't built anything with a live edge yet, but those are almost always 8/4 and above, and so that would be important to take into consideration.

I'll definitely have to look into saw stop.  Safety is a BIG concern for me.  Who needs injuries!

Do think about the weight of the boards and if you really can move them over even a large table saw. If you are using 2" to 3" thick boards they are really heavy.

I know that there is no way I could be getting perfect straight line cuts in 6' long material on my table saw even in 1" thick material but with my TS55 it's easy.

You would probably need the TS75 for the material you use.

 

[Vondawg]

“I know that there is no way I could be getting perfect straight line cuts in 6' long material on my table saw even in 1" thick material.”

“??????????”

 

[JeromeM]

“I know that there is no way I could be getting perfect straight line cuts in 6' long material on my table saw even in 1" thick material.”

“??????????”

What is your question, if you don't understand I'll be happy to explain.

 

[sancho57]

“I know that there is no way I could be getting perfect straight line cuts in 6' long material on my table saw even in 1" thick material.”

“??????????”

Me too. Thats why I got a track saw

 

[RussellS]

“I know that there is no way I could be getting perfect straight line cuts in 6' long material on my table saw even in 1" thick material.”

“??????????”

What is your question, if you don't understand I'll be happy to explain.

Count me in with the first person who did the question marks and faces.  If you use the TS55 to straight line rip one edge of the 1" thick boards, then how on earth can you NOT get a straight line on the other edge when using your table saw?  You just put the straight line ripped edge against the fence and feed the board into the blade.  Use those finger joint pressure things in the miter groove, and use a push stick and/or push pads to get the wood through the blade.  6' or 16' or 36', you should easily get a straight line edge.  You're just ripping wood.  Table saws are designed for that.  USA cabinet saws are great at that one task.

 

[Alanbach]

I think that the term that you are looking for is “featherboard”. There are so many great safety / holding devices available today or you can always make your own.

 

[kevinculle]

I have and use a Makita tracksaw primarily for breaking down large sheetgoods that are awkward to handle on the tablesaw.  There are jobs that a tracksaw excels at that a tablesaw can't do, like cutting a run of deck boards straight and true.  But for manageable size sheetgoods or solid lumber my Delta Contractors saw (vintage 1986) with Incra TSIII fence system gives up nothing in accuracy to a tracksawand can perform operations that a tracksaw is ill suited for. For cutting to length or mitering stock under 12" wide my Kapex is hard to beat so long as it remains smokeless.

 

[sg1011]

That's a great point.  It seems that I'm mostly working with 4/4 and thicker boards.  I haven't built anything with a live edge yet, but those are almost always 8/4 and above, and so that would be important to take into consideration.

I'll definitely have to look into saw stop.  Safety is a BIG concern for me.  Who needs injuries!

Do think about the weight of the boards and if you really can move them over even a large table saw. If you are using 2" to 3" thick boards they are really heavy.

I know that there is no way I could be getting perfect straight line cuts in 6' long material on my table saw even in 1" thick material but with my TS55 it's easy.

You would probably need the TS75 for the material you use.

That’s a great point. Those boards are extremely heavy and I always work alone. 

Well, with the promo this month, I’m sold on the track saw for the moment. I may add a small table saw in the future, but the fact that the track saw takes up so little space is a big plus. Now I just need to figure out which one to go with: 75, 55, or 55 battery powered.

 

[TSO_Products]

Hi,

Newbie question about Festool's track saws.  I'm a hobbyist and I'm mostly interested in building furniture with hand tools and joinery.  I typically work with hard woods and I've recently thought about making table tops with glue-ups as slabs can get very expensive.  I'm sold on the Domino for sure.  My question is this, is the Festool track saw a good compromise to a table saw, or will I find myself needing a table saw more often than not?  I'd like something that can break down hard woods to size quickly and accurately.  I use mostly mortise and tenon joints.  I know that I can use a table saw to break down the joints quickly and that will allow me to go in with chisels and hand planes to further tighten/perfect the joints.  Is the track saw suitable for that kind of work? 

Thanks in advance for your input!

[member=12429]sg1011[/member]  - welcome "newbie" to the FOG - one of the most useful "tools" a woodworker could ask for.

About your track saw vs table saw question: coming from owning a 10" 3 hp table saw for decades I found a tracksaw superior for cutting sheetgoods. But the advice in this thread makes a strong case for a table saw for your needs. This begs the most fundamental question - how much space do you have? - that space is a given. You can always upgrade and buy a more suitable tool but for many, getting a larger shop space is not an option.

A comment on the saw choice: no question that Saw Stop is an excellent saw - that said, the biggest and most serious risk of injury is not a severed finger. Ask any experienced wood worker: Kickback is a more serious risk. I value a riving knife more than any other risk mitigation device.

Lastly: I was at HIGHLAND Woodworking in Atlanta recently and picked up a copy of Marc Spagnuolo's "HYBRID WOODWORKING book. A great reference book for someone like you, savvy enough to ask questions FIRST! (Useful enough that we may add this book to our website offerings)

Hans