Track saw ?

[opps]

its more the track on the waste side will make you the blade width out iff you get the half mark correct

Sorry, i don't understand.

My saw, on first use, cuts through the splinter guard. The splinter guard is what I line up to the pencil mark.

I suspect that I don't get the point that you are making.

BTW, there are times that I have to add 2.5mm for the blade kerf but most of the time I can put the track on the wider material

 

[big-all]

Sorry, i don't understand.

My saw, on first use, cuts through the splinter guard. The splinter guard is what I line up to the pencil mark.

I suspect that I don't get the point that you are making.

BTW, there are times that I have to add 2.5mm for the blade kerf but most of the time I can put the track on the wider material

you mark a point on the work with a pencil the only exact cut point is the exact measure or size as in 200mm marked with a pencill most will use the point off the pencil on the 200mm point as the measure meaning half the pencil mark is on the bit you want and half on the waste side
you then get further problems iff you want to use the same mark with the track on the waste side as in the blade must cut in the exact same space exactly half off the pencil mark on the waste side so your rail must be positioned so the blade on plunge goes into that space so imagine a lazer with no thickness for simplicity exactly half pencil mark centre so blade goes waste side the blade is say 1.6mm so 1.6mm from the lazer line so track must be 1.6mm from lazer line so off the pencil lines by 1.6mmto be exact--- clear as mudd ehh

 

[robinbanks]

you have to use left handed

What is the problem with this? In the context of a track saw, what does your right hand do that your left hand cannot?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

New to using Track saw but seems they are all left handed? In that you can’t see blade during cutting and to rip off lengths from a board you have to use left handed or the cut section will be under the track .(not practical for narrow cuts.)

As others have said, pretty much every rail guided saw out there is right handed. You don't reslly need to watch the cut line because the guide rail* keeps it all in line in the same way the rip fence on a table saw does

Plunge saws on rails are primarily designed to break down larger sheets of material into components with minimal edge break out, as you will get on MFC (Contiboard) and the like if you cut without some form of anti splinter device. That's where the anti splinter strip on the rail comes in handy, but if you cut thin strips of material on the outside of this you get two potential problems - on many saws there is no anti splinter protection on the outside of the saw blade, and you need to account for the width if the saw blade kerf when marking or making the cut

By using an add on accessory such as the Original Waste Side Jig (2.2mm kerf example shown, but other kerfs are available to match your saw blade - different blades have different kerf widths) you can take account of the kerf width of the blade to make accurate size cuts. It works by helping you set the anti splinter strip on the guide rail a kerf width further away from the right hand side of the material, thus making qn accurate cut. TBH with experience you can pretty much eyeball this, I find

Some materials, such as MDF, won't spelch much, and for some materials, such as chipboard flooring a small amount of breakout is acceptable, but where it isn't the rail should be clamped in place and a 1 to 2mm deep scoring cut made before drawing the saw back to the starting position and making a full depth cut (some saws have a built in facility to deal with this)

Another technique for dealing with narrow cuts is to place a piece of same thickness material to the left of the piece you wish to cut and use that to support the guide rail. This works better if you join the two pieces together temporarily with masking tape as narrow steips can move - the key is to support the guide rail and also ensure the narrow piece cannot move whilst you are cutting

Whatever else youneed a flat, stable cutting base to be able to use guide rails accurately and effectively

* - guide rail = track. When Festool (the inventors of this concept) originally introduced these they were called guide rails. Track is a later term from the USA

 

[foxhole]

If the blade was the other side of the saw wouldn't the track fall with the cut?

Yes that was my point when doing narrow rip cuts.Also track length would be better at 600mm sections as when cutting across or along a 8x4 board. I can only clamp one end of the track as it oversails the end of the board or is there another way to clamp?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

In your earlier post you referred to ripping - which is normally taken to mean a cut along the length of the board, hence my previous response

Yes that was my point when doing narrow rip cuts.Also track length would be better at 600mm sections as when cutting across or along a 8x4 board. I can only clamp one end of the track as it oversails the end of the board or is there another way to clamp?

The 1400/1500 length that most trade level (and some DIY) saws come with are good for cross cutting an 8 x 4ft sheet - join two together and they'll allow you to do an 8ft rip. If you are joining rails the less joins you have the better in terms of accuracy.

I don't know which brand of saw you have, but quite a few brands have 700 to 1000mm rails as well. If you do a lot of very short cuts it can be worth buying a short rail and trimming it to the length you requre, but you'll always have some overhang at the start and end of the cut as it is necessary to support the saw. The clamps supplied with many saws are designed to slot into the T-slot on the underside of the rails and can be slid back and forth, although TBH the rubber "grip strips" on the underside if the rail are often sufficient to hold it in place unassisted, I find. Are you using guide rail clamps or something else?

 

[foxhole]

In your earlier post you referred to ripping - which is normally taken to mean a cut along the length of the board, hence my previous response


The 1400/1500 length that most trade level (and some DIY) saws come with are good for cross cutting an 8 x 4ft sheet - join two together and they'll allow you to do an 8ft rip. If you are joining rails the less joins you have the better in terms of accuracy.

I don't know which brand of saw you have, but quite a few brands have 700 to 1000mm rails as well. If you do a lot of very short cuts it can be worth buying a short rail and trimming it to the length you requre, but you'll always have some overhang at the start and end of the cut as it is necessary to support the saw. The clamps supplied with many saws are designed to slot into the T-slot on the underside of the rails and can be slid back and forth, although TBH the rubber "grip strips" on the underside if the rail are often sufficient to hold it in place unassisted, I find. Are you using guide rail clamps or something else?

Thanks , didn’t realise you could slide the clamps along underneath (mine had glue and cardboard packaging remnants in the under side) all clear now.

 

[foxhole]

What is the problem with this? In the context of a track saw, what does your right hand do that your left hand cannot?

Nothing but for a right handed tool I haven’t so far been able to use it anything but left handed for all my cuts .

 

[big-all]

Nothing but for a right handed tool I haven’t so far been able to use it anything but left handed for all my cuts .

i am exactly the same
brain says look at what your doing even though theres nothing to check
infact i cut left to right using my left hand now this is not a problem except it places my big fat l
knuckes between battery and handle this worked well on my 17 year old chug along 18v dewalt plunge saw
now roll along 2018 time to update to the 54v brilliant bit off kit exactly as the 18v but up to date motor and battery .......buuuuttt the larger battery means my fat knucks dont fit between battery and handles so have to use right handed so its only used on heavy cuts

 

[robinbanks]

right handed tool

Is this a reference to the saw, or the user?

If you're desperate to use it the other way for a particular cut, you could skip the track and clamp a straightedge to the work instead

the larger battery means my fat knucks dont fit between battery and handles

It may be possible to resolve this by using a pair of battery adaptors glued back to back with an offset to move the battery away from the handle?

Definitely sounds like a slender handed design engineer at the manufacturer has dropped the ball though: that should be fed back to them, as you won't be the only person suffering from that fail

 

[big-all]

Is this a reference to the saw, or the user?

If you're desperate to use it the other way for a particular cut, you could skip the track and clamp a straightedge to the work instead


It may be possible to resolve this by using a pair of battery adaptors glued back to back with an offset to move the battery away from the handle?

Definitely sounds like a slender handed design engineer at the manufacturer has dropped the ball though: that should be fed back to them, as you won't be the only person suffering from that fail

the saw is fine used right handed as its finger tips curling in from underneath come up under the pinch point
whereas left-handed, it's the biggest part off the hand where the fingers join the hand

i think manufacturers are becoming wise and batteries will now" talk to tools " before they work

 

[robinbanks]

True true, though in the case of a dewalt battery to dewalt tool you'd just need adaptors that extend every terminal

The other option you have, I suppose, is to open the tool up, carefully cut the battery mount so you can rotate it some, and reattach it so the battery is fitted further away

 

[opps]

its more the track on the waste side will make you the blade width out iff you get the half mark correct many will cut the matk out or leave it fully in

I see what you mean. I just shift the markings by the width of the blade 2.5mm.

 

[andycollins]

Could you use some sort of stop on the track? This will depend on the track though.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Could you use some sort of stop on the track? This will depend on the track though.

What sort if thing were you thinking about doing with those? AFAIK all manufacturers supply/offer rail clamps which fit into the slots on the undersides of the rails, as do some independent suppliers, such as Bessey, who make these:

If you want to make a consistent width narrow cut the rail is set in place using a combination square at two.points which is far more accurate than using a tape measure and pencil. But the issue (in terms of accuracy) is accounting for the kerf width of the blade, which is between c.1.4mm (some cordless models) to c.2.2mm (some corded models), which is why people use plastic packers (available in 1mm and 2mm thicknesses) to add the width of the kerf