# Shop Made Track Saw



## tedelis (Jan 24, 2015)

I am starting to build a new cabinet for my router table. Like most projects breaking down the sheet goods comes first. I was sick of using a straight edge and offsetting by 1 1/2", then double checking, then triple checking, then cutting, then starting the process all over again. So I decided to make a "track saw". I saw a youtube video with something similar and it looked like a good idea to me.

I had an extra section of t-track laying around, so I started by mounting it to my circular saw. I drilled and tapped for the bolts. The track can easily go on and off.










Then I cut an 8' and a 52" section of 3/4" ply and put a dado in them that exactly matched the t-track. The dado was spaced far enough from the edge so the first pass with the saw would make it almost like a zero clearance insert.




























I broke down 2 sheets of 3/4" ply with it so far and am very pleased with the results. In the past I cut the pieces over sized, then trimed them at the table saw. Not anymore. Now its easy.... mark the size, clamp to line, and cut. Perfect every time. The tear out is next to nothing. Probably not as nice as a Festool, but a hell of a lot cheaper! It cost me nothing, I had the track and the plywood was going to be extra from the router cabinet project.

Thanks for looking.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Tim ,welcome to Router Forums, glad to have you join us, I'm positive the members of the community would be more than willing to answer any questions you have


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

I like the way you did this Tim. Welcome to the forums!


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

Very neat, Tim. I use a simple saw guide shown below. It works great as long as you keep the saw hard against it, but sometimes the saw can wander away - not a problem with your solution.


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## tvman44 (Jun 25, 2013)

I love your idea, should work better than the way I do it now (similar to what you used to do). Would definitely be a lot more accurate and faster. I will probably borrow your idea when I get a chance, not a high priority right now as I don't break down sheet goods very often, I like small projects better.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Nice solution, Tim. Easy to make, affordable, and effective. Cool.


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Another factory tool bites the dust. I imagine the hardest part was ensuring the miter slide was true parallel to the blade.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Ghidrah said:


> Another factory tool bites the dust. I imagine the hardest part was ensuring the miter slide was true parallel to the blade.


It wouldn't make any difference. The first pass with the saw will cut the edge parallel to the track and create a zero clearance. I have a track saw that works well. It's a Scheppach (same model as the one sold by Grizzly). I use it a lot, even though I have a table saw.


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## DonkeyHody (Jan 22, 2015)

You guy's have got to stop this. Don't you realize that an entire industry depends on us buying tools to support our habit? Some engineer stayed up nights designing a track saw. Then the manufacturing, marketing and sales people all got involved. Finally, some Chinaman went to work in a sweatshop, making tracksaws so he could buy rice for his family. All that is for naught if you people insist on building tools yourselves. Now, stop this foolishness and get out your credit cards.


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## tedelis (Jan 24, 2015)

Thanks for the comments everyone. I can't take credit for the idea though. I Googled "shop made track saw" and a link to a video came up. I hadn't seen it anywhere before so I thought I would post mine here.

Andy - I had one of those too, and also found the saw to wander from time to time. I started looking into track saws then stopped when I saw the price tags!

Ghidrah - I did spend a good amount of time with that. I actually made it parallel to the edge of the base plate. I assumed that was parallel to the blade. I agree with MT though, I just wanted it as close as I could make it.

DonkeyHody -  :lol:


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Yes it would cut the ply to whatever part of the blade made last contact right? 

If the outfeed side made last contact wouldn't create the same effect as the outfeed side of the TS and leave a disrupted edge of the piece cut?


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## RMIGHTY1 (Nov 5, 2014)

Thanks for sharing Tim! Great pics. I am going right now to look it up on YT.

DonkeyHody, thank you for your humor!


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## Al B Thayer (Jun 2, 2014)

Good job Tim,
I like to build the obvious too. If I hadn't already built a panel saw. I would most likely build the one you have showcased. 

Mikes right about the alignment.

Al


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

MT Stringer said:


> It wouldn't make any difference. The first pass with the saw will cut the edge parallel to the track and create a zero clearance. I have a track saw that works well. It's a Scheppach (same model as the one sold by Grizzly). I use it a lot, even though I have a table saw.


The first pass will indeed cut the edge parallel to the track. However, if the blade is not parallel to the guide, two things happen; the kerf will be wider than the blade by the amount out of parallel and you will possibly get a rough cut on the part. It is important that the blade be parallel to the guide - this requirement is stressed by all track saw manufacturers.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I built a homemade guide like the other shown in this thread and was having trouble with the saw wandering. When I measured the distance from the sole to the blade there was a difference of 1/16" from front to rear. I drove the roll pin out at the front connection of saw to sole plate and filed and shimmed it to true and the saw stopped wandering and the cut quality was near perfect with a good fine tooth blade.


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi Tim

As a very regular plunge/rail saw user for more than 15 years (10 years with the Festool system) and being a full-time shop fit joiner (a sort of trim carpenter) please permit me please to point out a small flaw in the design. If you add a fixed fence to the underside of the saw like that then the saw is unavailable for general ripping work off the rail. This is OK if you can have a dedicated saw for the task, but personally there just isn't space (or back strength) fo me to carry two saws onto a job. Removing and replacing the guide when needed I just don't see as an option because you'd need to realign the guide each time. I've had a Hilti rail saw get dropped on a job in the past and realigning the baseplate to the rail was a good 30 minute task which I could ill afford at the time (we tend to work to tight fixed schedules). Discrepancies of even half a degree in alignment will cause quite bad splintering of melamine and can lift or chip veneer as well, especially on the crosscut.

As a basic breaking-down tool, though, I think it must work pretty well.



Ghidrah said:


> Another factory tool bites the dust.


Oh, I somehow doubt it.

Festool saws have anti-splinter devices on both sides of the blade - very necessary if you are cutting down high-priced veneer or laminated materials where every millimetre of waste is critical and you have virtually no wastage allowance

The other thing about a Festool-type saw is that they have superb dust control. There is simply no comparison between a Ridgid or Milwaukee saw hooked up to a vacuum and a Festool/Makita/Mafell plunge saw hooked up to a vac. The rail saws are clean enough that I don't need to wear a dust mask when cutting stuff like MDF, MDO, etc

Sorry if this sounds negative, it's not meant to be. It's meant more to explain the differences between a home-made track and a high-quality manufactured system, such as the Festool. I used home-made rails rather like Andy L's for many years before I even bought my first plunging rail saw. It did the job quite well (if not as quickly as a Fes) and had the advantage that when the alignment edge got a bit ropey (as happens) the guide batten at he back could be shunted across a few millimetres, refixed and a fresh edge cut. On the Festool I simply replace the sacrificial anti-splinter strip from time to time

Regards

Phil


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## Davif (Nov 24, 2014)

Sweet idea. How about adding a plate to the bottom of the saw (I know it will reduce your depth of cut) with a zero clearance cut. This could help with blowout. 

I'll keep this one tucked away in my file cabinet (brain) next time I need it.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

Davif said:


> Sweet idea. How about adding a plate to the bottom of the saw (I know it will reduce your depth of cut) with a zero clearance cut. This could help with blowout.
> 
> I'll keep this one tucked away in my file cabinet (brain) next time I need it.


Replace the 3/4" plywood "track" with 1/2" plywood, use a 3/4" wide x 1/4" thick piece of aluminum bolted to the saw base as a guide and screw a piece of the same 1/2" plywood to the underside of the saw. Cut the zero clearance slot by lowering the blade through the plywood and notching out the back end for the guard. Ready to go. The advantage to this set-up is that the piece of plywood can be replaced if worn - or if a different width saw blade is used so you can maintain the zero-clearance (anti-chip) feature.

Tom


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## John10ey (Nov 26, 2014)

*Useful*

Ah, something useful to do with that old circular saw stored under the bench. Thanks for sharing.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Seems to me that if you set the miter bar against a straight edge, which is pressed up against the body of the blade, that you would get as parallel as needed for pretty precise cutting. I would even consider using a little of liquid weld to hold it in place. Of course you would also make sure the blade was exactly 90 to the base first, and I'd use a brand new blade to set it up. Getting the miter straight is a matter of buying something very straight to begin with, then maybe planing it flat (assuming you didn't have a table saw). Then routering the dado with an edge guide. 

So many opportunities to introduce a small error! But this sure would be a sweet thing to break down sheet goods or even to sub for the occasional table saw cut. Lowering the saw into a cut sounds very useful.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

nicely executed Tim...


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