DIY Track Saw (comparable to Festool and Dewalt)

[aarondcoe]

Thanks again for the video and for the further information. I hate to bother you, but did you find it difficult to align your drilled holes to the blade? I would think they had to be perfectly parallel. Great jig.

[maacsamja]

@aarondcoe I just used a pair of calipers, it will leave a nice scribe mark on the aluminum plate. I was able to get it within .002" or so of parallel.

[aarondcoe]

Thanks for sharing this. I really like the design. Unlike some others, I think the track makes for less chance of wander than a fence-type system, especially when leaning over a wide panel. How are your results? Would you say comparable to a table saw? Also, which Makita is that? Most of the models I've seen have base plates without holes. Thanks again.

[maacsamja]

@aarondcoe It is the Makita 5007F it did not have holes on the plate, I picked the saw because it had a flat Aluminum base. I drilled the holes for the track I mounted on it. Yes I can cut comparable to a table saw, I would say it cuts better than a table when you are trying to cut down large sheet material by yourself. I really like it for straightening out rough cut lumber.

[rawbu2]

I appreciate the methods of hardboard, Festool, and the Dewalt, and this one too. Every woodworker has a particular way he enjoys doing his craft. For instance some purists when cutting mortise and tenon in timber framing use hand tools only, I on the other hand use them in conjunction with my Makita 7104L Chain Mortiser. Saves me lots of work, but I also appreciate the old ways to… I guess it’s all about showing respect for others choices... oh by the way, well done - Robin Koykka

[IrishWoodDoctor]

this is brilliant, he has come up with an idea and uses it for what he does. Festool stuff is too expensive, i'd leave it for weekend lawyer woodworkers and tool collectors.

To the person who made this video, you are a genius, keep up the good work!

[bronson75]

@IrishWoodDoctor

Weekend lawyer? Pretty you mean weekend warrior.

[scalabration]

Awesome as long as it's accurate and safe.

[litelines]

this is brilliant.....Incredible simplicity that will make a straight cut. The saw manufacturers should include this rail [and give you a piece of the action] as a bonus accessory or offer it as a aftermarket add-on accessory.

[meo80]

this method is much more simplier and more accuratly efficient.. Saw does not wonder off. has to follow the track no matter what

[Mugwart1]

Great idea - you may have just saved me $300. :) One question, since it looks like you're still checking this 2009 post (that's awesome, btw!): Do you have any issues with tear-out on the pieces you're cutting? Thanks, man.

[mattprzybylski]

I have a Makita LXT circular saw and it has one hole in the plate. Did yours have holes set up that you can bolt to or did you make them yourself? I'm a bit weary about drilling into the shoe plate of my brand new saw...

[samten10a]

I built three;  9.5’ 6’ and 4’ out of stainless steel. The edge is 1/32 from the cut line. Work well.

[jholdway]

I love it. But I still have festool lust.

[heli400]

There's an easier way with just using 1/4" hardboard. It's lighter than plywood and you don't need to bolt anything on to your saw. let alone trying to bolt it on parallel to the saw blade

[maacsamja]

@heli400

 I have used the hard board method, and it works however it takes more time and you must be very careful while you cut. The reason for the track is to make repeatably accurate cuts easily. As for weight, my set up (to cut 10 feet) might weigh 7lbs.

[heli400]

@maacsamja how is it slower? and why would you need to be more careful while you cut? it works the same, results are accurate, and is repeatable.... and as it's only 1/4" you can cut thicker material.... either you may confused as to what i am describing or perhaps i should build yours & compare the results

[maacsamja]

@heli400 The reason why it is slower is that you have to be careful while you cut, you have to make sure the edge of the saw stays up against the piece of wood you use as a straight edge typically 3/4 plywood. With the track system the saw can't wander and so both sides of the cut are perfectly straight. I haven't had any issues with depth of cut. I cut all the plywood for my cabinets this way and straightened up all the rough hard wood for the face frames and doors, with no depth issues.

[heli400]

@maacsamja Gotcha, thx. I haven't concerned myself with the off cut before, I might go make one now.

[RedowlMB]

I'm going to have to try this since there is no way I can afford a track saw for some time to come. Thanks for posting!

[swakalitaka]

What is cool about nasty dust flying all over the place. Try to make the cuts in your living room or even in your basement. We want to see your final product. Any pictures of your work?

[maacsamja]

@swakalitaka My Wife would kill me if I tried to cut wood in my living room. I am a DIY guy I do not do woodworking for a living, it my hobby. Sure if it was my source of income I would just by the Fe-stool along with the dust collection. I do all my wood working in my driveway or garage(with the door open), with dust collection for the bigger tools. I was able to build my entire kitchen, when I get a chance I post some pictures. I also used a similar setup for my soapstone counters

[maacsamja]

MC

The location is not critical for the track, just make sure it is parallel to the blade, I used a set of calipers to scratch the aluminum base plate for my parallel line. I used allen head bolts with self locking nuts to fasten it.  The first time you use the setup you run the saw down the plywood at it will match the track to your blade distance.

[MiCompre]

Maac... This seems like a neat idea, so thanks for posting it .

I can envisage how it works no problem. So, please could you explain how you determined the distance from the blade to the 'T' track you fixed to the sole of your saw? Also how did you fix it? Rivets? Nuts & bolts? Epoxy?

Thanks again

MC

[hoteoin28]

Great Job thats a better design than the one I had. I Eventually bought the festool and it has saved me so much time. This is a great setup for someone thats not working in the trade

[ak99372]

Seems great and I'll have to do something similar... isn't the track made out of plywood too heavy? Did you do any improvements since you made it?

[maacsamja]

@ak99372

I have not made any improvements to it, I have used this setup to make all of my kitchen cabinets and drawers and it has worked flawlessly. I even used it to trim up my doors after assembly. The plywood track weight has not been a issue for me.

[palmer3977]

i made a very similar one of these years ago & did use it successfully & very accurately for years but then i bought a makita track saw kit about 4 years ago & i must say although a very big improvement over a basic straight edge & clamp these home made tracks are NOT comparable to the makita purpose made track saw apart from where the track edge is, is where the saw blade cuts, that's it

[EchosFromaBlankMind]

A real innovative and clever work around for the $600.00+ track saws out there. Those haters who write are just jealous that they did not think of this first. Good going, and think of the money you saved with each and every cut!!

[kenny474]

Good idea.

However, WoodRiver and a few others now make clamping aluminum tracks and a universal base plate that you can mount a router or circular saw to, and they are very affordable, about $30 for the track and same for the base plate. They also have a protractor attachment for precise angled cuts as well, and a few other options and attachments. Worth looking into as they are very versatile. I retired my home made rig and purchased a track, a few bases and the protractor, worth every penny.

[rudoatlas]

good, but the line in which you guide the saw you made with router and it costs some 1 or 2 hundred nice green US $ heh :-)

by the way, makita made also plunge saw called: SP 6000 which is as good as festool but not so expensive and the guide rail is the same like festool has, so you may put additional things from festool on to it.

[OldSchoolSkill]

I'm glad to see resourceful people who think for themselves and make their own jigs. Although I like the quality of Festool products, they are overpriced. So like you, I made my own track-guide system.

Your design is better than mine for simplicity and economy though. I hope many people learn from you, thereby putting pressure on manufacturers to reduce exorbitant prices.

Your idea of using the track in a groove, instead of a groove on the track is clever "out-of-the-box" thinking!

[vladhogan]

Thanks so much for the great idea. You saved me a bunch of money. And pay no attention to the idiots leaving negative comments. They're just pissed because they went out and paid hundreds of dollars for what you made for essentially nothing. Good stuff and thanks again.

[jaramima]

This is too cool.

[Garciamrcool]

Cool, I want one : )

[jubjub247]

Wow! Nice set up! I used a factory plywood edge glued and screwed to a piece of plywood and used that as a saw guide but I like your idea BETTER!

I have the same Makita saw, I just got a Freud thin kerf blade for it and DAMM that thing cuts like hell with zero effort!

[the1md]

Thanks! copied and it worked!

[joryuto]

Very good idea man :) I'm making one too :)

[ron1martens]

Well done. You probably thought say that gives me an idea. A great innovation. After doing a job I think how can I do this more easy and efficient. Such is the experience working in building. I have a festool and I find you still need to place the fence very accurately to make true cuts. Now dewalt, metabo have joined makita in the rail system which I think is a revolution in accurate work and can be used for tile cutting the possibilities are endless.

[helping2market]

Great idea for those of us that don't want to fork out big bucks just to make accurate straight cuts. I agree if your a professional that is making constant cuts then the track saw would be a great solution...but a thousand bucks to use every once in a while is just not in my budget.

[mm2239]

That's pretty cool. Not sure what's up with all the hate either. Wierdos I guess?!?!?!

[NixonAre]

@mm2239 he smaked festool in the face:P that pisses the toolsnobbs of:P makes ther dustfree shops seem uslesly expensive:P

[madtho]

Wow, what's with all the hate?

You all know he'll get 90% of what one does with a tracksaw with this setup.

Nice work man.

[ardvarkkkkk]

Sure sounds like he didn't get the track on the bottom of the saw straight.

[maacsamja]

You are correct it is not perfectly straight, but it is within 0.002". Good enough for aerospace, should be good enough for woodworking.

[kingmike40]

You will also save money on the blades. The blades for the festool and dewalt saws are 20mm bore and 6 1/2" diameter. Last I check these blades are about 60 each.

[lwood667]

And for those hating on a good idea....no it doesn't do everything a Festool does, but it doesn't cost $600(i assume you want the track extension for full sheet rips) and it doesn't require you to buy $80 blades. And as for a guide for every bevel angle, I do remodeling work and occasionally build cabinets for people and I rarely find myself cutting bevels in plywood other than 45 degrees. This doesn't do everything, but it saves time over offsetting your straight-edge 4 17/32" every time.

[lwood667]

This is a great Idea. My company just bought the festool and man, I am never using a table saw to rip full sheets of 3/4 plywood again. I was going to make a zero clearance guide for myself using two strips of mdf(one 4" on top of one 10" and then cut the excess off with the saw). This is better because it's supported on both sides. plus the guides are easier to make just route a channel into some plywood or mdf and run the saw to make it zero clearance...voila.

[wartexmaul]

Actually it's not anywhere close to a track saw because you can't do bevel cuts with it with zero clearance between the blade and the track, it does not plunge (it dips) like Dewalt, it does not have a kickback lock, it doesn't have snipe strips. What you have is a circular saw with a cumbersome ruler. I can just clamp a square aluminum tube and achieve the same effect.

[maacsamja]

First off I was not aware that there was rules for what is and what isn't a track saw. By your definition the Dewalt track saw isn't a track saw either. Yes it doesn't have a kickback lock or a snipe strips , but it also didn't cost $500+ like the festool saw. There is no way that you can can easily get a repeatable cut that is as accurate as this setup with just an aluminum square tube. As for cumbersome the festool and dewalt are just as cumbersome with their long tracks.

[maacsamja]

As for beveled cuts it will do them just fine, I have a track that has a 45 deg zero clearance cut on it, and since it's just plywood it's cheap to make any bevel I need.

I designed this setup to be for the average woodworker, sure if I was making a living from woodworking I would buy a festool or dewalt, but I'm not.

[drewbg3333]

if you do the math and figure out how much money it would take to make 45 different' straight edge for each degree, I bet your not saving much if any at all. What you have is a joke. I'd like to see you try and make a sink cut out with just that Circular saw. Or a Inlay piece for the floor. It just might kick back in your face.

[hovh03]

@drewbg3333 I think the saw works great for what it does. It doesn't do everything other saw does, but people don't need all other tool either. Get real. When I just need what the saw does, then the saw provides the right service for me. Why is it so hard for you to grasp?  For the bevel, it can be done a little differently, that you don't need to cut the wood, but just adjust some other anchor. Also, the design can easily be changed to allow a circular saw to tilt.

[vapiddrivel]

@wartexmaul

[toadboat]

Nice sun protection. What about your EARS! God, those Makita saws are LOUD!!!

WHAT???

Great concept anyway.

[maacsamja]

One trick I found is the wax the plywood with some paste car wax. Just make sure you leave your self enough room to clear the clamps on. I have also made a 5' and 3' guide. With those I milled 2 slots and then cut one side for 45 deg cuts.

[maacsamja]

I made this with a Makita saw that has a solid aluminum base. I got 3/4 inch track from Rockler and bolted it on the base of the saw. The only thing that maters for location is that it is parallel to the blade. I cut threads into the base for the allen head bolts and then used a not on top to lock it. The 3/4inch groove in the plywood was milled with a router and a level as a straight edge.