Frustrated myself this morning relearning what I already knew.

I'm making my son and daughter-in-law a large cabinet to improve storage in their laundry area. It is about 5.5 x 4x 2 feet. The cabinet is together and I am working on the face frame. They plan to paint the cabinet so I am using maple (durable and I hate to think of them painting cherry). So I needed to cut a maple board I had on hand to 1 7/8 wide pieces, their kitchen has a 1 7/8 face frame on the cabinets and is adjacent to the laundry. I actually have two maple boards but am reserving the nicer one with straighter grain for the doors. So the board I used has a pretty good sized knot near one end but still gave me plenty of wood.

Now I know that maple burns at the slightest provocation and a dirty blade is more than enough provocation. But I didn't bother to clean my table saw blade. I also know that I get a better straight edge on boards using my track saw than I do with my table saw. But I did not initially use it either. I just frustrated myself using my dirty bladed table saw to make slightly non-straight pieces. I tried just changing blades but the one I put on was not very clean either. Fortunately I did switch quickly to cutting the first edge with the track saw - which has a decently clean blade on it. But as a result of my messing around the face frame will be 1 13/16 wide instead of 1 7/8. Not a big deal.

I also found a new way to mess up. I tried just cutting both edges of these narrow strips with the track saw but I was cutting on a sheet of foam insulation and I think that let the pieces tilt during the cut and the edge was not at right angles to the face. I've never noticed that before. Switching to scrap plywood for a sacrificial layer probably would have solved it but I just switch back to the table saw for the second cut. I used a clean combination blade on a piece and by then the cleaner had cleaned my rip blade and I put it on. So the last several cuts went fine. Clean rip blade works much better.

Humbling to have to relearn to clean my blades and use the right tool for the job, not what is easiest to use.

I also noticed that the area closer to the knot was less stable but I anticipated that and it did not contribute significantly to my issues.

I am taking a short rest before cutting the pieces to length and putting domino mortises in the joints. I think I will have room to also put a pocket screw in each joint so I do not to mess with large clamps. I'm planning to take the face frame to their house in pieces and fit the two sides to the walls before putting the face frame together. So the horizontal pieces will be left about 1/8 long.

Relax. All of us who have not done certain work in years, run across issues like you have today. The good thing is that you had the knowledge and recognize what you could have done better.

Ripping maple without burning is pretty easy on a table saw. I've ripped a lot of maple on my Craftsman table saw with nary a burn mark. The key is to have a well tuned saw and a good quality ripping blade such as a Freud Glue Line Rip blade. If you are getting burn marks when ripping I would advise checking the saw alignment including the fence to the the blade.

I don't have experience using a track saw, but from my view point a track saw is made for cutting large panels. Using a track that is 6+ inches wide on a board that isn't wider than the base of the track would tend to allow the track and saw to tilt pretty easily.

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Originally Posted by Jim Dwight

I also know that I get a better straight edge on boards using my track saw than I do with my table saw.

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Wow...I am with Lee...maybe a table saw tuneup is needed...

The burns are on the side closest to the rip fence, not the offcut side. So I could probably toe the rip fence out a little. But with the rip blade on and a consistent push rate through the cut it doesn't burn. Mainly it is just me. This was also hard maple, in my experience soft maple is easier to work with.

To those who haven't tried putting a straight edge on a board with a track saw I encourage you to do so. My PCS rip fence is around 3 feet long, my longest track saw track is over 8 feet long. I can and have joined it to a track over 4 feet long for long boards. As long as you are careful to align the joint before tightening the grub screws of the connector even a jointed track will be straight and give you a very straight edge. It's a better way to make these cuts IMHO than a table saw regardless of the state of tune. For the same reason a jointer with a long bed gives you a straighter edge than a short one like I have.

I successfully make cuts on narrow boards sometimes with my track saw but not with the board sitting on foam insulation. You need another board of the same thickness to help support the track and if you do that and have the board you are cutting on something solid, you should get good results. But cutting a board less than 2 inches wide and several feet long is really better done on a table saw (when you have both available).

My whole issue was being hard headed and trying to do things the way I know is more difficult. Rip blades rip better than combination blades. Clean blades cut better than dirty ones. Cutting the rough sawn edge off a board in preparation to rip it to width is better done with a track saw (more controversial perhaps but I think this is correct). Cutting to final width on a small width part is easier to do well on a table saw.

It sounds like maybe the issue is getting a straight edge off your jointer.

I don't think I would ever choose the track saw vs the tablesaw for cutting boards. It should always be faster to cut on the tablesaw if you've got a decent size motor. Whether it burns or not is likely a function of blade type and alignment of the blade. There's no technical reason a small diameter, low power saw should give a better cut than a 10+" blade on a tablesaw.

I'll straight line a rough board with my track saw, especially if it's going to end up as a 8-9-10' continuous face frame. It's just usually faster than the jointer, and i dont have a SLR. I always break down door and FF stock completely in the rough so edge squareness and burn marks don't actually matter as it's all cut away in processing.

To anyone saying a track saw doesn't leave a cleaner cut than a table saw? That's not my experience.

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Originally Posted by Jared Sankovich

I'll straight line a rough board with my track saw, especially if it's going to end up as a 8-9-10' continuous face frame. It's just usually faster than the jointer, and i dont have a SLR. I always break down door and FF stock completely in the rough so edge squareness and burn marks don't actually matter as it's all cut away in processing.

To anyone saying a track saw doesn't leave a cleaner cut than a table saw? That's not my experience.

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You put the track on the rough board or joint a face first?

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Originally Posted by Greg Funk

You put the track on the rough board or joint a face first?

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Rough board

Regarding track tilting, I cut on foam and always bring a few cutoffs of the same approximate thickness as the board to cut. Place 2 or 3 of those along the back side of the track and you can still cut on th foam all day long with a level track.

Jery,

I had to use other boards to support the track, the pieces were less than 2 inches wide. But the board I was cutting still did not get a cut edge square to the face. Part of the issue may have been my piece of foam is getting pretty well chewed up - it is well used.

A longer jointer would be nice sometimes but I do not have room for it in my 14x24 shop. My jointer is only about 3 feet long but it's 8 5/8 wide. So I can face joint most boards to get them flat before using the planner. Edges get cut with the track saw. It just isn't practical to joint a long board on my little jointer. Track saw works fine as long as the operator remembers what he knows.

I sometimes use my track saw on rough sawn boards but not for finish cuts. I use it for finish cuts on boards already thickness planned.

I do not care if it is a 3 foot jointer or a 3 foot long table saw fence, it will not do a great job giving you a straight edge on a 8 foot or longer board. A correctly used track saw will give you a great edge on a long board. It is not as powerful but I sometimes use mine on 8 quarter hardwood. Words better on 1 inch material admittedly. But narrow pieces are more difficult to cut correctly with a track saw in my experience. Table saw works better.