In 2004, after having the second of 3 major surgeries, I finally decided to try the EZ rail. I was just looking for a way to handle plywood more easily in my cabinet shop. SInce then, I have sold both of my unisaws. a panel saw etc and now rely on the EZ Smart Power Benches and rail system.
Along the way I went thru a phase that is where Per is now - I had to have both. Now I am operating with just the "track saws" and find it faster, at least as accurate, and much safer. The really big thing to me is it takes a lot less effort to do the work. I have my plywood stored flat on shelves kind of like those at the borg. I can slide a sheet of 3/4 ply off the stack and on the cutting table without ever picking it up. I then set up the repeaters and the EZ rail and rip one or a dozen pieces to the same size - no ruler required. I can leave the rip laying where I cut it and then pickup a cabinet maker and cut as many pieces to a set length as I desire. Or if I prefer, I can take the ripped piece to a cross cut PBB and do the cross cuts. I've still got enough "Table saw" in me to want to rip first.
Others don't have the table saw background and prefer to cross cut first and then rip out the pieces. This can be done easily with the cabinetmaker or the power bench or a combo of the two.
My personal experience is using the EZ Smart equipment is much easier than using the traditional table saw. Also safety is much better. Some of my power benches are equipped with Uni fences.
Burt
Added. I noticed the comments about the miter gauge. I've modified a couple of the incra's by replacing the miter bar with an EZ connector. WIth that in a EZ rail, I cut any angle I want. I also use one on one of my power benches as a stop for gang cross cuts.
Last edited by Burt Waddell; 12-30-2008 at 9:09 PM.
Reason: add
I'm still drooling over the new Unisaw, but the RIDGID contractor saw will just have "to do" for now.
I have a soft spot in my heart for those Ridgid contractor saws, I bought a used 3612 when I got back into woodworking about 5 or 6 years ago...what a great little saw that was, but it was just not powerful enough to really do the type of work that I wanted. Still, I really loved it, it was easy to use, reliable, and pretty darn accurate. It was a fun saw to use, had a built in mobile base, you will not find me saying a bad word about those saws. The 3650 is similar, although made in China, still a good saw.
In fact I bought my Ridgid out of the for sale forum on SMC, as I recall...had to drive about 1 1/2 hours to get it just outside the bay area. Bought it for $250 and sold it a few years later for $500 (it was dressed up nicely though with blades, miter, etc...).
However, I really have to appreciate my replacement for the Ridgid, as I was cutting 2 1/2" hot dogs today...my Ridgid would have struggled with this, but darn I still love that little saw...I don't think it could cut through this size hot dog unless you were really patient and accurate, I could stall it with 8/4 maple on a fairly slow feed with a good blade. I never tried 8/4 hickory, that would be a test, but it struggled with 4/4 hickory. Still, a great darn saw!
--
Life is about what your doing today, not what you did yesterday! Seize the day before it sneaks up and seizes you!
Alan - http://www.traditionaltoolworks.com:8080/roller/aland/
The only thing I would use a track saw for would be breaking down the plywood sheets before they go into the TS...my shop is small and full sheets are hard to handle on the big cuts. Otherwise, I wouldn't need one at all. Right now I use an 8' level [$48] with two clamps [$12] and a Hitatchi circ saw [$89 at Lowe's].
My 2¢ - I have a table saw, RAS, and a shop-made made circular saw guide. Track saws are really great at cutting up big and medium sized sheet goods. Table saws are probably better at ripping narrower pieces, and cutting joinery - like dados, tenons, and rabbets. There's also significant overlap - both can handle a lot of normal cuts - like crosscuts, miters, and smaller panels. The EurekaZone forum here has a lot of information about their track saw system - their web site has some pictures and video of how their stuff works.
I was recently offered 300 10ft 2x4s free if I was just willing to haul them away. I've been working in an unframed block wall shop for 20 years, always wanted to frame it out but just never got around to it. Now here was a chance to do it for free but when I saw the 2xs maybe 2/3 were usable, and many of those were bowed to some extent.
But the cheapskate in me got the upper hand and I took them, well I got my son to pick them up. I figured I'd straighten one edge no problem and slapped together an 8ft plywood sled and started running them through my Unisaw. It worked but wasn't so easy, infeed/outfeed stands falling; needed a better way.
So I did what I always do when I have a problem, I googled it. "Straightening Dimensional Lumber" etc., and I stumble on this guy on Utube with a funny accent doing amazing cuts with this guide. Well I knew that funny accent being of Greek heritage, I've heard it my whole life, and this guy seemed to have just what I needed. The EZ guy.
So I ordered two sections of the EZ guide, it comes with clamps to hold the workpiece and a carrier for the saw. Mounted a PC74?(whatever the right hand verson of the 743 is) and easlily put a straight edge on the 2x4s. Now my PC just makes it through a 2x, and I was worried that the bowed stock would be away from the guide and not get cut. But the extrusion on the guide is so stiff and you can put the clamps anywhere along the guide, you can actually pull the bow up tight to the guide.
I only have the basic guide but it's quite versatile, I cut up a sheet of birch ply with the same 24 tooth blade I used on the 2xs with almost no tear out. Not quite ready to junk my Unisaw but this does things a tablesaw won't.
Yeah, I have the newer version (TS3650) and have no complaints -- especially since I also have a Festool track-type saw.
It's still my dream to have a cabinet saw someday, but it'll have to come with a bigger garage.
JW
Originally Posted by Alan DuBoff
I have a soft spot in my heart for those Ridgid contractor saws, I bought a used 3612 when I got back into woodworking about 5 or 6 years ago...what a great little saw that was, but it was just not powerful enough to really do the type of work that I wanted. Still, I really loved it, it was easy to use, reliable, and pretty darn accurate. It was a fun saw to use, had a built in mobile base, you will not find me saying a bad word about those saws. The 3650 is similar, although made in China, still a good saw.
In fact I bought my Ridgid out of the for sale forum on SMC, as I recall...had to drive about 1 1/2 hours to get it just outside the bay area. Bought it for $250 and sold it a few years later for $500 (it was dressed up nicely though with blades, miter, etc...).
However, I really have to appreciate my replacement for the Ridgid, as I was cutting 2 1/2" hot dogs today...my Ridgid would have struggled with this, but darn I still love that little saw...I don't think it could cut through this size hot dog unless you were really patient and accurate, I could stall it with 8/4 maple on a fairly slow feed with a good blade. I never tried 8/4 hickory, that would be a test, but it struggled with 4/4 hickory. Still, a great darn saw!
I have owned tablesaws for 40 years and will never own another. I dumped my latest tablesaw and went for the Eurekazone system and I have not looked back. ANY track-type saw system will beat ANY tablesaw, period.
After numerous minor injuries and one semi-major one, after taking up space in my limited shop, and attempts to keep tablesaws tuned up, I had simply had enough.
Tablesaws are yesterday's technology. Hello, 21st century!
I have a 10" Sears Cabinet Saw, a 12" De Walt RAS and 12" De Walt miter saw, and a TS 55 with a 55" and 110" track. Each has unique uses not easily accomplished on the other saws.
For the Festool: I save a ton of time at the jointer by using the 110" track on long boards to take out a bad curve prior to jointing. I took the FS to my daughter's house to quickly trim the bottem edges of some passage doors after she got new carpet. Last week a friend asked me to shorten two Formica counter tops. He expected me to use the table saw but the dynamics of maneuvering something that large across the TS is not something I choose to do. I could have used the RAS with the fence moved to the rear position and lower the blade into the cut, but that is too much like work. I used the 55" track to cut as much as possible off and then aligned a block of squared up wood to the kerf to serve as a guide for a Japaneese style saw to finish the cut through the backsplash.
Question for the guys who sold their table saw: Do you mostly work with plywood? I mostly work with solid hardwood, and I rip so many boards that I think I would be slowed by not having my table saw.
I did build a couple cabinet projects, and sure wished for a track saw during the sheet breakdown stage. I ended up building a homebrew crosscut T-square circular saw sled, and cutting most sheets in half with a circular saw. I work alone, and moving a full 4 x 8 sheet across the table saw makes for way too much work. Same thing with large glued up solid wood panels such as dining room table tops, too big and heavy for me to crosscut the ends on a table saw.
Question for you DeWalt and Festool track saw guys: Are your saw units more rigid and precise than the better framing type circular saws, or is the quality of cut simply a function of the track?
ANY track-type saw system will beat ANY tablesaw, period.
Huh? Something is wrong here. I'd love to see the last cove cut you ran with your tracksaw.
Originally Posted by Talbert McMullin
After numerous minor injuries and one semi-major one, after taking up space in my limited shop, and attempts to keep tablesaws tuned up, I had simply had enough.
Ah.
Frankly, sounds like you had a bad saw, insufficient training, or poor judgment. I tuned my saw once, when I set it up. Its worked fine since then. No injuries. When I feel like something is dangerous or a potential problem, I figure out a way to do it that is safer.
I own both a TS and a track saw. If I was only building euro cabinets, I might get rid of the TS. Since I don't just build euro cabinets, I find a TS indispensable.
My problem with all the TS v. tracksaw debate is simple, and its the same issue I have with religious zealots--the inability of the converted to recognize the fact that if a solution works for you, is it not necessarily the case that it will work for everyone else in the world. It doesn't mean it isn't a solution for you. It just means that it isn't necessarily the solution for me.
I ran across a lot of bent 2x4s when framing out walls in my shop... I think my answer was to offset the framing slightly from the concrete (good idea anyway) and powernail PT blocks to the wall, and pre-bend the 2x4s back to square before nailing them to the PT blocks.
Crappy 2x4s are so reactionary I'm surprised they didn't warp again as soon as you cut 'em.
Does the restoration of this thread seem suspicious to anyone else?
Dang. I usually notice this. Been noticing a lot of "revived" threads recently. At least this one is only 4 months old... Keep seeing threads come back from 2006. At least I notice those.
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Originally Posted by Jason White
