Why serious Woodworkers need track saws

[Ken Fitzgerald]

You need air.

Let's see if I understand this.....some of the great masters didn't have track saws.....I believe each of us should use that which works for us as individuals .........and I need air? LOL!

[Art Mann]

Unless someone earns his living by doing woodworking, he doesn't need any woodworking tools. No hobby is a necessity by the very definition of the word. I do woodworking in part because I have access to tools that make building nice things easier. While I would like for all woodworkers on this forum to be aware of the benefits of a track saw, I would not suggest that they are for everyone. Is that what someone is saying?

[Martin Wasner]

A track saw could come in handy for me, but it'd rarely get used . I don't have much need for straight cuts in the field, and I have almost zero use for it in the shop. Basically I'd only use it for things that I don't want to cut on the Striebig.

[Ole Anderson]

I have a track saw and find it very useful for many operations. And I have a BS and a MS, but I couldn't get along without a TS. How else can you quickly and accurately size smallish, narrow strips of wood needed, say, for the rails and styles of a cabinet door? Fit a dado blade to a track saw? Nope. Cut cheeks and tenons using a tenoning jig? Nope. Cut smallish perfectly square panels for cabinet doors? Not easily. Well maybe with a track saw and a sliding track MS. (I don't have one of those.)

[Jim Dwight]

It is very possible to cut smaller pieces of wood with a track saw, I have, by putting another board of the same thickness under the track. It is also very possible to use the tracksaw to square a panel but that is easiest if you have a MFT or Paulk table with crosscut attachment. Otherwise it's a mark and cut which isn't really very hard.

I agree, however, that having a 24-30 inch rip table saw is awfully nice even with a track saw. It does joints much more easily as well as narrow rips. One of the interesting things about the Paulk workbench is he integrates a small table saw. Says what he thinks.

[Allan Speers]

I have a track saw and find it very useful for many operations. And I have a BS and a MS, but I couldn't get along without a TS. How else can you quickly and accurately size smallish, narrow strips of wood needed, say, for the rails and styles of a cabinet door? Fit a dado blade to a track saw? Nope. Cut cheeks and tenons using a tenoning jig? Nope. Cut smallish perfectly square panels for cabinet doors? Not easily. Well maybe with a track saw and a sliding track MS. (I don't have one of those.)

Cutting smaller pieces with a basic tracksaw can be done, but it is indeed a little tricky. You need special clamps, plus a second peice on the left, etc. - But for someone on a budget, who gets a basic tracksaw system for breaking down plywood, it CAN be done, with accuracy.
If you have the Eurekazone EZ-ONE, or similar table with a track that raises & lowers, then it's literally as easy as on a table saw, and much safer. You can also do it on a good band saw, but then you have to change blades which is a small PITA.

However you do mention the two things were a TS excells, and a tracksaw system cannot compete: Dados & tenon jigs.

OK, fair enough, but dados are best done with a router, IMO (esp if you have a router attached to your track system.) Tenons? I do them by hand. Quick and easy. I've never once wished I had some machine or jig to help me with them.

Everyone just has to find what works for them. The main thing is, there are LOTS of experience w-workers (not production shops) who don't own table saws, there are good alternatives for everything. - and the safety of a tracksaw system cannot be overlooked.

[scott vroom]

Cabinet saws are from Mars, track saws are from Venus.

[Jim Dwight]

A little off topic but the one Festool I would buy the soonest is the Domino. Lose tenons work just like regular tenons and it seems like it would speed things up a lot. So a track saw + a Domino....

I don't really advocate no table saw. They are a better way to do narrow rips off smallish pieces (i.e. not a sheet of plywood) and are often just plain handy, even if you like using a tracksaw. Safety counts, however, and the full sheets of 3/4 aren't getting any lighter for me.

[jack duren]

A little off topic but the one Festool I would buy the soonest is the Domino. Lose tenons work just like regular tenons and it seems like it would speed things up a lot. So a track saw + a Domino....

I don't really advocate no table saw. They are a better way to do narrow rips off smallish pieces (i.e. not a sheet of plywood) and are often just plain handy, even if you like using a tracksaw. Safety counts, however, and the full sheets of 3/4 aren't getting any lighter for me.

"it seems like it would speed things up a lot"

You sound like my brother. Loves to play golf but refuses to walk...

[Tom M King]

Is this good enough that I could call myself a "serious" woodworker, or does it have to be green? http://www.historic-house-restoratio...._2012_025.JPG This is the page on my website that I pulled that picture off of: http://www.historic-house-restoration.com/Woodwork.html

[scott vroom]

Is this good enough that I could call myself a "serious" woodworker, or does it have to be green? http://www.historic-house-restoratio...._2012_025.JPG This is the page on my website that I pulled that picture off of: http://www.historic-house-restoration.com/Woodwork.html

Tom, I'd be interested in knowing how you used the small router to allow you to remove nails. Also, what is the purpose of the small rectangular routed areas that appear to straddle board seams?

[Cody Colston]

Serious woodworkers need a track saw?

Hardly.

[Jim Dwight]

Serious woodworkers need a track saw?

Hardly.

I used to think the same thing. After 30+ years making sawdust I got one. Now I wish I hadn't resisted for so long.

[Brian Henderson]

I used to think the same thing. After 30+ years making sawdust I got one. Now I wish I hadn't resisted for so long.

I can't remember the last time I even used a regular circular saw, why would I need a track saw?

[Peter Quinn]

Just wondering...does anyone know if Sam Maloof used a track saw to build his pieces? Pity having to call his wife and let her know he wasn't serious. I'm a professional wood worker, not sure I'm particularly serious, I like to joke around a bit, I'm rather irreverent and an iconoclast to say the least. I like the track saw, its got a few neat tricks, but I wouldn't go getting all judgmental about it. The idea is hardly a new one, the fancy plunge saws with aluminum rails are a convenient way to extend the range of a circular saw. To me its not the best way to do anything. Period. Well, its pretty good at fixing screw ups and cutting things off for reworks, but in the shop? Nah, its the smallest cheapest way to get the job done. I have one for the home basement shop...for sheet goods! Break down sheet goods in a big shop? Try a panel saw, sliding table or vertical, beats the pants off the track saw IME. I don't say this to make guys that work with track saws feel bad, its a great tool and a boon to the small home shop or pro shop, but there are lots of ways to "work wood" seriously, and this is a pretty diverse crowd. Some guys use hand tools only or mostly, in it for the zen and the process it offers. Other guys have hobby shops many pros would kill for with big sliders and such. An every thing in between. To tell any of these people how to work is more than a bit presumptuous. The tag line of this post never sat right with me. I've learned enough to know that the only thing serious wood workers need is dedication, beyond that the tools and methods we each use are very personal choices that develop and evolve over a lifetime. If your looking for a litmus test for seriousness...the track saw is not it.