Best method to cross cut sheet goods over 16 inches, ie.e 24 inch?

[Mike Cutler]

Pretty sure most of the track saw hate comes from those who've never owned one.

Andy
I don't think it's so much hate, as just folks explaining another way to do things, that yield the same results.
What makes a track saw attractive is that many people, just do not have the space for a large table saw, or a panel saw. If I can fit the panel on my table saw, I have a JessEm Mast-R-Slide on mine, I'll pick that all day, everyday, over my Festool rails and TS 75. I also have some of the earliest iterations of the EZ Smart rails, and to be brutally honest, they're much higher quality than the Festool rails, but they have a limitation, that the Festool rails do not. I also have shop made hardboard edge guides, and the work as well as anything else. They just take a little more prep.
Me personally, I think the Festool rails are a rip off. They're very poorly made, and machined, for something that cost that much. Two Festool rails should butt together perfectly, and that is not the case. I own four Festool rails, all of them have to be aligned with each other and they should not need to be. It's not that hard to machine perfect corners on aluminum extrusions.
When folks get locked into "one way", or "one system", it blinds them to other possibilities, thus limiting them, that may one day be their way out of a corner.
Tom has some very valid points. It's the tool, the hand, and creative mind, that are more important than "the system", or method.

[Jim Becker]

Personally, I don't "hate" them.
I just don't understand those who swear by them, as if that's the only way to get quality cuts.
Clearly that's not the case.

True, absolutely not the only way...but one of the easiest ways because of the tool being captive to the track and not subject to wandering because of the worker's hands. The splinter guard combined with the captive motion results in an excellent cut surface. It's as good and sometimes better than a table saw rip, especially for a long rip which is sometimes difficult to keep absolutely true to the fence. The edge of the track/sprinter guard is also "the line" so no need to calculate offsets, although some shop made solutions afford that, too. I one is happy with the function and quality of a shop made solution, that's the right one for them for sure, however. If you do get a chance to play with one, I suspect you'll like it even if it's not something you want to buy.

[Edward Weber]

Jim, I've used them and they're great, I just don't need one at present. For the small amount of jobs where one would be used it's not a justified cost.

My only pet peeve is that some, not all, usually the loudest ones, just can't fathom why someone would use any other method than a track saw, all the while saying things like "well they're ONLY $$$".
You'd like to think these things cure cancer the way people idolize them, or maybe that's the Domino, I'm not sure, same thing different tool.
As always, use what works for you.

[mike stenson]

I feel the same way when people spend two hours to jig up a cut that could have just been done in a minute with a hand saw though.

[jack duren]

I’ve got a guy getting into cabinets on another forum. He has a Festool and swears you have to square parts up before you go to the table saw.

[Tom M King]

None of the saws I own was ever bought with the intended use being with a guide. With a guide is only a small fraction of the total percentage any one is used. I just bought the extras after they started making them in Mexico while I could get made in USA and the extras were cheap. I built new spec houses for 33 years and a lot of other stuff since then.

Now that I have multiples, I keep different blades of them for different uses.

There is no figuring offsets. You set the edge the same way you set a track saw. I don’t have anything against tracksaws, just that the cost could never be justified. The one for the 10-1/4” saw is a big timesaver when framing a house. I never bothered to even look for a commercial one that size.

The one for the 314 is a real pleasure to use.

[Curt Harms]

Make your own version of a track saw if you have a circular saw. That is as economical as it gets because you can use hardboard for the base. You could make several of different lengths even. There are lots of videos with methods to make although they are simple enough. With that, you can start with a nice straight edge for reference.

That's sort of what I did. Used 1/8" hardboard with aluminum honeycomb material for a fence. Those materials should stay straight, no tendency to move over time. I use a Porter Cable 314 trim saw on it, the P-C saw's base is longer than it is wide unlike sidewinders and really tracks tight against the honeycomb fence with no effort. I made 2, 1 4' long and 1 8' long. Probably not suitable for production use, takes too long to position and clamp but for the occasional long cut it works quite well.

[Cameron Wood]

Amid the track saw digression, I don't think this was addressed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Ze31mW3bo

[Ron Selzer]

Amid the track saw digression, I don't think this was addressed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Ze31mW3bo

No way no how is there room in my shop for that wide sled
Ron

[Mike Cutler]

No way no how is there room in my shop for that wide sled
Ron

That's a big sled, and very nicely done.
My shop is 9'x19', and I have a JessEm Mast-R-Slide, with a 48" plus fence to the left of my blade, that doesn't take up much less room than that one when in use.
I can't leave it in place though, it's too big. It gets used and put away. Not very efficient.
What I'd like to see is how he stabilized it in front of the blade. That's a pretty wide panel he's pushing into the blade.

[Curt Harms]

There is I think another consideration mentioned in passing above. Cheaper circular saws may not have a way to set the edge of the base parallel to the blade. If you run an edge of the saw's base against a guide but the blade isn't parallel to the guide, the saw is going to want to follow the blade not the guide. Cutting to a line that isn't going to matter, trying to follow a guide it may matter. The saw may want to pull away from the guide.

[andy bessette]

Now 80, I no longer have the strength to manhandle full sheets of 3/4" ply, sled or no.

[Edward Weber]

There is I think another consideration mentioned in passing above. Cheaper circular saws may not have a way to set the edge of the base parallel to the blade. If you run an edge of the saw's base against a guide but the blade isn't parallel to the guide, the saw is going to want to follow the blade not the guide. Cutting to a line that isn't going to matter, trying to follow a guide it may matter. The saw may want to pull away from the guide.

Yes, I mentioned that and have a cheap skil saw to prove it.
Many of the cheaper saws had stamped steel bases with nothing more than bent tabs to attach them. This makes it almost impossible to align the base, even if the saw has a decent motor.

Even if you're not using a guide and are sawing following a line, the blade is essentially dogtracking, twisted slightly in the cut, making for horrible results. Adding a sub foot/plate of your own making is about the only way to actually make the saw useful. BTDT
Now, with most saws being aluminum and/or plastic, one can sometimes enlarge the mounting holes but it's not always guaranteed that the foot remains parallel, relying on only a few self tapping plastic screws to keep it aligned.
JMHO

[Ron Selzer]

Andy posted I no longer have the strength to manhandle full sheets of 3/4" ply

I am a little bit younger and can't any more manhandle 3/4 plywood, melamine, etc. Which makes me glad that years ago I bought a SSC H-5 panel saw and attached it to a wall in the garage. Since added a smaller Milwaukee panel saw in the basement shop. I can drag, maneuver, etc, sheet goods to the panel saw in the garage to cut down to finish size. Panel saw in basement is to size up solid wood glued up panels that are too wide for radial arm saw. I have just enough room to the left of my table saw to squeeze past.
Ron

[jack duren]

I hear of woodworkers man handling 4x8 sheets for a track saw , but I find it no different to man handling a sheet on my table saw. Now as tye OP states he must have a small table saw and understand. But if you have a cabinet saw setup , I don’t understand a track saw..