Am I doing something wrong here? Track saw and splinter guards

[danmancity]

Hi All,

Just stumbled upon the forum and signed up to ask this question so apologies if it's not in the right place.

I bought a track saw a year or so ago after watching all of the Peter Millard videos I could find on the subject. I needed to make a built in bookshelf for an awkward space and a rather ambitious under stair storage project. Both went well but I had the same issues with the splinter guards during both projects.

I started with the MacAllister track saw and the 2 included 700mm rails but after using them to hang a couple of doors in the new house I quickly upgraded to the Evolution 2800mm kit. With both rails I was having issues where once I had snugged the saw up to the guide, then completed the initial trim of the splinter guard, every subsequent use would result in a small amount of the splinter guard still being trimmed back more and more wherever I start the plunge and when I bring the blade to a stop at the end of a cut, this also includes an annoying habbit of the saw taking a small chunk out of the actual workpiece if I don't set the blade spin down while still plunged.

I was always vey careful to make sure that the base of the saw is flush across the track so there's minimal chance of me introducing any tilt and therefore being the cause

I then upgraded to the Makita 1.5m tracks hoping that would finally solve the issue but both splinter guards now have the same issue after using it a lot during our Kitchen fit.

Can anyone think of anything else i might be doing wrong or is it time to bite the bullet, blame the tool like any man should and upgrade to the Makita SP6000 saw (though I am nearing the end of the Kitchen project now)

Many thanks all who made it this far!

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Hi All,

Just stumbled upon the forum and signed up to ask this question so apologies if it's not in the right place.

I bought a track saw a year or so ago after watching all of the Peter Millard videos I could find on the subject. I needed to make a built in bookshelf for an awkward space and a rather ambitious under stair storage project. Both went well but I had the same issues with the splinter guards during both projects.

I started with the MacAllister track saw and the 2 included 700mm rails but after using them to hang a couple of doors in the new house I quickly upgraded to the Evolution 2800mm kit. With both rails I was having issues where once I had snugged the saw up to the guide, then completed the initial trim of the splinter guard, every subsequent use would result in a small amount of the splinter guard still being trimmed back more and more wherever I start the plunge and when I bring the blade to a stop at the end of a cut, this also includes an annoying habbit of the saw taking a small chunk out of the actual workpiece if I don't set the blade spin down while still plunged.

I was always vey careful to make sure that the base of the saw is flush across the track so there's minimal chance of me introducing any tilt and therefore being the cause

I then upgraded to the Makita 1.5m tracks hoping that would finally solve the issue but both splinter guards now have the same issue after using it a lot during our Kitchen fit.

Can anyone think of anything else i might be doing wrong or is it time to bite the bullet, blame the tool like any man should and upgrade to the Makita SP6000 saw (though I am nearing the end of the Kitchen project now)

Many thanks all who made it this far!

Regrettably if you buy a low end tool you will often get lower quality results. There are reasons beyond profit and warranty that make the 4 x difference price good value

Personally I bought the original and the quality of the cuts and finish reflects the price of the purchase.

The only sure fire way to avoid problems is to never rely on the finish directly from the saw

 

[paulrbarnard]

The issue is probably related to the plunge action of the saw and/or it twisting as you push along the rail. Rather than the tracks. Another poster raised exactly the same issue a while back. If I remember rightly they upgraded to a better track saw and the problem went away.

 

[Adam W.]

You need a bit of Green and Black, but not the chocolate.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

You need a bit of Green and Black, but not the chocolate.

Better yet Green Black and Grey, then there will be no problems and nothing that is significantly better, I got mine 15 years ago and it’s still working perfectly.

 

[MikeJhn]

My £99.00 cheap track saw from Lumberjack does not have any of these problems, but I did take the time and trouble to ensure there was no sideways play on the track when fitting the saw to it, needed a bit of fettling to get right.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

I have and use the Evolution 2800mm tracksaw and don't have problems. When I first set it up I did, like @MikeJhn , make sure there was minimal play between the saw and the track. Can't imagine what causes your particular problem unless there is play.
Martin

 

[ChaiLatte]

...every subsequent use would result in a small amount of the splinter guard still being trimmed back...

You need to analyse the situation more fully because what you say above is not logical.

If it were so, and you took 20, 30, 40 cuts and EVERY time the splinter guard was trimmed, it would soon disappear and you would be cutting into the aluminium rail.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Regrettably the problem is that people do not actually research the differences in tool quality and performance before buying.

There are multiple reasons for the price difference, but just buying a cheap tool and expecting it to do the job of a quality tool that costs 5 to 10 times the price is a futile exercise. The price is that cheap because all the quality components and testing have been abandoned in the aim to produce a tool that has the same name (in this case track saw) and is desperately hanging on to the reputation built by the real thing.

So you can pay ½ the price of the top quality tool and get lucky, or not. Pay 1/5 the price and expect 1/10 the quality.

If you know what you are doing you can buy a tool that works well enough, for long enough, to do the job you want, but a cheap track saw is never going to rival even a regular circular saw let alone a real track saw.

A case in point; I have a quality angle grinder that cost around £50 it’s an excellent tool, I also have 3 very cheap angle grinders that together cost about £15 or £5 each they have different disks so I don’t have to take the time to change them on the expensive machine. The cheap tools certainly aren’t as good as the better one but the jobs they do are indistinguishable and certainly good enough & if one fails and is un-repairable I’ll just buy another cheap one.

I learned a very long time ago that if you buy quality you cry once, if you buy cheap you cry every time you use it. I have 50 year old tools that are working well today bought on that principle, I have a few broken tools bought on the buy cheap theory I keep to remind me of why I buy on quality not price.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi All,

Just stumbled upon the forum and signed up to ask this question so apologies if it's not in the right place.

I bought a track saw a year or so ago after watching all of the Peter Millard videos I could find on the subject. I needed to make a built in bookshelf for an awkward space and a rather ambitious under stair storage project. Both went well but I had the same issues with the splinter guards during both projects.

I started with the MacAllister track saw and the 2 included 700mm rails but after using them to hang a couple of doors in the new house I quickly upgraded to the Evolution 2800mm kit. With both rails I was having issues where once I had snugged the saw up to the guide, then completed the initial trim of the splinter guard, every subsequent use would result in a small amount of the splinter guard still being trimmed back more and more wherever I start the plunge and when I bring the blade to a stop at the end of a cut, this also includes an annoying habbit of the saw taking a small chunk out of the actual workpiece if I don't set the blade spin down while still plunged.

I was always vey careful to make sure that the base of the saw is flush across the track so there's minimal chance of me introducing any tilt and therefore being the cause

I then upgraded to the Makita 1.5m tracks hoping that would finally solve the issue but both splinter guards now have the same issue after using it a lot during our Kitchen fit.

Can anyone think of anything else i might be doing wrong or is it time to bite the bullet, blame the tool like any man should and upgrade to the Makita SP6000 saw (though I am nearing the end of the Kitchen project now)

Many thanks all who made it this far!

Hi Dan

A reply in spite of you being a Man City supporter!

It sounds as if the problem lies with the blade moving or a saw tooth being misaligned.

1. Look over the blade to see if a tooth is out of alignment (it has happened to me).

2. Check that the blade is fully tightened and that there is no movement.

3. Check that the tracksaw runs in the track without side-to-side play. There is a screw fitting to tighten the saw against the track (as all tracks can be slightly wider or narrower).

4. Check that the tracksaw runs smoothly.

5. You will need to adjust the splinter guard or replace it. First try carefully removing it and pulling it closer to the edge, or turn it around. It is held with double-sided tape.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Spectric]

Can anyone think of anything else i might be doing wrong or is it time to bite the bullet, blame the tool like any man should and upgrade to the Makita SP6000 saw (though I am nearing the end of the Kitchen project now)

As @sometimewoodworker said, to get quality results you need decent tools and buying low end is not cost effective in the long run. Also it is not just the tool itself but the supplied blade is also probably not that good. We all make or have made this mistake in thinking we can get away with buying cheaper and in some cases you get away with it but often not. I own the Makita SP6000 and it is a good saw that I don't get any issues with, but a while back I needed a metal chop saw for just twenty cuts. Brought a cheap chop saw as I thought it is only twenty cuts and even a 9 inch grinder in steady hands could do that but this cheap chop saw from Screwfix was a joke, lacked power and wandered so it went back. Managed to borrow a really old rusty Makita saw which did the task easily. It is often only when you use the better quality trade machine that you will notice the real difference, it highlights the deficiency of the cheaper tool and it is not always a case that a cheaper tool can deliver the same results but just will not last as long either.

 

[sammy.se]

couple of things to check, based on my experience. I managed to get a parkside saw working perfectly btw - even though it's a 'cheap' saw.

1. I had put a cheap blade in my mitre saw once. It wasn't perfectly balanced so it had the tiniest wobble/oscillation and my cuts were not perfectly straight. After advice from this forum I added a high quality branded blade and it solved the problem completely.

2. Check the toe and heel of the tracksaw. Festool have some videos (or was it a woodworker? can't remember) of adjusting the toe and heel of the tracksaw using a scrap of paper to get it set up correctly. The instructions worked for my parkside saw as well. After I adjusted that, the cuts were perfect and no further damage to the workpiece upon plunge and at the end.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Many bottom end tools now are bought and priced into a job, if they last longer it's a bonus. Another bonus is no one steals them.

 

[sammy.se]

Here's the video I mentioned.

 

[Spectric]

Many bottom end tools now are bought and priced into a job, if they last longer it's a bonus. Another bonus is no one steals them.

I think with some tools you can get away with that, angle grinders, drills and such could be consumables but would you want to cut some expensive laminate with a low budget tracksaw and expect good results ? I know many builders would throw in cement mixers and wheel barrows as consumables on larger jobs and they would be priced in.

 

[MrBear]

I started off with an Evolution circular saw with track (as I have the mobile table saw and the big mitre saw which are both great) and found it hard work. Tough to push along the track and it would twist while doing it no matter how much I fiddled with it. Eventually upgraded to the Makita and went with the battery version (had bought a drill/impactdriver set so had 2x 5ah batteries) and it's like a dream by comparrison. The saw slides smoothly, works with the Evo track (although the track square I was hoping to get from Benchdogs one day is no longer available and most squares seem to want the T-track groove on the top of the track so will probably have to buy new track at some point) and has a nice 1mm saw blade that cuts like a tracksaw through butter, as long as you aren't going too deep. Yeah that's the only downside I've found is that it struggles if you try to go through something too deep like a couple of sheets of MDF(15/18mm), but one sheet at a time it's great.

 

[Jonwar]

Hi All,

Just stumbled upon the forum and signed up to ask this question so apologies if it's not in the right place.

I bought a track saw a year or so ago after watching all of the Peter Millard videos I could find on the subject. I needed to make a built in bookshelf for an awkward space and a rather ambitious under stair storage project. Both went well but I had the same issues with the splinter guards during both projects.

I started with the MacAllister track saw and the 2 included 700mm rails but after using them to hang a couple of doors in the new house I quickly upgraded to the Evolution 2800mm kit. With both rails I was having issues where once I had snugged the saw up to the guide, then completed the initial trim of the splinter guard, every subsequent use would result in a small amount of the splinter guard still being trimmed back more and more wherever I start the plunge and when I bring the blade to a stop at the end of a cut, this also includes an annoying habbit of the saw taking a small chunk out of the actual workpiece if I don't set the blade spin down while still plunged.

I was always vey careful to make sure that the base of the saw is flush across the track so there's minimal chance of me introducing any tilt and therefore being the cause

I then upgraded to the Makita 1.5m tracks hoping that would finally solve the issue but both splinter guards now have the same issue after using it a lot during our Kitchen fit.

Can anyone think of anything else i might be doing wrong or is it time to bite the bullet, blame the tool like any man should and upgrade to the Makita SP6000 saw (though I am nearing the end of the Kitchen project now)

Many thanks all who made it this far!

Hi Dan, I've the same saw and had the same issue's. What I found was the heel was in to far so the blade was not parallel to the guide rib on the bottom. So the sole plate is sitting correctly but the motor and blade are a degree off.this can be easily measured turn the saw inside down and plunge the blade to full depth ( make sure it's unpluged) then use a caliper to measure from the front of the blade to where the rib sits to guide the saw and the do the same on the back. You should get the same measurement but in your case I'd say the back will be out. Once I adjusted mine it was a dream.

 

[imageel]

I suspect your issues may well be down to mis-alignment of the track to the blade since with care even the most basic saws should cut cleanly.
A cheap plunge saw I bought for ~£66 produced stellar results when trimming the ends of parquet flooring, and that was using a 2m level with glued sandpaper attached as a guide. the finished floor is on a post I made a while back entitled 'a labour of love'
The saw itself is now on the For Sale forum, not that I would recommend it for your use-case since I'm sure if you get your alignment adjusted am sure you will get good results with your existing kit!

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Hi Dan, I've the same saw and had the same issue's. What I found was the heel was in to far so the blade was not parallel to the guide rib on the bottom. So the sole plate is sitting correctly but the motor and blade are a degree off.this can be easily measured turn the saw inside down and plunge the blade to full depth ( make sure it's unpluged) then use a caliper to measure from the front of the blade to where the rib sits to guide the saw and the do the same on the back. You should get the same measurement but in your case I'd say the back will be out. Once I adjusted mine it was a dream.

The saw being exactly parallel to the cut is not correct. The rear of the saw should have a toe-out of about 0.003” or 0.07mm when the blade is at full depth plunge.

It is quite likely that you will not have the tools to measure that accurately but that isn’t a problem a piece of paper is all that is required

The following procedure for "Matching the TS 55 to an Existing Guide Rail" is from a draft English language manual:

1. Clamp your existing guide rail to a small scrap of wood (about 12 inches long) so it cannot move.
2. Using your existing saw, cut the Piece of wood. Do not move the guide rail after the cut is finished.
3. Place the NEW TS 55 saw on the guide rail.
4. Loosen the four hinge block mounting screws (2-front and 2-rear).
5. Plunge the blade to full depth and hold it there.
6. Slide the front of the sawblade up to the edge of the cut piece of wood.
7. Slide the back of the sawblade up to the edge of the cut piece of wood, except place a piece of paper between the blade and the wood. This paper serves as a shim to space the blade slightly away from the wood at the back of the cut. The saw's cutting is improved if the back of the blade is skewed slightly away from the guide rail.
8. Retighten the hinge block mounting screws.

Curtsy of Robert Strasser Sawmillcreek

However that requires that your saw and rail are of sufficient quality of manufacture that you can adjust to the tiny degree required and that the saw and rail will keep that adjustment. Some of the cheaper copies will not be finely adjustable or keep that adjustment.

YMMV you may have got lucky and got a great saw at a cheap price.

 

[TRITON]

You need a bit of Green and Black, but not the chocolate.

Thats the gig isnt it. The old adage of buy cheap/buy twice really comes into play.

The OP buys the saw, then add that to the next upgrade(loosely termed). then the next upgrade, and before you know it you've spent 3/4 of what the festool would have cost initially, and without any issues.

But in defence of the OP, i think we've all done this.