Dewalt DWS520 plunge saw problem

[Distinterior]

Teejay, If you are getting excessive wear of your splinter guard strip, then you need to either look at your technique or check all the adjustments on your saw.

You should not be needing to replace the strip as often as you have stated if everything is set up correctly.

How old is your saw? Is there any play/slop in the blade arbor as this could cause excessive wear of the strip.

Regarding cutting whilst the blade is set at 45 degrees, ....If the saw is set up correctly, the blade should definitely cut on the same line as it would with the blade set at 90 degrees. That is one of the design features of a plunge rail saw. I make the cut first at 90, then without moving the rail, set the saw at 45 and re cut.

I appreciate what Bodgers is saying, depending on what material is being cut, but I cut a lot of gloss & painted panels and the splinter guard strip is a "must use" aspect of the rail function to ensure a splinter/chip free finish. Its certainly not as crucial on Ply or MDF.....

 

[Teejay]

The saw is a couple of years old and has been used about 10 times. I don't think that there is any play in the blade arbour, I will have to double check.

Absolutely agree about the splinter guard feature being a must on high gloss finishes.

Good idea cutting 90 degrees and then 45 degrees afterwards!

 

[Eric The Viking]

"Patents, patents, Glasshopper!"

It's just my opinion but I think DW rushed their saw out when some of the patents belonging to "other people" expired: at the time they needed something novel to suggest they had thought it through better than other people, too, hence their different approach.

IMHO, the idea of having a splinter strip on both sides of the rail is daft and limits the value of the saw far more than it helps. As has been pointed out above, you are removing a reference edge, or at least making it rubber instead of aluminium. It doesn't strike me as a good idea.

So, considering the long overhang issue: how is the saw aligned with the track?

Obviously it has at least three points of contact with the rail, and presumably there are two adjustable sliders ("gib strips" in machine tool parlance). On my Makita (also the Festools, I think), they are squishy discs, but pads, strips or anything else similar would serve -- each has its good and bad points.

Their purpose is to hold (push) the extruded ridge on the rail against one side of the slot in the base of the saw. They don't add precision, but stop the saw becoming imprecise by taking out twist and slop.

So good technique ought to help at the beginning of the cut: You ought to be able to find out how far you can back the saw off the rail before it can't easily be held straight any more. As long as you don't back off beyond that point, if you apply slight pressure sideways (I emphasize slight!) in the direction the adjusters do, you should still be able to hold the saw straight, to start it before it's fully engaged with the rail.

Have a look at the alignment arrangements and see if you can squeeze a bit more distance out of the rail by manually aligning it at the start.

Festools and Makitas (and probably the others), will cut a 1.2m wide sheet with the supplied 1.4m rails, and without the saw partly backed off the rails. It's slightly fiddly, but do-able.

For convenience, I've marked one of my rails with where I should put the edge of the stock to ensure a full-depth cut at both ends. I don't need to start with the saw hanging off the rail, but have done so on rare occasions when I need a bit extra (my next size up is a 3m rail, which is a bit OTT for a 1.3m cut. It's not ideal but it does work. If I needed to do it more I'd be better at it.

. . .

By the way, I've wondered about how the original poster (from 2014) managed to get so much wear so quickly on the saw. I can think of one reason, but I'm sure there are others: cutting melamine surfaces without adequate dust extraction. That stuff is really abrasive. I was very surprised to make a notch in a new Wealden cutter when I was cutting rebates in MFC - it was the melamine, and it happened surprisingly quickly.

Tiny chips of melamine would abrade the running surfaces, especially if lubricated with something that traps them, such as a grease rather than, say, PTFE spray. In my experience, once abrasive breaks through the anodised layer on aluminium extrusion it deteriorates very quickly. I've got a tool rest for the grinder that can no longer accept its sliding carriage (it doesn't slide any more!). The white metal baseplate of a rail saw would wear just as easily, I'd expect. My track saw gets little use compared to the commercial world, but even so the paint underneath the base plate has mostly gone, and it almost always only cuts MRMDF (with no melamine facing). Even sawdust is pretty abrasive. I take care to get the muck off the track as much as possible between cuts.

E.

 

[Bodgers]

IMHO, the idea of having a splinter strip on both sides of the rail is daft and limits the value of the saw far more than it helps. As has been pointed out above, you are removing a reference edge, or at least making it rubber instead of aluminium. It doesn't strike me as a good idea.

You managed to state it much better than I could.

Despite the dual sided issue, I like the DeWalt, I think in terms of general build quality, dust extraction it stands up pretty well against the alternatives.







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[Teejay]

Wow, that was a comprehensive reply. There is 26cm at each end of the rail which is essentially useless, making the effective range of the standard 1.5m rail 98cm without the saw losing contact with one of the two points that keep it straight.

 

[Bodgers]

Wow, that was a comprehensive reply. There is 26cm at each end of the rail which is essentially useless, making the effective range of the standard 1.5m rail 98cm without the saw losing contact with one of the two points that keep it straight.

Is that a question or a statement?

All tracksaws are like this. If the track isn't long enough to do the cut you want without having the saw fully in the track you need a longer track or to connect another track.



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[Distinterior]

I agree with Bodgers,....The common sized Festool rail is 1400mm long and is effectively too short to cross cut a 1220mm sheet of ply or MDF without plunge cutting at the start of the cross cut.

I have 5 different length rails from 800mm to 3000mm and always use a 1900mm rail for cross cutting the aforementioned and the 3000mm rail for long cuts. I got sick of joining rails after a very short time of using my first plunge saw. Plus, the accuracy is far superior to using joined rails...

 

[Doug71]

Wow, that was a comprehensive reply. There is 26cm at each end of the rail which is essentially useless, making the effective range of the standard 1.5m rail 98cm without the saw losing contact with one of the two points that keep it straight.

But you don't need as much spare rail at the end of the cut as you do at the start because the blade cuts towards the front of the saw.

 

[Teejay]

When I experimented, there was about 1cm difference between the amount of space required at each end depending on which way round the saw is going. As this is a double sided rail, it is easier to mark to the safest line for use of the rail both ways.