I Bought a Track Saw...

[MikeJhn]

Remember to remove your wedding ring.

Mike

 

[Marineboy]

So thanks to Peter Millard for showing me the light. A track saw had never been on my radar before despite knowing what they were. Now I'm already thinking up other jobs that will be easier with this than any other tool I've owned.

Stop it I'd love to have a go of my track saw at the moment :lol: I watched the Workshop series a few times before buying one and again after. And although I haven't used it much so far, I do fancy having a go at new kitchen units at some point.

I bought my Festool specifically to refurb my kitchen. I left the carcasses, but made new doors and drawers from MDF and ply and new Blum runners. Best investment I’ve ever made, and as Peter Millard says it ain’t just for sheet goods.

 

[PeteG]

Remember to remove your wedding ring.

Mike

I'll certainly be extra careful in future Mike, I'm quite attached to the nine I have left

 

[DBT85]

Mine will get a bit more of a workout tomorrow. Time to trim up the hob cutout ready to be made into a cupboard/bench for the bandsaw and drill press. 40mm oak.

It was worth keeping that bit for 3 years for just such an eventuality!

Also took a few minutes to actually set it square this evening. 2 grub screws but you need to have unlocked the tilt adjust to do it, otherwise the grubs won't go far.

Also do a quick spanner check on all the screws/grubs if you havn't. A few on the sole of this were exceedingly loose.

 

[MikeJhn]

I'v kept all the hob and sink cut outs for the last forty years, when it comes time to use them, I think why am I using old stuff like that and go out and buy new, extravagant I know, but I'm old and don't need to save money any more. :roll:

 

[PeteG]

I bought my Festool specifically to refurb my kitchen. I left the carcasses, but made new doors and drawers from MDF and ply and new Blum runners. Best investment I’ve ever made, and as Peter Millard says it ain’t just for sheet goods.

I had a look good look at the cupboards last week, they're made from ply with a wood effect veneer, with an outer case of veneered
chipboard etc. I know our lass would love some kind of inner organiser that pulls out so you can get to stuff easier. It's probably the
way to go, keeping the carcasses and replacing the doors.

 

[MikeJhn]

Blum make everything you need to fit inside a standard carcass, self closing, organisers, even drawers with cut outs to go on either side of a waste, shop around for price's they can vary a lot.

 

[PeteG]

Blum make everything you need to fit inside a standard carcass, self closing, organisers, even drawers with cut outs to go on either side of a waste, shop around for price's they can vary a lot.

I'll never have money for Blum fittings Mike, it'll be more of a home job

 

[MikeJhn]

In that case you need a track saw to make your own, (hammer) , but do consider their runners for drawers they are brilliant, full extension and worth every penny. 8)

 

[Marineboy]

I converted what were base unit cupboards to 3 drawer units. The standard Blum soft close runners hold up to 30kg so heavy crockery etc is no problem. And it means no scrabbling about on hands and knees trying to get stuff out. Brilliant.

 

[PeteG]

In that case you need a track saw to make your own, (hammer) , but do consider their runners for drawers they are brilliant, full extension and worth every penny. 8)

I converted what were base unit cupboards to 3 drawer units. The standard Blum soft close runners hold up to 30kg so heavy crockery etc is no problem. And it means no scrabbling about on hands and knees trying to get stuff out. Brilliant.

I know our lass would love soft close runners, but'll seriously depend on funds nearer the time. She'd be very happy with new
work tops and the a few tiles to be honest. Saying that, I do nearly all the cooking so spend more time in there

 

[MikeJhn]

I'll see your three drawers and raise you two more.

Honestly you would not regret getting the Blum drawer sliders, they are fantastic.

 

[Marineboy]

Nice! What’s that finish?

 

[MikeJhn]

Its a vinyl wrap, afraid I bought the drawer fronts, but made the breakfast bar, laminated a splash back onto two sheets of chipboard floor cross laminated together.

 

[DBT85]

well, the Titan handled the 40mm oak worktop with no issues at all. This is with the Freud blade mind. Nice clean cuts. Now if I could actually mark it up square it would have been perfect

One thing of note with the evolution rails, the grubs in the bars that secure them together contact directly with the rail itself, unlike at least the Titan ones which have a bar with grubs in and then a second thin bar that the grubs push on, spreading the load.

You can quite easily ding your Evolution tracks if you do them up too tight as the grubs just push the soft aluminium out.

 

[PeteG]

Now if I could actually mark it up square it would have been perfect

Are the off cuts tapered at the bottom or top? You can just feel the grub screws in my base plate. Out of the box,
one wasn't showing at all, the other was too high and had debris on it.

What would be interesting as you have two makes of track is, once you have a square cut on the Titan track say,
do another test cut on the Evo track.

One thing of note with the evolution rails, the grubs in the bars that secure them together contact directly with the rail itself, unlike at least the Titan ones which have a bar with grubs in and then a second thin bar that the grubs push on, spreading the load.

You can quite easily ding your Evolution tracks if you do them up too tight as the grubs just push the soft aluminium out.

I fully expected that with the Titan track, so was pleased to see that someone had paid attention to detail...

 

[DBT85]

Are the off cuts tapered at the bottom or top? You can just feel the grub screws in my base plate. Out of the box,
one wasn't showing at all, the other was too high and had debris on it.

What would be interesting as you have two makes of track is, once you have a square cut on the Titan track say,
do another test cut on the Evo track.

You know what I forgot to check to see if the new cut face was actually square to the rest of the worktop. The offcuts are almost certainly drunk anyway, it was originally cut with a jigsaw.

Also, there are I think 4 grubs in the base plate, but only 2 of them adjust the tilt to square it up iirc. The other two I think actually hold something in place, one on mine was proud and catching and wanted about 4 turns to secure.

I fully expected that with the Titan track, so was pleased to see that someone had paid attention to detail...

Yeah I was surprised that the titans had it and the evo ones didn't. I'll try and see if the titan bars work OK in the evo track, as that's preferable and I'll probably never join the titans back together since I already have long evo track.

 

[DBT85]

Got some good use out of the tracksaw this morning after getting home from my night shift.

Very pleased with it's performance. Managed to cut 5 boards to within about 0.5mm measured on the diagonal. Not bad with only a large speed square to help square the cuts.

It's a bit annoying that the raised titan rail is a fraction narrower than the evolution, meaning I have to adjust the knobs to take up the slack. But it's not too often so I can live with it.

I have a photo of the boards cut, but we still have no Internet for now the 5th day, so no uploads!

 

[PeteG]

Got some good use out of the tracksaw this morning after getting home from my night shift.

Very pleased with it's performance. Managed to cut 5 boards to within about 0.5mm measured on the diagonal. Not bad with only a large speed square to help square the cuts.

It's a bit annoying that the raised titan rail is a fraction narrower than the evolution, meaning I have to adjust the knobs to take up the slack. But it's not too often so I can live with it.

I have a photo of the boards cut, but we still have no Internet for now the 5th day, so no uploads!

I've been after a speed square for some time. I bought a rafters square several years back from B&Q, I think that was 1 mm out at 150 mm.
Came across this Wolfcraft a few weeks back but reviews on Amazon are very mixed... https://www.diy.com/departments/wolfcra ... 874_BQ.prd

 

[DBT85]

I've been after a speed square for some time. I bought a rafters square several years back from B&Q, I think that was 1 mm out at 150 mm.
Came across this Wolfcraft a few weeks back but reviews on Amazon are very mixed... https://www.diy.com/departments/wolfcra ... 874_BQ.prd

Mine is just a swanson I got off amazon. Metric, naturally.

Track saw got a bunch more use over the last 2 days as I was finishing off some boxing in.

I'm looking at sorting out an mft holey table to use with some fence dogs. Lots of uses there.