Track saw ... drift.

[Brandlin]

Hi,

I took the plunge and bought a track saw when my old hitachi circular saw finally bought the farm.

I have the Triton model with the standard 2 x 700mm tracks and i bought a pair of track clamps and a square.

As its first job I have been making some very simple cabinets from melamine faced chipboard for my garage. However, despite keeping the rubber friction strips on the back of the track clean i find that the act of sawing causes the track to drift on the smooth melamine. Before i noticed it doing this i ended up with one piece over 5mm out of square over a 600mm length! Oddly the drift seems to be towards the waste side of the cut... ie the track drifts TOWARDS the saw blade, so i dont see how i can be pushing it in that direction.

I have resorted to using a clamp on one end of the track - but i really need to clamp both ends - which isn't easy on my current bench. This kind of defeats the object in buying a track saw for me. And I've not seen or heard of anyone having a similar issue? Am i likely to be doing something wrong, or is this just an issue on the smooth boards?



Brandlin

 

[Bodgers]

If it slipping the recommended way is to use two clamps on each end.

I suppose you could try a decent double sided tape from 3M or Tesa. Obviously you'd have to be careful with clean up on the tape afterwards.

Hi,

I took the plunge and bought a track saw when my old hitachi circular saw finally bought the farm.

I have the Triton model with the standard 2 x 700mm tracks and i bought a pair of track clamps and a square.

As its first job I have been making some very simple cabinets from melamine faced chipboard for my garage. However, despite keeping the rubber friction strips on the back of the track clean i find that the act of sawing causes the track to drift on the smooth melamine. Before i noticed it doing this i ended up with one piece over 5mm out of square over a 600mm length! Oddly the drift seems to be towards the waste side of the cut... ie the track drifts TOWARDS the saw blade, so i dont see how i can be pushing it in that direction.

I have resorted to using a clamp on one end of the track - but i really need to clamp both ends - which isn't easy on my current bench. This kind of defeats the object in buying a track saw for me. And I've not seen or heard of anyone having a similar issue? Am i likely to be doing something wrong, or is this just an issue on the smooth boards?



Brandlin

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[Nelsun]

I'm not familiar with the Triton rails or grip strips but would wetting said strips aid their grip?

Clamping really is the way to go though if any movement is anticipated.

 

[SteveF]

Hi,

I took the plunge and bought a track saw when my old hitachi circular saw finally bought the farm.

I have the Triton model with the standard 2 x 700mm tracks and i bought a pair of track clamps and a square.

As its first job I have been making some very simple cabinets from melamine faced chipboard for my garage. However, despite keeping the rubber friction strips on the back of the track clean i find that the act of sawing causes the track to drift on the smooth melamine. Before i noticed it doing this i ended up with one piece over 5mm out of square over a 600mm length! Oddly the drift seems to be towards the waste side of the cut... ie the track drifts TOWARDS the saw blade, so i dont see how i can be pushing it in that direction.

I have resorted to using a clamp on one end of the track - but i really need to clamp both ends - which isn't easy on my current bench. This kind of defeats the object in buying a track saw for me. And I've not seen or heard of anyone having a similar issue? Am i likely to be doing something wrong, or is this just an issue on the smooth boards?



Brandlin

clamping both ends is probably possible on your bench
either throw some scraps of wood or a sheet of 50mm polystyrene under your board to raise the height
I keep a sheet available just for that purpose
saves cutting your bench and handy if using tressles
I would say that the issue is purely the shiny surface
maybe a few strips of masking tape on board would stop track slipping
Steve

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I can't comment on your particular model, but my track saw only really has trouble with dusty boards. Melemine is one of the grippier materials TBH. Suction likes shinier surfaces, i have found.

I would guess there is a problem with the saw blade being out of parallel with the slot for the track. is there some adjustment on this?

Mike.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Good ideas above, but also vacuum along the sponge and rubber strips, and possibly wipe over with meths (nothing more aggressive!) to degrease them thoroughly.

My rails, when they _are_ clean(!), usually don't move if I try to slide them sideways. Either yours aren't sticky enough, or there is a lot of vibration coming from the saw (or something of both). [edit] or it is significantly out of alignment as Woodbrains suggests above.[/]

DS tape must be a last resort, as you can only get it to work along one or both of the rubber strips, and getting it off afterwards will be a right pain, never mind off the workpiece.

 

[Brandlin]

The material being cut is already on a sacrificial sheet of OSB to protect the bench top.
Throwing further sheets under the material doesn't help clamping as the clamp extends under the track and would need to go through the benchtop (i dont yet have dog holes etc) Yes, i could reorient every cut across a corner of the bench to allow a clamp at either end... but i think i have been seduced by all the youtube videos of "simply throwing the track down and cutting with amazing accuracy"

wetting the friction strip would make them slippier not grippier.
my track is definitely slippier on melamine.
I do try to keep the track strips clean with compressed air or vacuum, though i haven't resorted to meths cleaner yet.
The material to be cut certainly isn't 'dusty'.
There isn't any noticable vibration from the saw - its certainly a delight to handle compared to the regular circular saws i have used.

I'm not aware of any adjustment for track and blade alignment.. i shall have to investigate.

i had't thought of tape - rather not use double sided, but masking tape may help the friction, but again its a pain to apply and remove for every cut.

I suspect in time i will end up cutting dog holes in my benchtop and using dogs.... does anyone know if the ujk parfdog track clips are compatible with the triton track? they would certainly resolve the problem. http://www.axminster.co.uk/ujk-technolo ... air-102973

Also anyone have a way of accurately drilling/routing dog holes cheaper than the £150 for the parf guide system?

 

[SteveF]

throwing further sheets under wont help
but a couple of scrap 2 x 2 will
or some old insulation board smaller than the 600
I think the triton has a pair of cams which align the saw to track and could be causing part of the 5mm error

Steve

 

[Roughcut]

I would use 2 sawhorses and 2 clamps.

 

[Rorschach]

I have experienced drift on my parkside tracks, they are not as grippy as the festool track. That being said I only ever rough cut without clamps, when I am doing finish or size critical cuts I always use clamps.

 

[MattRoberts]

Is your blade at 90 degrees? If it's slightly off, it could be the blade that is slightly pulling the track off line along the length of the cut.

 

[Doug71]

Possibly not a realistic solution to your problem but someone might find it interesting, Festool do a nice bit of kit for holding guide rails on melamine/laminates, of course it's not cheap and you probably need a pair!

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/fes ... h-set.html

I have one I got free with a saw, only ever used it for lifting double glazed units.

Doug

 

[dickm]

You mean there are people who use track saws WITHOUT clamps???

(Ok, it can be a faff clamping, but surely it's better than wrecking a piece of timber?)

 

[Brandlin]

You mean there are people who use track saws WITHOUT clamps???

(Ok, it can be a faff clamping, but surely it's better than wrecking a piece of timber?)

Thanks for the help dickm!

As i explained in my first post, i'm a newbie to using a tracksaw and have been somewhat seduced by the marketing and endless youtube videos of cutting without clamps.

But feel free to make patronising comments all you like.

 

[Brandlin]

To everyone else.... thank you for your comments.

I need to check the saw tomorrow when i get time.
I believe the saw is perpendicular to the track and tracking true, but i should check properly.

However i think the big issue is just "it doesn't grip on the laminate boards" and i need to clamp it... which is a massive shame as thats precisely why i bought the saw ....

 

[TFrench]

You mean there are people who use track saws WITHOUT clamps???

(Ok, it can be a faff clamping, but surely it's better than wrecking a piece of timber?)

Yep, all the time.

 

[Nelsun]

Possibly not a realistic solution to your problem but someone might find it interesting, Festool do a nice bit of kit for holding guide rails on melamine/laminates, of course it's not cheap and you probably need a pair!

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/fes ... h-set.html

I have one I got free with a saw, only ever used it for lifting double glazed units.

Doug

Never seen that one before. They really do think of everything... whether you need it or not :wink:

The banner advert on the site did make me wonder:

That's a different way of clamping a track and I'm not sure how you'd complete the cut :-k

Another gizmo in grey and green is their "quick action clamp":

This may be of interest to the OP if his tracks have the same slot *underneath* as the festool ones. You lock the small piece at one end of the track and the gun part slides up to the other end of your material. A few pumps on the trigger and it tightens right up. You do have to watch it doesn't nudge the track off your intended line as you tighten though.

Another tip for cutting without clamping is to stick some pieces of scrap (of the same thickness as your material) under the start and, if you can be ar*ed, the ends of the rail. Downward pressure as you start the cut (before the saw is over the material) can lift the far end of track or at least make it easy to shift ever so slightly. A scrap piece placed correctly will stop that from happening.

 

[dickm]

Yep, all the time.

Ah, but they aren't the cheapskates like me with Lidl saws!

 

[thick_mike]

You mean there are people who use track saws WITHOUT clamps???

(Ok, it can be a faff clamping, but surely it's better than wrecking a piece of timber?)

You mean there are people that use their track saws WITH clamps?!

 

[Distinterior]

I have 2 of those suction clamps and they work a treat on smooth/shiney surfaces such as MFC, laminate worktops, Solid Surface, painted & glossy panels,......no clamps required!

If I am using my 3 mtr rail, I use a rail clamp at each end and the 2 Gecko Dosh suction pads spaced apart in the middle. The suction is so strong, you could pick up a full length of worktop using them as carrying handles. If they would fit on your rails, they would solve your problem of your rail moving during the cut.

NOTE. They do not work on MDF or Plywood or Solid Timber.....!!