Track saws and thin blades

[Blacks carpentry]

If it is a heat/friction issue, is it worth trying making the cut in two passes - if the track hasn't moved the cut lines should line up perfectly.

If it works, it may not be ideal but at least it's a solution that would work with the blades you have available.

That is indeed a solution to the problem that I have resorted to but why should I have to do 2-3x the work when i have forked out a ton on a specialist tool? My point is that manufacturers are relying on gimmicks to sell their products in the form of thin kerf blades.. thinner blades= Quicker cuts = bad cuts = slower progress & expensive mistakes.

 

[Blacks carpentry]

If it is a heat/friction issue, is it worth trying making the cut in two passes - if the track hasn't moved the cut lines should line up perfectly.

If it works, it may not be ideal but at least it's a solution that would work with the blades you have available.

That is a fix in part though it can still result in stepped cuts. Not good enough for glue-up. I begrudge spending a ton and still having to do 2-3 times the work using a blade that is supposedly more efficient. Thinner blade= faster cut= worse cut= expensive mistakes + more passes/slower progress.

 

[Spectric]

The blades are just too thin!

I have always thought tracksaws were aimed at sheet goods and more specifically at man made rather than real wood. As you say MDF is not your thing and so maybe dare I say it the wrong tool for the job, a decent table saw would make that an easy task. I can see exactly where you are coming from when you say about the blade deflecting, it is following the path of least resistance and is just the same with a jig saw on thicker stock and bandsaws when setup wrong. And no you can’t be the only carpenter/joiner that doesn’t exclusively use MDF, if that was the case what a sad state of affairs for woodworking.

 

[Distinterior]

I have a fair bit of experience using a tracksaw but all my blades are 2.2mm Kerf....I've not used any of these thinner kerf/plate blades.
So, a genuine question.....Are the thinner kerf blades designed & sold on the basis that they are suitable for use on solid timber as opposed to sheet materials...?
How many teeth are on the blades you have been using to cut the 25mm Elm...?

 

[Blacks carpentry]

I have always thought tracksaws were aimed at sheet goods and more specifically at man made rather than real wood. As you say MDF is not your thing and so maybe dare I say it the wrong tool for the job, a decent table saw would make that an easy task. I can see exactly where you are coming from when you say about the blade deflecting, it is following the path of least resistance and is just the same with a jig saw on thicker stock and bandsaws when setup wrong. And no you can’t be the only carpenter/joiner that doesn’t exclusively use MDF, if that was the case what a sad state of affairs for woodworking.

My workshop is too small for a panel saw unfortunately. I have no problem with blade deflection on my table saw. I just wish it was easier to source thicker guage blades for the mt55. I feel like it’s an easy problem to fix but every blade manufacturer I have bought from has succumbed to the thinner is better gimmick.

 

[Spectric]

every blade manufacturer I have bought from has succumbed to the thinner is better gimmick.

Must be a good market in cutting MDF , more users than is good for the game so they cater for the masses which is a shame.

 

[porker]

You don't say how thick the 'thin' blades you have are. I know the Festool is 2.2mm. I got a mail from Key Blades today that are doing some good deals on Mafell compatible blades. I see these are 1.8mm. I have found there blades good quality and I think @petermillard uses them also on Festool
Key Blades

 

[Blacks carpentry]

I have a fair bit of experience using a tracksaw but all my blades are 2.2mm Kerf....I've not used any of these thinner kerf/plate blades.
So, a genuine question.....Are the thinner kerf blades designed & sold on the basis that they are suitable for use on solid timber as opposed to sheet materials...?
How many teeth are on the blades you have been using to cut the 25mm Elm...?

The problem is the guage of the steel rather than tooth kerf. Anything under 1.8mm is problematic in hardwood.

 

[Distinterior]

I've just had a look and it seems Mafell do a 24 tooth blade and an 18 tooth blade, which in theory would be suitable for rip cutting solid timber.....
But the plate thickness is only 1.2mm.......I would imagine anyone using a blade that is that thin is going to see deflection of some sort, especially when rip cutting real timber, (edit) no matter whether it's a tracksaw or a table saw...

 

[Blacks carpentry]

You don't say how thick the 'thin' blades you have are. I know the Festool is 2.2mm. I got a mail from Key Blades today that are doing some good deals on Mafell compatible blades. I see these are 1.8mm. I have found there blades good quality and I think @petermillard uses them also on Festool
Key Blades

I have used these after using the supplied mafell blades and they are even more problematic for my use cases.

 

[Blacks carpentry]

I've just had a look and it seems Mafell do a 24 tooth blade and an 18 tooth blade, which in theory would be suitable for rip cutting solid timber.....
But the plate thickness is only 1.2mm.......I would imagine anyone using a blade that is that thin is going to see deflection of some sort, especially when rip cutting real timber.

Yep, it’s frustrating. Plate should be at least 1.8mm imo

 

[porker]

Is there any reason why you can't use the thicker Festool blades in a Mafell saw? I know the diameter is 2mm different but does it clear the rail OK?

 

[Distinterior]

Is there any reason why you can't use the thicker Festool blades in a Mafell saw? I know the diameter is 2mm different but does it clear the rail OK?

Aren't the Festool TS55 blades and the MT55 blades both 160mm in dia...?

Or do you mean 0.4mm difference in the kerf..?

 

[porker]

Quite possibly. I was looking at the Key Blades site which lists Festool compatible as 160mm and the Mafell as 162mm

 

[Blacks carpentry]

Is there any reason why you can't use the thicker Festool blades in a Mafell saw? I know the diameter is 2mm different but does it clear the rail OK?

I’ve not tried festool blades as the Mafell has some elegant design features that might not be compatible with a different size blade but I might have to just to get a decent cut and maintain an accurate splinter strip cut line. Kind of wish I’d just bought the ts55 now. One of the main reasons I bought the mafell was the supposedly powerful motor but then they supply blades that only make sense on an underpowered cordless machine.

 

[redhunter350]

An expert on track saws I am not ! However I purchased a Bosch -- similar to Mafell when we moved our business to a new site and did the fitting out ourselves, for some units required we purchased engineered oak worktops that had to be split in half, they were 2m long x 28mm thick & 600? wide, these were all cut with the track saw and no problems with deviation. The blade did occasionally get hot but still no problems, it was the standard blade as supplied with the saw 165 x 1.8 x1.3 with 20mm bore. Also cut a lot of MDF slat wall board again no problems. Used 2 tracks with were clamped during use & I did wedge the start of the cut to prevent it closing up as work progressed. Maybe useful to the OP ?

 

[porker]

If I had a complaint on the TS55 it is that the motor is a little underpowered. It might be because I was trying to rip oak at full depth with the general purpose blade as I haven't got a 20T or lower blade.

 

[Distinterior]

I've used my TS55 on a couple of occasions to rip 40mm thick solid Oak worktops down to size.....My TS55 is a 240v model, and I've not had any issues with deflection when using a 12 tooth blade. The 110v version of the saw is renowned as being underpowered and apparently, the battery version of the saw is said to have more power than the 110v version....

 

[Blacks carpentry]

An expert on track saws I am not ! However I purchased a Bosch -- similar to Mafell when we moved our business to a new site and did the fitting out ourselves, for some units required we purchased engineered oak worktops that had to be split in half, they were 2m long x 28mm thick & 600? wide, these were all cut with the track saw and no problems with deviation. The blade did occasionally get hot but still no problems, it was the standard blade as supplied with the saw 165 x 1.8 x1.3 with 20mm bore. Also cut a lot of MDF slat wall board again no problems. Used 2 tracks with were clamped during use & I did wedge the start of the cut to prevent it closing up as work progressed. Maybe useful to the OP ?

An expert on track saws I am not ! However I purchased a Bosch -- similar to Mafell when we moved our business to a new site and did the fitting out ourselves, for some units required we purchased engineered oak worktops that had to be split in half, they were 2m long x 28mm thick & 600? wide, these were all cut with the track saw and no problems with deviation. The blade did occasionally get hot but still no problems, it was the standard blade as supplied with the saw 165 x 1.8 x1.3 with 20mm bore. Also cut a lot of MDF slat wall board again no problems. Used 2 tracks with were clamped during use & I did wedge the start of the cut to prevent it closing up as work progressed. Maybe useful to the OP ?

Were the worktops glued together? You’re not going to notice 1/2mm deflection unless you glue two pieces together or require a dead accurate cut line for matching cabinet parts. 1/2mm either way can mean a 1mm gap and 1degree off bevel can mean an open mitre when it comes to glue-up.

 

[Lefley]

It couldn’t be any more snug and yes it was clamped. The blade itself had drifted out of line, I have not had any issues with mdf or softer timber but I rarely use MDF

I’ve had huge drift with some of these thin kerfed blades. Try running a huge pile of 2x4 through a table saw with a thin kerfed blade! The blade can drift 1/4” when heats up.