Tracks, Railsquares and Tracksaws

[Spectric]

This is something I have been looking at and undecided 50/50, I think the plunge saw is a no brainer if you use a lot of sheet goods and cannot afford or accomodate a decent table saw that can take full sheets and with a rail square it takes things to another level. I am now thinking that it would not take a huge job where you need to cut a large amount of Ply in order to justify the outlay of a rail square and tracksaw given the extra flexability it would provide, plus I think a few extra grey mater cells have come on line recently and now I can also see how it would help as a router guide. So who thinks the rail square is better than an mft top for using a tracksaw?

 

[Doug B]

A rail square is generally a one or possibly two trick pony in my book & expensive for what it does, an MFT top gives you way more options & depending on the size can do what the square does with a few dogs.
That said you pays your money & takes your choice.

 

[marcros]

I think it depends, ideally get both!

the ultimate setup for me is the MFT and a fence system, plus ether some dogs that go into the rail, to hold it in a fixed position, or a square and dogs that hold that to achieve the same. The latter is the cost of the square more expensive, but you are less limited with cutting capacity- the rail dogs do get in the way at times. This allows you to easily get square cuts and repeatable lengths. since getting this, I rarely use the long and short dogs for cross cutting.

the square is a useful tool to get a quick 90 degree cut. Often this is all that is needed, and if there are no repeat units needed, then it is brilliant. repeat cuts can often be done by ganging several pieces together and making a wider cut. it doesn't need setting up as such you just put it on the rail and cut wherever you are cutting. The mft top needs a base- may be a couple of saw horses, or something else.

 

[marcros]

A rail square is generally a one or possibly two trick pony in my book & expensive for what it does, an MFT top gives you way more options & depending on the size can do what the square does with a few dogs.
That said you pays your money & takes your choice.

I dont disagree, but it is a brilliant trick and I would replace my benchdogs square if I lost it.

 

[Doug B]

I dont disagree, but it is a brilliant trick and I would replace my benchdogs square if I lost it.

I completely understand Marcros & have friends who swear by them, personally if away from my MFT I simply use a large very accurate square against the back of track & edge of the board which gives as much bearing as a track square & is useful for a multitude of other tasks but as with all these things it’s all personal preference & really comes down to how you work & what works for you.

 

[petermillard]

At the risk od blowing my own trumpet...

 

[JobandKnock]

I'm a committed user of plunging track saws, having no less than four of them in use at present. For site carpentry and installations a rail and saw (plus a 7 x 3ft support table top and a couple of trestles are unbeatable for ply/chipboard flooring, wall panelling, etc. In fact far more useful than an MFT. I have even made up stuff like bathroom cabinets with this set up

 

[Spectric]

I'm a committed user of plunging track saws,

Hi there

You do not mention a rail square, is this something you don't use or require? If not then I assume you mark out and line up the track. If I go down this route I am looking at corded Bosch or Makita, what are you using?

 

[Rorschach]

I know we have discussed this a little before but I have been thinking more about this.

I have come to the conclusion that a rail square probably is the more useful option for the casual DIY'er or light tradesman.

MFT's are great I am sure and they offer you lots of options when it comes to setting up stop blocks, jigs etc. If you are running a small production shop like @petermillard they are almost certainly the best option, at least to start with anyway (you might still want a square as well).

If however you are mobile in your work, or you just simply don't have a dedicated space and have to set up in your garden or garage then I think a good quality rail square is the best option. Why?
Firstly, it's super portable, it's no more difficult to transport than your tracksaw and track, takes up barely any room.
You can use it with any cutting surface, on the floor, on trestles, on a bit of insulation, even just hanging out of the boot of your car if needed.
You can use it with any size track. Big cuts or small cuts are no problem, it will work with whatever size tracks you own, great for small spaces but can do a full sheet if you have enough track length.
You can use it for any size workpiece. You can cut a full sheet in half if you have a big enough track, try setting up dogs for that on a standard MFT size table. Or going the other way it would work to do square cuts on 2x4's when framing out a deck.
It works great with offcuts. You can very quickly take an odd shape offcut and square it up ready for use. Yes and MFT can also do this, but firstly it has to fit on the MFT and you have to faff with the dogs.

I think that about covers my thoughts for now lol.

 

[HDC83]

I agree with @Rorschach. I started with mft then soon realised I need rail square to break down sheets to fit mft. I got a mk2 last week and would say the Benchdogs square is excellent quality and a great price. Works great with my collapsible 8x4 cutting bench when on site and out side workshop. If any interest to anyone I got a Dewalt to run on Makita

Track had to do this as no one was making squares for the metabo rails I use. Dewalt tracks are definitely not the best.

 

[Spectric]

If any interest to anyone I got a Dewalt to run on Makita

So I gather the Dewalt saw is ok but their rails questionable, so you use Makita track which is same pattern as Festool. Does this mean you use the dewalt cordless saw because it is better or because you have Dewalt tools and batteries? I like the vote of confidence in the benchdog rail square which is odds on the one I would go for as it can be used with just a few holes in a bench, I do not use or have a full blown MFT and it looks like others are also not tied to an MFT.

Be interesting to see what @JobandKnock is using in the way of tracks and saw plus is he using a rail square.

 

[Spectric]

Watching @petermillard blowing his own trumpet, this is an informative video that I have watched several times but is a part of a bigger puzzle for me and I think as you look into something and collect bits of info from here and there eventually they all start to fall in place to produce an overall picture. I have already said how it would help as a router guide but had already forgotten it would also be a guide for my 700 domino so another use. The fact it can have a couple of dogs screwed into the rail square is a bonus and no limits on size set by an MFT, the track is your limit. Looking at Petes new portable bench build was also interesting, so was the London smog. I would have thought the rail square would make a portable MFT workbench pointless as jobandknock says " a 7 x 3ft support table top and a couple of trestles are unbeatable for ply/chipboard flooring, wall panelling, etc. In fact far more useful than an MFT " but I think Peter drilled the top as an MFT more to save weight, like a lot of us he is not getting any younger.

 

[HDC83]

With having used Festool ts55, mafell mt55, 36v Makita and Dewalt 54v that I use. The dewalt flexvolt is more powerful than all of the above and has a different action when plunging that I personally like.
Makita track is slightly different to Festool Makita has an extra rib on the that doesn’t allow the dewalt to locate I cut it off.

I could of used Festool rails but the Makita rails are 1.5 long that allows 200mm for rail square and 100mm overhang other end and that Festool rail are nearly double in price.
I also use metabo rails for 3m cuts as the rails join like Mafell

Also got bench dogs to make me an insert for a tstak case

 

[Spectric]

Some handy info there HDC83, as I am looking at corded and Makita in the running the info on track lengths is helpful. Festool rails have to be more expensive because they are Festool, what are the metabo rails for 3m cuts like compared to Makita and not seen a Mafell rail but have heard they join like a Bosch rail.

 

[Jake]

At the risk od blowing my own trumpet...

No an od risk

 

[HDC83]

The Mafell, Bosch, Metabo rail use same joining system which is the best system in my opinion.
I think the Metabo/Festool rails a compatible with pretty much all track saws on the market.
Joining Makita/Festool rails can be a time consuming and can easily be knocked out of alignment and dewalt rail is impossible to keep straight.

 

[shed9]

Not sure I would pitch the two options of rail square and MFT type top as competitive tools. Whilst they can do similar cuts they are essentially different tools for different cuts relevant to material size more than anything. I agree with the comments on Festool style rails being a pain to connect and maintain alignment however the TSO rail connectors remedy that (albeit at £75 a set). I would actually add the option of parallel guides into the equation of useful / necessary accessories for a track saw. I find these invaluable for repeated cuts on large sheets.

 

[HDC83]

@shed9 in regards to the TSO connectors have you used/own them? I would like to know if there any good as I would like to use Benchdogs parallel guides. I made my own, but they mount underneath unlike the one a for Festool style rails.

 

[shed9]

@shed9 in regards to the TSO connectors have you used/own them? I would like to know if there any good as I would like to use Benchdogs parallel guides.

I have a set of the TSO connectors, picked them up a while back for a little over £50 so not as eye watering at the time. They work incredibly well and would happily replace them if I needed to.
Nice DIY parallel guides, have to admit I toyed with making my own from alloy but at the time I was knee deep in work so just pushed the button and picked up a pair of Festool's with the VL extensions. They could be longer and I'm surprised they don't offer another accessory to the set of longer rails.

 

[Spectric]

Hi @HDC83

Am I correct that you are using Makita 1.5 rails but using the Metabo rails for 3 metres because they connect better? I suppose there was never going to be any standardisation with the OEM tracks, makes a lot of engineering / user sense but not marketing as it seems the track dictates the saw to some extent unless you take a saw to it like HDC83.