Thread: Glens Workshop, Gadgets, and Product Reviews.

Originally Posted by Treecycle

So why not fit your guides on the base plate of the saw parallel with the blade and not the edge of the base plate? Wouldn't that solve your problem as it is the guide strips that are following your guide and not the base plate?

Yes you are right in what you said, and that is exactly what i did, i screw the 2 guide strips on the saw base parallel to the blade, but to do this i had to have the blade set down to its fullest cutting depth so i had the maximum saw blade width to align the 2 strips to, and this was ok, everything seemed to be ok, so after i finished the 2 strips and was happy with it, i decided to test it out on a length of 16mm melamine, so i lifted the blade up to a depth of 18mm to cut the 16mm melamine, and as i was cutting the sheet i noticed the front of the blade had a small gap to the edge of the saw track, and the rear of the blade was cutting the edge of the saw track, which i immediately thought something was not right with the alignment, and when i checked the blade alignment to the aluminium strips on the saw base, it was out of alignment yet again.

I adjusted the blade back to the fullest cutting depth and checked the alignment to those 2 strips again, and it was perfect.

I realized soon after this that there was an issue with the curved locking bracket on the rear, as it seemed as if it saw was not square to the base plate, so as i adjusted the blade up and down and locked it in place, the blade alignment was being affected, so while it was aligned in one position it was not aligned after setting it to a different depth.

I had to go to Carbatec today, so i stopped off at the local Makita/Dewalt dealer where i bought that saw, and showed it to the service guy, and he came up with the same issues that i found, and he agreed that there was an issue with that adjustment bracket, or with the pivot bracket at the front, however we both believed it was that curved bracket at the rear causing the issue.

He could not replace the saw because i had already drilled holes in the aluminium base plate for those 2 aluminium guide strips, so he is going to try and get me a new bracket to screw on the saw to see if that fixes the issue, so while i was there i ordered the new 184mm DeWalt saw that i originally wanted when i got this Makita one.

I then went to Carbatec and had a look at the Kreg Accu-Cut system, and the guy from that store who i spoke to the other day was wrong about what he told me, and the sales guy today showed me their whole range of products, and the Accu-cut kit that was $149 has the blue saw base plate attachment + 2x 700mm lengths of saw track, making up a 1400mm track, and they also sell packs with additional tracks in them, either 2x 700mm or 1x 1400 track, as well as other bits and pieces.

They also sell a complete saw track kit with 4x 700mm lengths of track and the blue plastic saw base plate attachment (which cuts to a length of 2550mm) and it costs $250, which is a lot cheaper than the Festool track system, and i honestly think i am just better off buying this kit rather than trying to make my own and having to screw strips onto my saw base.

The only issue with this Kreg system (as the salesman pointed out) is that you must be sure that your saw base plate is aligned to the blade at all cutting depths, otherwise when you fit the blue plastic base attachment to the base plate on the saw according to the instructions, the saw is not going to cut properly, so this is why i will wait until i get the new DeWalt saw and test the alignment on that before buying the Kreg kit.

The Kreg plunge saw that is sold in USA will not be made for the Australian market as it will cost them too much to produce the required electrical system for it (Kreg is an American company hence the 110v system used in their saw) so this is why Kreg have made the saw base attachment to use on your own power saw.

BTW, if there is anyone out there who has the Festool Track Saw system, including the Plunge Saw, i need to ask what the performance of the Saw is like, as i was reading a few articles that indicated this saw lacked grunt when cutting thicker and/or harder timber or sheet products.

The new Dewalt saw i am buying is 1600w, not a 1200w saw like this crappy Makita saw that i bought, just so i get a bit more grunt.

I bought one of these with an extra length of track.

W874 - cs-55 Circular Plunge & Mitre Cut Saw Package Deal | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse

It has cut down large sheets with great accuracy (haven’t need to cut slightly over size and trim as I was e or ting to do) , trimmed doors etc.

Only modification I did was to make an extra key to help align the two tracks when joined.

Originally Posted by Lappa

I bought one of these with an extra length of track.

W874 - cs-55 Circular Plunge & Mitre Cut Saw Package Deal | Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse

It has cut down large sheets with great accuracy (haven’t need to cut slightly over size and trim as I was e or ting to do) , trimmed doors etc.

Only modification I did was to make an extra key to help align the two tracks when joined.

It seems like that Saw Track is similar to the Ozito Saw track that i saw the other day in Bunnings, looks like the same clamps and Key that is used to join the tracks.

All track saws are similar in that they use basically the same key and clamping system. I have used both and I’d take this one over an Ozito any day. My only complaint was they only supplied one key which did allow some track movement when joining. I made another key so it’s now keyed in two places and it’s rock solid.

Originally Posted by Lappa

All track saws are similar in that they use basically the same key and clamping system. I have used both and I’d take this one over an Ozito any day. My only complaint was they only supplied one key which did allow some track movement when joining. I made another key so it’s now keyed in two places and it’s rock solid.

I think i prefer the Kreg track myself, as it does come with 2 keys to lock the track together, and the guy at Carbatec also told me that some of the guys who had bought the Kreg system told him that they left a tiny gap between the 2 joined sections when tightening the keys rather than butt them tightly together, not sure why they would do this though.

If i was going to buy a track for cutting 1200mm to 2400mm sheets then i would prefer it to be one single 2800m long track rather than have it in 2 or more sections to be joined, but given i can't buy a single 2800mm track, then i would buy 2x 1400mm tracks and once joined using the Keys, i would leave it at 2800mm so it is all set up ready to use on longer sheets.

I would then buy a 1400mm length for cutting 600mm to 1200mm sheets, and another 700mm track for cutting anything up to 500mm.

I don't think anyone makes a single 2800mm track, not unless Festool does, but i am sure that their longest track is 1400mm long (like Kreg has) and you need to join 2 of them together, but if i had to do that, i would just leave it joined once i had it aligned and the keys locked into place.

After messing about over the past week with doing a lot of cutting of smaller 12mm thick MDF sheets to make shoe racks and book shelves for family members, i have had enough of having to sit smaller sheets on my big work bench and use my 185mm power saw to cut everything, and it has made me realize just how much i really do miss having a saw bench/table for this type of work, so i am now going to have a go at making my own Saw Bench rather than buy one, and this one will be made with a ripping capacity of up to 900mm wide, and i will be making a big cross cut guide/jig for this saw table as well, with the aim of being able to cross cut sheets up to around 600mm to 750mm wide, if it goes to plan.

For this saw table i am going to modify an 1100mm wide melamine drawer cabinet (with lockable castors) that is sitting under one of my work benches, it currently has a sheet of 1800x800 particleboard screwed on top, and 3 removable drawers, and i can drag this out from under the bench when i need additional work space, and i can lock the castors in place to stop it from moving around, so this should be a good starting point for the saw bench, just need to remove the drawers and make them 800mm wide so i can fit a power saw beside them under the benchtop.

I was at our local tip resource shop last week and i bought a 1500x800x28mm grey laminate (lamiwood) desk top that they had stored in a rack selling for $8 each (there was 8 of these in there) and these tops have a 3mm thick grey rubber moulding on all 4 edges, so i took it home, and yesterday i used it to make the bench top for the laundry in our garage, so i will go back to the resource shop this week and buy 2 more of these desk tops, and one of them will be used for the top of the saw table.

This is the drawer cabinet i will use, and i already bought some aluminium tracks and glide strips from Carbatec to use for the cross cut jig.

Festool do in fact make a 3m track. You just have to have seven hundred and fifty dollary doo's to buy it.

In fact if one was so inclined you could even purchase a 5000mm long rail, for the low price of $999.

Festool - FS Guide Rail 5000 mm

If you consider that a 2400mm long rail is $599.01, you could cut one in half and save $200 bucks!

What a bargain

Why is Festool so expensive, i had a look at some of their stuff the other day and i don't see it being any better than the Kreg system, in fact i much prefer the Kreg track anyway, and it would be great if Kreg would or could find a way to make a 240v version of their plunge saw, however the guy at Carbatec tells me that it would be a lot more expensive than the American model (110v) because of the elecronics required.

This is why Kreg made the Saw base plate adapter to fit your own saw, but as i recently found with my horrid Makita saw, the base plate was out of alignment at various stages of the blade height, making it useless to use with one of the Kreg base plate adapters, whatever saw you do use with it needs to have the base plate correctly aligned to the blade in all height positions.

Let us hope that the new DeWalt power saw is much better than the Makita when it arrives next week.

On another note, the saw bench is on hold for a bit right now, having to deal with plumbers and the local council plumbing inspector to locate the sewer mains in the courtyard of our new townhouse, as the plumbers who did the work on 2 of the 18 townhouses in our complex have failed to install any sewer I/O's above ground level, and one sewer I/O (stack) that should have been installed under a tap on the brick wall outside is not there, as there is a concrete path under the tap so the useless concreters have most likely concreted over it.

I think someone is going to be in trouble for this, and the council inspector is furious because he was not with this council when the development started 18 months ago, and now has to find out who the original plumbers were to see if they can help us locate where the sewer mains is located.

Been messing about today and made myself a new drill bit rack to sit on the bench in front of a tool storage tray, makes it easy to see and grab my drill bits when i need them.

I got a start on my Saw Bench today, ripped out the 3 drawers from the mobile drawer cabinet under my bench, i cut a 300x250 hole out of the side of the cabinet for access to the Saw to change the blade and adjust the cutting depth.

I screwed a 1450mm x 800mm sheet of melamine to the top, and cut another 350mm x 290mm hole in the melamine on the right end for the saw to be mounted in.

The saw has been screwed onto a 400mm x 300mm piece of 9mm thick MDF, which will be flipped over and screwed over the cut out in the melamine top, making sure that the Blade is at 90 degrees to the front edge of the melamine top.

I will then be screwing the aluminium tracks to the table top, one will be placed just to the left side of the MDF panel, the other will be located about 200mm from the other end of the table top, and these will then be used as part of the Cross Cut fence.

The ripping fence will be made from some 40x40 aluminium tube i think, and this will be fixed to an aluminium channel on the front and rear of the table top (not designed it properly yet but i have an idea of how i want it to work.)

When the 2 aluminium tracks have been screwed to the melamine top, i will be adding 12mm MDF sheets to the table top between the 2 cross cut tracks, and around the 9mm MDF saw base plate to make the table top all one level.

The biggest issue is to make sure that the rip fence will be exactly parallel to the saw blade, and the cross cut fence is exactly 90 degrees to the blade.

More to come later.

Just curious to know if this type of advertising is normal in this forum ?



I have had these google ads appear in some of my posts tonight, exactly as you can see them in my screenshot, but from different products.

I have never seen them before, so i need to find out if this is sponsored by the forum, or if something else has caused this.

EDIT: i just realized that when i refreshed my Firefox earlier today it wiped my AdBlock Plus extension that i usually have installed, i just added this back into my Firefox and the Advertising went away.

We should not have to put up with this type of annoying advertising by giants like Google, they should appreciate that so many people use their services by not imposing this stuff on us, forcing us to have to install Ad Blockers into our browser.

Glen I have had the festool track system for years, I've never found it lacking in power or accuracy. It also is easy to set up and very repeatable (is that even a word?) yes, it's expensive, but it's the best you can buy, mine has cut everything including hundreds of sheets of 19mm fibre cement sheeting, and literally thousands of sheets of red tongue flooring and never had problem with it. Like any cutting tool, a clean,sharp blade suitable for the material is essential, but I'm sure you know that.

Originally Posted by riverbuilder

Glen I have had the festool track system for years, I've never found it lacking in power or accuracy. It also is easy to set up and very repeatable (is that even a word?) yes, it's expensive, but it's the best you can buy, mine has cut everything including hundreds of sheets of 19mm fibre cement sheeting, and literally thousands of sheets of red tongue flooring and never had problem with it. Like any cutting tool, a clean,sharp blade suitable for the material is essential, but I'm sure you know that.

Oh i am not doubting the Festool system is not good quality, the issue that i have with this brand is the cost, compared to others such as Kreg, who unfortunately don't supply a plunge saw for their track system here in Australia, so buying their saw base plate attachment is the only option we have to make their track usable, and as previously mentioned, you must check that your power saw base plate is exactly square, or parallel to the saw blade at all height positions, and i can't use my new Makita saw because the aluminium base plate is aligned to the blade when the blade is set at 20mm down, but it gets up to 2mm out of alignment when i adjust the blade right down for full depth cutting.

I am hoping the DeWalt saw i am buying will have a fully aligned base plate, but for now i am using the non aligned Makita saw in my new Table Saw that i just started to make, and see how that goes.

You may have noticed in my post above with the photos of my mobile Saw Table that i have my Makita saw mounted on the far right side of the table, usually it would be more to the centre with the ripping fence set up on the right side of the blade, and the cross cut jig to the left side on those table saws that have a cross cut jig.

In my case i wanted to have the rip fence and the cross cut jig to the left of the blade, but i then realized that when it comes to ripping, i am right handed, and i need the rip fence to the right side of the blade so when ripping material i can use my right hand to tailor out the piece being ripped, and also to hold the push stick on narrower pieces, which i cant do properly using my left hand, plus i don't have a pointer finger on my left hand (lost half of it in a Buzzer accident 20 years ago) which also makes it a bit more difficult for me to pick up things, so it would be somewhat dangerous for me as well.

When it comes to cross cutting materials i prefer to stand to the left of the blade with my left hip poised towards the table and my left hand is used to to steady or hold the material on the benchtop jig while my right hand is used to push the jig thru the saw, so i am now going to move the saw to the centre of the table instead, this will give me 700mm of table top on both sides of the blade for both the rip fence and the cross cut jig, and i will make the ripping fence extend out to 900mm to the right side of the blade.

BTW, i was looking around Youtube to see what other guys are doing when making their own table saws, and i found this excellent video of a guy making his cross cut sled, now i don't necessarily want to make mine as a Sled type jig like this one, but he does show at the beginning of his video how to check and adjust the sled for cutting square, as this is the most important thing required when making a cross cut sled or jig.

I would do it slightly differently by cutting the thin board on one side, becoming side 1 as in his video, i would then hold side 1 on the sled or jig fence and cut the other 3 sides in an clockwise rotation, then i would do a diagonal corner to corner measurement, checking to see if both measurements are exactly the same, if not square i would simply adjust the fence on the slider rails accordingly until the cut is square, and then fix off all the screws and fittings permanently.

YouTube

I built a table saw using my Makita 5900B as I found it too large for what I needed for hand cutting. There’s some photos in this thread.

Makita 91/4 inch saw 235mm

Its works great!