Thread: Track saw jig for accurate multiple narrow cuts?

I must be missing something here but having watched a carpenter cutting stuff with a Makita track saw and my limited experience with my Dewalt track saw, if you can mark out your job with a pencil/chalk line and then lay your track and allow for the cut to be on either the "save" or "waste" side of the line then the sheet will be the size you want. Yes, you need the track to be supported for it's full width and length of cut but the track saw will cut big sheets with more ease and safety than a "job site" table saw and then take up less room than that table saw when it gets back to the home workshop. The next best thing to a portable track saw for cutting sheet material is the wall-mounted track saw like you find at Bunnings. Then comes the pro saws with sliding tables and extensive realestate requirements.

There are a number of companies out there that make parallel guides to suit the Festool track which provide a means to make accurate, repeatable cuts without an MFT bench. TSO products, Woodpeckers and even Festool I believe.

TSO Parallel Guide System for Festool, Makita and Trition Track Saws

FESTOOL TRACK SAW TSO GRS 16 PE AND PARALLEL GUIDE DAVE STANTON - YouTube

You can also make your own parallel guides
Quick Parallel Guides for your Track Saw - Simple & Accurate - YouTube

The Stanton bench is another MFT style bench at a fraction of the cost of the Festool.
Stanton Bench – STANTON BENCH

Old Hilly - yes that's the thing.

The tracksaw is actually the best thing you can really have for full-sized sheets of material.

But everything that makes it fantastic for big sheet work also provides the limitations or requires workarounds for small pieces. Without a fair amount of material under the track, you need a clamping setup. With narrow stock (not cuts, source stock) you need something to keep the track stable and precise through the cut, etc.

Again, I love the tracksaw. I consider it the best small-shop in particular power tool you can own. But it has limits to what it can conveniently do once you move off sheet/panel stock.

Originally Posted by Andy252

Hi Clare,

First time poster here.

I've taken a similar path as you - Festool TS55 instead of table saw. It's very much possible to achieve repeatable cuts with the ts55 for narrow stock. I have two recommendations for you:

1. Have a read of Rey Johnson's "MFT Retorspective" http://www.festoolownersgroup.com/Co...rospective.pdf
This guide is brilliant and explains his approach to using the TS55 along with the Festool MFT to complete a range of cuts - including cutting narrow stock using a shop made story board. I've made my own story board and it works extremely well for making repeated narrow cuts with the TS55.

2. As CGCC suggested, have a look at the parf guide system. It's essentially a jig you use to create your own MFT type table top - a table top with 20mm holes at very precise locations which are 90 and 45 degree reference points to each other. The benefit of this over an MFT is you can create a table of any size you wish, create multiple tops, and make new tops if the old ones have been cut through one to many times. UJK Parf Mk II Guide System | Axminster Tools I've got it and its excellent.

Together, these two have provided me with many of the same capabilities as a table saw but with added flexibility for other uses (e.g. the tables are great for glue ups by using the dog holes as very accurate 90 degree reference surfaces).

Photos below of my setup for repeated narrow cuts. Plywood piece with dog holes is a shop made fence for the table, but you could just as easily use two dogs to get an accurate 90 degree reference point. The melamine piece is my storyboard that is placed against the fence/dogs and moved towards/away from the track. I've grooved out a place to add stick on measuring tape. When the 0 is aligned to the back of the track, it's zeroed out with the blade. By pulling it away from the track I can set the distance of the cut (e.g. 110mm in below picture), clamp the story board in place and make repeatable cuts. As you can see in the last photo - two pieces cut, both of 110mm width.

Attachment 485128
Attachment 485131
Attachment 485129

Attachment 485130

Again, this setup is the brain child of Rey Johnson - it works a treat.

Cheers,
Andy

what happens if the piece you're cutting is significantly thicker or thinner than the story board (or whatever piece the track is sitting on)?

Good question Spyro - for thinner stock it might be easier to make another thinner storyboard vs. shimming the stock up to the height of the storyboard. For thicker pieces, you could make two cutouts in the storyboard which sit under the fence - so the storyboard resembles an M shape. This would allow you to add blocks the same height as the stock and balance the track.

I'm not sure on the forum etiquette for linking to other sites (happy to remove it if it not the done thing), however the following link is what i've based my design on. It shows the cutouts and how you can then make storyboard blocks of different thicknesses.

My Storyboard for the MFT

Cheers

Originally Posted by Andy252

Good question Spyro - for thinner stock it might be easier to make another thinner storyboard vs. shimming the stock up to the height of the storyboard. For thicker pieces, you could make two cutouts in the storyboard which sit under the fence - so the storyboard resembles an M shape. This would allow you to add blocks the same height as the stock and balance the track.

I'm not sure on the forum etiquette for linking to other sites (happy to remove it if it not the done thing), however the following link is what i've based my design on. It shows the cutouts and how you can then make storyboard blocks of different thicknesses.

My Storyboard for the MFT

Cheers

I built this contraption for my small bench






Pretty self explanatory I think, it's just a platform for the track that hinges on the bench, the whole thing goes up and down to accommodate any thickness, and there is a sliding fence on the other side with a threaded rod through it that locks with a cam lever. The bench has an extension that folds down, once I open it it can support a large sheet and I can cut it all up in equal strips in a couple of minutes.

It's a bit of work to build it but it works, and folds flat when not used so it's out of the way. Tolerances and accuracy depend mainly on how tight are the hinges, I went through a few to find some good ones. Other than that the whole thing locks up rock solid.

I used it for a couple of years and only stopped using it because I've had enough with sawdust in the shed. These days I just go outside and set up on sawhorses for cutting/sanding/routing and I don't care if it takes longer. I just take my time to mark and clamp both ends of the track for every cut.
Anything that comes back into the shed (tools, people, dog) I clean it first with a leaf blower at the door

I like that setup Spyro. Makes for a nice 90 degree cut each time as well. I’ve got aluminum extrusion attached to the side of my bench so might consider making a similar jig in the future. I’ve similar wings for the bench as well to manage large sheets.

Working outdoors whilst taking your time sounds like the dream.

This video showed how to make a set of hyper-accurate jigs for repeated cuts using a track saw.

IT IS EXCELLENT

Perfect for doing cupboard components plus little bits.

Ensure you turn on Closed Captions.

Narrow Strip Ripping Jig - YouTube


The video is clunky (as its a Sketchup animation) so here are a few simple screen grabs I kept for my own notes ....

Originally Posted by Cgcc

Old Hilly - yes that's the thing.

The tracksaw is actually the best thing you can really have for full-sized sheets of material.

But everything that makes it fantastic for big sheet work also provides the limitations or requires workarounds for small pieces. Without a fair amount of material under the track, you need a clamping setup. With narrow stock (not cuts, source stock) you need something to keep the track stable and precise through the cut, etc.

Again, I love the tracksaw. I consider it the best small-shop in particular power tool you can own. But it has limits to what it can conveniently do once you move off sheet/panel stock.

Well, when things get that small I turn to my Dewalt portable/jobsite table saw. The rack and pinion fence adjustments are way in front of the opposition (but I think Milwalkee has a similar system on one of their cordless saws). Their "mitre gage" thing is pretty useless, it flops around like a tree in the wind so some sort of sled is about the first thing you will need unless you have a decent mitre saw but for ripping the saw is fine straight out of the box.
Another option would be to find a radial arm saw. In the hands of an experienced operator they will do all the things you want to do and possibly more. They just need a lot of bench space if you want to rip full sheets.