Tmize Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 So I’ve got a bunch of plywood cabinets coming up soon so I got to looking into track saw. I know I want battery powered I hate cords an I’m a electrician ?. While searching the web I found Home Depot had Milwaukee 18v circular saw half price with battery $179 so I jumped on that. Then I got to thinking about kreg accu cut xl. It has a bed to attach a saw to an cut up to 106” track. Would it be mistake to go with this or would a true track saw setup be so much better. I don’t do a lot of plywood regularly either way would be better than fighting a whole sheet thru the table saw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye (Bryan) Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 I was never good with a circular saw, I will chalk it up to an eye dominance issue. I lost track of the blade, so I prefer a track saw. I can’t say whether you would be better with 1 over the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 I looked at the kreg tool your talking about. Ended up basically making my own out of some plywood scrap and can say that it works pretty well. Also running the Milwaukee saw, I did find at Home Depot a diablo blade that is 60 teeth @ 7 1/4 will say it takes a lot of power but gives a really clean cut on ply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 I should also say that I use the homemade jig mostly for cross cutting the sheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 Obviously, I run a track saw but, have built a few of the guides for friends that didn't want to spend the money on a track saw. The guides work fine but, they're not "bullet proof" like a track saw is. The trick with the circular saw guide is to always set the guide so that any error is in the waste! Also, invest in a good blade. For the records, a couple of those that I built for friends are still in use today and the owners swear by them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 5 hours ago, Kev said: Obviously, I run a track saw but, have built a few of the guides for friends that didn't want to spend the money on a track saw. The guides work fine but, they're not "bullet proof" like a track saw is. The trick with the circular saw guide is to always set the guide so that any error is in the waste! Also, invest in a good blade. For the records, a couple of those that I built for friends are still in use today and the owners swear by them. Great point on the error side is the waste side. It’s also easier to do it that way for layout, don’t have to figure in the width of the blade and can cut right over the line. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 49 minutes ago, Jamie said: Great point on the error side is the waste side. It’s also easier to do it that way for layout, don’t have to figure in the width of the blade and can cut right over the line. Yes! If you're like me, anything to dummy proof the process helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 7 hours ago, Kev said: Yes! If you're like me, anything to dummy proof the process helps! Don’t ask me how I know this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 19 hours ago, Jamie said: I did find at Home Depot a diablo blade I always thought the Diablo blades were subpar compared to Freud's higher end stuff just because you always found them in places like Home Depot. Then I heard a reliable discussion about them and the cut quality is just as good in both lines but the Diablo's cut quality will degrade quicker and they really aren't meant to be resharpened As far as the track saw vs. circular saw I have don it both ways. For many years I used the circular saw, more years then I probably would have if I had heard about track saws sooner. My biggest take away is how much faster the track saw is in the sense that you just lay down the track on your marks and go. No clamping of the straight edge and no figuring for the blade offset. I know the track saw would be a bigger expense but some times you have to put a value on your time and the less points of error like offsets the better. Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted October 4, 2020 Author Share Posted October 4, 2020 Nearly all my ts blades are diablo I think they are about the best value. Now my 24t rip blade is starting to dull an burn I may have to replace it soon. Now I’ve cut a lot with it in the last year an half. For 30 bucks I can live with that consumable cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted October 4, 2020 Author Share Posted October 4, 2020 I may just go with the kreg save some money. They make good product from what I have used. I just don’t see me doing enough plywood an cabinets to make it worth the extra $$. Now I need to come up with a better method to break down whole sheets. Thinking about building a 2x4 grid to sit on my saw horses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 19 minutes ago, Tmize said: Now I need to come up with a better method to break down whole sheets. Thinking about building a 2x4 grid to sit on my saw horses I did something like this. I used 1/2 birch ply that I had on hand and cut some cross lap joints like pictured below. I have 4 strips 6 ft long and 4 strips 3 ft long. The cross laps allows me to break it down for storage. In storage all bundled together its about the size of 2, 2X4. 3 Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye (Bryan) Posted October 4, 2020 Share Posted October 4, 2020 I take 2” rigid foam board and throw on top of saw horses. Each foam board is 2’x8’ so together gives me 4’x8’. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 5 hours ago, Tmize said: I may just go with the kreg save some money. They make good product from what I have used. I just don’t see me doing enough plywood an cabinets to make it worth the extra $$. Now I need to come up with a better method to break down whole sheets. Thinking about building a 2x4 grid to sit on my saw horses Good idea! Could half lap them to be able to break down for easier storage as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Just now, Jamie said: Good idea! Could half lap them to be able to break down for easier storage as well Sorry didn’t read @Chet post before typing this. cant seem to edit posts anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Just now, Jamie said: cant seem to edit posts anymore. You can but, there's just a little bit of a time delay to do it which I haven't figured out how to remove.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted October 5, 2020 Author Share Posted October 5, 2020 27 minutes ago, Jamie said: Good idea! Could half lap them to be able to break down for easier storage as well That was what I was thinking originally. Now Chet has me thinking of using plywood to save storage space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 I break down my sheet goods on the driveway with a track saw and 2" x 4' x 8' piece of foam. In the winter time if I have to, due to snow, I throw the foam on my outfeed table. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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