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Track saw

I may have spoken to soon I was using the saw to cut some plywood to make some French cleats.
After two cuts the saw became difficult to move along the track when moving the track to make the second part of the cut the saw would not engage with the track.
Eventually I discovered that a small grub screw underneath was loose.

2019-04-18_08-24-46 by my0771, on Flickr

I was not sure exactly what it does but it makes the saw difficult to use so I tightened it.
Two cuts later I was in the same situation this went on all afternoon and in the end I gave up.
I will speak to Screwfix customer services when they open.
 
I know my saw is not a Titan, but using mine last night and while checking the 90 degree angle, I noticed a couple of grub screws on mine on the inside of the bottom plate, but they both seemed to have a dollop of thread lock stuff. They looked like they were factory set for the 90 degree stop.

Could your be something similar, that has lost its thread locking goo?
 
I could not see what the grub screw was going into but my feeling was there was nothing on the other side none of the others were loose.
Anyway that is no longer my problem Screwfix were great they offered a direct replacement but I was not to keen to have a third one so they offered an alternative. Thinking about what others had said I decided to spend the extra and get the Makita.
Unfortunately Screwfix do not keep the SP6000 only the dual battery version so they refunded my money and I went around the corner to Axminster and bought it there with two 1.4 m rails

2019-04-18_01-21-13 by my0771, on Flickr

Hopefully my issues will be resolved :D
 
I thought I was buying a saw with 2 x 1.4 m tracks when I opened the packaging this morning I have 2 x 1.5m tracks I checked my receipt and it does say 1.5m tracks.
But I only have one joining strip?
Would it be sacrilege to cut one into pieces which would be handy for bench use 2.4m sheets will be the largest item I am ever likely to cut.
 
Why would you want to cut the track?! Don't forget you need space before and after the board for the saw to run off/into (you can plunge, but it is a pain at full stretch...)
 
StevieB":yz88x0qp said:
Why would you want to cut the track?! Don't forget you need space before and after the board for the saw to run off/into (you can plunge, but it is a pain at full stretch...)
Click to expand...

:text-+1:

Definitely don't cut them. I have 2 x 1.4m Festool tracks and on a 24 sheet as StevieB says, you have to be really careful at the start and end of the cut because you need that overhang.
 
I had one of my Festool 1.4m tracks cut down when I bought a 2.7m track it’s handy having a shorter track for some jobs but I had it machine cut so that it was square so if I needed to join it to another track it would line up perfectly.
 
Thanks Doug I would have it cut by a local engineering shop. I would still have 3m of track just in a more user friendly format.
My workshop is quite small if I put a 1.5m track on the bench to make a cross cut it would over hang the bench by 750mm leaving me 250mm to get past. Where a 1m track would still allow me to make crosscuts and have space to move around. If I needed I could still join them all together.

Anyway I used the saw today to finish off my mammoth fencing project it works perfectly. It sailed over the joint when I trimmed the chip strip. It was so easy to push compared to the Titan with very little vibration and such a smooth cut.

I know it was three times the price but it is way better and I intend to get my money’s worth I will be looking for stuff to cut :)
 
If you find as I have that you use the tracksaw far more than you thought you would your next problem is blades, being quiet small they blunt fairly quickly, a cheaper supplier of blades are these chaps https://www.keybladesandfixings.com/col ... des?page=2
Apart from using their blades in my TS55 I’ve also fitted one in my site chopsaw & so far theyve worked admirable
 
Doug":cx7dmu6o said:
If you find as I have that you use the tracksaw far more than you thought you would...
Click to expand...

I've got a TS55 but it's rarely used as I don't do a huge amount with board material - Rob
 
My Makita track saw works fine with one exception when I was cutting the 45 degree angle for my French cleats over a full length of 2440mm x 18mm plywood both edges are burning lots of smoke I set the saw to 32 mm so it just broke through the bottom of the plywood..
I have tried speed 6 pushing the saw quickly and slowly and I have also tried speed setting 4 again quickly and slowly. It cuts 90 degrees without issue.
I spoke to the guys at Axminster and their technical department who first suggested a blade with more teeth then I asked them to check as my rip hand saw has big ugly teeth where as my crosscut saw has smaller teeth.
The assistant phoned someone else who confirmed a blade with less teeth would correct the issue.

They were kind enough to provide a 24 tooth blade FOC (I returned the gesture with cake) I dont have a lot of ply left and dont really need anymore french cleats cutting.
What I would like to know is has anyone experience this before ? is it user error ?
Thanks
 
I would think that partly happens because the blade is buried in the material. I’ve seen the same with a table saw and having more blade poking out (or less blade in the material) resolves it.

It’s counter to safety advice and requires more guarding but the science seems to make sense.

Blade spending less time in the material, less heat build up, less burning...
 
TrimTheKing":1y7uqy4l said:
I would think that partly happens because the blade is buried in the material. I’ve seen the same with a table saw and having more blade poking out (or less blade in the material) resolves it.

It’s counter to safety advice and requires more guarding but the science seems to make sense.

Blade spending less time in the material, less heat build up, less burning...
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark that makes total sense to me I am going to give it a go
 
Also ripping vs cross cutting in plywood is a moot point as there is not a common grain direction. Larger gullets allow the waste to be cleared better and protrusion of the teeth and gullets through to job ought to help clearance. Any further depth just increases the blade area in contact with the cut and possibly more friction.
Maybe you are pushing too hard and not letting the machine do the work?
Is the ply sheet or the piece being cut off flexing? Maybe better support could help?

Bob
 
Not sure I agree with that Bob.

The teeth are wider than the blade so in theory there will be less metal touching wood by having more depth on the blade, because only the depth of the entry and exit cuts will have metal in them at any given time with the remaining teeth either below or above the workpiece...

If the body of the blade is touching the timber then there’s something very wrong.
 
I decided to approach Makita just to be sure it was not the saw I spoke to an engineer who listened carefully to what I had experienced and he felt that it was more than likely the base plate of the saw was not correctly aligned and as this is not a user serviceable item he suggested I return the saw either directly to Makita or to Axminster. My local Axminster offered to send it off for me which would take 5 to 10 days but with the bank holiday. I rang their head office who offered to pick mine up tomorrow and send a replacement on Wednesday. I asked to speak to a manager who rang the Local store and suggested they replace it for me, Not sure why they could not have done that as the saw is only 14 days old.
Off to swap it over now.
Thanks for the help I hope the next one is ok :)
 
TrimTheKing":29u2g5mk said:
Not sure I agree with that Bob.

The teeth are wider than the blade so in theory there will be less metal touching wood by having more depth on the blade, because only the depth of the entry and exit cuts will have metal in them at any given time with the remaining teeth either below or above the workpiece...

If the body of the blade is touching the timber then there’s something very wrong.
Click to expand...

If only the tips are touching then there is very little chance of burning unless they are blunt and this is a relatively new blade so I agree that something else is wrong either in alignment or technique.
This is possibly bourne out by the following post regarding makita's willingness to exchange on the grounds of mis-alignment.

Bob
 
Thanks Bob and Mark
Makita offered a repair it was Axminster who replaced the saw I called in and spoke to the manager who apologised for the trouble. They are selling off some 1.4m tracks as Makita now supply 1.5m tracks. I asked if they were able to order me a 1.0m track for crosscutting as he could not order a 1m he offered me a deal on a 1.4m track which I gladly accepted. Fingers crossed my saw issues are resolved.
 
Remember when I mentioned cutting a 1.5m length of track for cross cutting well I had to use my workshop to cut some shelves the other day this picture may help to explain my problem.

2019-05-07_12-31-03 by my0771, on Flickr

Now I have 3 tracks 2 x 1.5m and 1 x 1.4m so one of them is for the chop literally :D :D :D
But which one and by how much my bench top is 718 mm wide I will be adding edging either 20mm 0r 30mm front and rear.

Suggestions..
 
Just to keep everyone up to date I dropped the rail off with my brothers friend who is an engineer. He is going to cut it to 1 x 1m and 1 x 496mm it is being cut on a milling machine so 4mm will be lost I have used one of the 1.5m rails and kept a 1.5m and 1.4m intact I can join them back together if I ever require more than 2.9m I can still cut a 2.44m board and have more than 200mm at each end. I will post a picture when it is done
 
My engineering friend cut the track for me on his milling machine so I know the cut is perfectly square.
I now have 1 x 1.5m 1 x 1.4m 1 x 1.0m 1 x 500mm well it is actually 496mm but near enough.

2019-05-13_08-00-01 by my0771, on Flickr

Many people may think that cutting the track is crazy however it makes the saw very easy for me to use with my disability and has opened up cutting sheet materials that was not possible before.

Millie the springer spaniel is supervising photography this morning.
 
Nice one, Michael.

We all have to adapt what's on the market for our own particular needs.
 
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