Straightedge
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2009
- Location
- Germany/California
Woodworking isn't a passion for me and I assume it's a chore for a lot of other gents around PM, too. A couple years ago, a retired machinist friend of mine had been doing a big home-renovation project involving lots of plywood and brought my attention to his track saw. It seemed like a good idea, but I wasn't in the mood to spend the better part of $1k buying a tool that essentially did the same task as the table saw I already had.
Fast forward to this week. I needed to cut about 100 sheets of plywood and since this was an extra-curricular project for SWMBO, I didn't have help. Moving 100 sheets to the table saw would have been a PITA I didn't need, so I decided to spring for the Makita SP6000J, some lengths of track, and track clamps.
Bottom line: If you're working with sheet goods, you can cut wood to metalworking tolerances with the track saw. It's absolutely amazing. The cut quality is better than my Unisaw with a new finish blade, the cuts are straight and square, you can easily make tiny adjustments, there is zero tear-out, and the whole kit takes up zero floor space when you're not using it. You're taking the saw to the wood instead of vice versa, so there's way less heavy lifting when you're working alone. Yes, there are things you can do with a table saw you can't easily do with this tool, but if I had to choose, I'd keep the track saw and sell the table saw.
No, I don't work for Makita or Festool or have any interest in either. Just saying, if you've made some money this year and need another little write-off, this tool did what I thought impossible: making working with sheet kinda fun.
Fast forward to this week. I needed to cut about 100 sheets of plywood and since this was an extra-curricular project for SWMBO, I didn't have help. Moving 100 sheets to the table saw would have been a PITA I didn't need, so I decided to spring for the Makita SP6000J, some lengths of track, and track clamps.
Bottom line: If you're working with sheet goods, you can cut wood to metalworking tolerances with the track saw. It's absolutely amazing. The cut quality is better than my Unisaw with a new finish blade, the cuts are straight and square, you can easily make tiny adjustments, there is zero tear-out, and the whole kit takes up zero floor space when you're not using it. You're taking the saw to the wood instead of vice versa, so there's way less heavy lifting when you're working alone. Yes, there are things you can do with a table saw you can't easily do with this tool, but if I had to choose, I'd keep the track saw and sell the table saw.
No, I don't work for Makita or Festool or have any interest in either. Just saying, if you've made some money this year and need another little write-off, this tool did what I thought impossible: making working with sheet kinda fun.