Kreg Accu-Cut (Not Rip-Cut) - A Poor Man's Track Saw?

I think this is a new product from Kreg. The email says "Now Available"

I've never used a track saw, so I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts about this system from those that have. Apparently you don't need clamps, it uses non-slip strips. I wonder how well they work in saw-dusty conditions.

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Reply to
DerbyDad03
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I wouldn't trust it without clamps. I noticed that it's only 4' long. Is there a way of connecting them together. IMO, 4' isn't enough to be useful. Dies it have a sacrificial edge? This is pretty important.

Reply to
krw

The video says "for making cuts up to 48" long" so that's a big, big minus.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I would say that the track is probably as good as any of the ones from the competition. BUT there are a few things to consider.

  1. 4' is not long enough to make any track saw useful. IMHO. 4' and shorter is still pretty easy to do on a TS. BUT 4' will not rip a full sheet of plywood. Looking at the package there appear to maybe be two,
2' sections and a couple of bars to join the two pieces of track. Perhaps with another kit you could rip 8'
  1. The track grip is not rocket science, there is actually a lot of rubber tape under the tracks that keep them from slipping. Some sawdust does not seem to affect the Festool track and I would not think that the dust would be a problem with this track either. I very commonly cut 0.00+ sheets of plywood with my track saw and track with out clamps and those cuts are the finished cuts. But having said that the less dust the less chance of slipping because of dust. AND with the dust concern out of the way there is another concern that no track is exempt from. The wood and panels that we cut are not always perfectly flat. If the track does not lay completely flat against the surface of the entire length of the piece you are cutting the track will naturally loose grip. Clamps in this case would insure that the track does not move if it does not sit directly on top of the piece the entire length.
  2. The cut is only going to be as good as the saw and the blade. For the most part the typical non track saw circular saw was not designed for much more than rough carpentry. I have seen some circular saw blades move in and away along the axis of the arbor when starting up or spinning down. Track saws do not have this issue, in fact the outer rubber section that runs along the track and acts as a splinter guard is also the line you align the track with. You can count on this rubber strip to tell you exactly where the kerf is going to be. If the common circular saw has any movement, as I mentioned above, it will distort that rubber strip. So while the Kreg track may be as good as it gets, the saw you pair with it may not be up to the same standards.
  3. Track saws with their tracks, at least with the Festool track saw set up, make cuts comparable to well set up cabinet saws with top quality blades. If your particular circular saw is not built to exacting standards no track is going to help you make quality cuts. This is a lot like putting a 0 blade on a TS for the purpose of making better cuts. If the TS is not set up properly the blade may be a waste of money.
  4. There is a reason that track saws are not typically sold with out tracks, they are intended to be used such that the track provides a perfectly straight path. If you used the track saw circular saw free hand you might end up with a saw that has some of the problems that a common circular saw have. IMHO if you don't buy a track saw set up, a mated saw and track, you might as well use a straight piece of plywood to guide your saw. Cutting a straight line is not a big deal with a straight edge, cutting a non wavering line along that straight edge is the obstacle that needs to be over come.
Reply to
Leon

Take a look ay the set of pictures on the site. It appears that this comes as two short tracks to make up 4'. Also further down the page are replacement splinter strips, so yes it has the sacrificial edge to set up the cuts after making the initial pass.

Reply to
Leon

The lone Amazon reviewer was not pleased...

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Reply to
Spalted Walt

To his review I will say this. You must read and follow instructions. It appears that if he had set the saw up as instructed that he would probably have no complaint. As it is he has the saw offset too much to apparently avoid cutting the sacrificial rubber strip. Cutting that strip is essential to clean and accurate cuts. Not to mention the saw sitting properly on the base. I might also add, you probably should not use multiple saws on this track, different saws will cut at different locations in relation to the sacrificial cut line.

What he said,

Maybe I could have moved the saw over a bit more, cut into the padding and create the zero-clearance as suggested. I did not attempt to do it, but definitely thought about it and perhaps I would get the base plate to set on 2 of the plastic 'wings'.

Reply to
Leon

I hadn't seen those pictures. After looking at them, I'm not so down on the idea. It needs more but it's a good start. The price is certainly right.

If they added 4' and, perhaps, 8' track sections and decent clamps, it might be useful. I'd have to look at the saw sled closer, though. It's not clear how well the shoe fits (repeatability).

Reply to
krw

He also said there was a lot of slop between the shoe and the track. That's *not* good, though it's possible he did something else wrong. I agree that it's folly to try to set this up for more than one saw and it likely requires a dedicated saw for it to work properly.

Reply to
krw

Looking at their site, they are recommending their long rip guide for rips of any real length. That rip guide might be a good solution for some, but unless you are experienced at holding the guide against the sheet goods whi le guiding/pushing the saw, it is more difficult that one would think. Out of all the good tools that Kreg makes, that one is probably the dud (IMO) of the group.

Just to amplify that a bit, these track devices aren't going to turn out an y better results than your own saw. When all we had were homemade jigs and guides, we discovered that every saw we used with a straight edge gave dif ferent results. Even with the same straight edge (often a piece of commerc ial glass window mullion).

We found that better blades gave better results, but still there was a diff erence. After experimenting, I found that they problem was with the saw, a nd the fact that the saw blade and the shoe of the saw were not parallel. S o the bad news was that we could never get the blade and show parallel. Th e worse news was that when buying a new saw, I found that most saws were no t perfectly parallel, which gave us a fine, but distinct pattern from the c ircular saw cut.

I finally found a saw that had parallel surfaces. I think its manufacture was more of a mistake than a plan from the maker, but nonetheless, it is ON LY used for breaking down sheet goods with a guide or for trimming doors, e tc., and only by me. All it would take to get the saw out of alignment wou ld be to keep sitting it down in the shoe between uses, or to stumble on it between uses while it sat on the ground.

The saw itself is just as important as any part of one of these operations. If you take that old saw that you have used for a few years for any kind of utility wood cutting that came its way and use a straight edge with it, the desired dimension can be achieved, but the quality of cut will be poor.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

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