September 13, 201312 yr comment_9113 John encouraged me to post about my shop made "Track Saw". There are a few on youtube similar to this one. Most use wood runners, where mine is aluminum. The first pic shows the Minitrack laid in a dado. I cut the plywood about 3 " wider than the shoe/plate on my Skil 77 worm drive. That gave me enough room to clamp and cut a little off on the first use. The 77's motor is on the right, in use. In this pic, the ply on the left of the track will be cut on the first use. YMMV with other styles of circ. saws. This pic shows the track insert attached to the plate of the saw. What's not shown are the wingnuts on the top side of the plate. The insert pops on and off in less than a minute. I was totally amazed at the great cuts and accuracy of this simple guide. No need to cut oversized and finish on the TS. Like with John's, just align the edge with your cut lines and go to town. Simple and CHEAP! Eat your heart out Festool. Gene'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton Report
September 13, 201312 yr comment_9119 WOW! That's neat!! You guys have to stop this. You know I'm a "Jig Junkie"!! Lew Kauffman-Wood Turners Forum HostTime Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins! Report
September 14, 201312 yr comment_9118 To quote Will Smith (Independence Day movie), "I gotta get me one of these."Â Do you have a link to the plans?Ron DudelstonSite AdministratorAbove and Beyond WoodWorks Report
September 14, 201312 yr Author comment_9117 Ron,Sorry, I just thunk it up as I went along. Once the track is in hand, the rest just sorta comes together. The track is "Minitrack" from Peachtree. Best price at the time.I was using one I made like John Moody described. Still use it too when accuracy is not paramount.  The new one is the same, just substituted the track for the wooden plate edge guide.One more tidbit: I had to countersink holes in the track to screw it to the ply. I also used JB Weld under the track. Sometimes I tend to over do things. Gene'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton Report
September 14, 201312 yr comment_9116 That's pretty cool Gene, I can see one of those in my future. The value of these is there is no length limit. You can make them as long or as short as you want. Rip down full sheets of ply or cross cut shorter pieces. Great job Gene. Gene, as with my guide, just a little tip for the folks who are going to start using these, you need to be alert to the type of blade you are using. Some blades have thicker teeth then others, so the dynamic of the blade positioning to the track changes. You need to make adjustments. I don't know if Genes has a sliding edge that moves adjacent to the jig so it can be adjusted to the blade, but mine does not, so technically you'd have to build a new jig to accommodate the different blade thickness to keep that truly zero clearance anti chipping feature on it. If you go back to my discussion Butcher Block and click on the photo with the saw making the cut, and blow it up one notch you can see where my guide is sitting about an 1/8" off the cut I made. That's because when I built the jig, I used a thicker blade to build the jig too. Since then I switched the blade out on my saw to a thinner kerf and what you see is what you get when you start using different kerf thickness's with these jigs. So just be aware. Gene Howe said: Ron, Sorry, I just thunk it up as I went along. Once the track is in hand, the rest just sorta comes together. The track is "Minitrack" from Peachtree. Best price at the time. I was using one I made like John Moody described. Still use it too when accuracy is not paramount.  The new one is the same, just substituted the track for the wooden plate edge guide. One more tidbit: I had to countersink holes in the track to screw it to the ply. I also used JB Weld under the track. Sometimes I tend to over do things. Gene'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton John MorrisThe Patriot Woodworker Report
September 14, 201312 yr comment_9115 That's kinda what I figured Gene.  Just thought I'd ask.Gene Howe said:Ron,Sorry, I just thunk it up as I went along. Once the track is in hand, the rest just sorta comes together. The track is "Minitrack" from Peachtree. Best price at the time.I was using one I made like John Moody described. Still use it too when accuracy is not paramount.  The new one is the same, just substituted the track for the wooden plate edge guide.One more tidbit: I had to countersink holes in the track to screw it to the ply. I also used JB Weld under the track. Sometimes I tend to over do things. Gene'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton Report
September 14, 201312 yr Author comment_9114 Thanks for the blade thickness comment, John.On my guide, there is no accommodation for that.  I'd forgotten about it since I only use one brand of blade. Hey, ya find something good, ya stick with it, right? Gene'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton Report
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