Avoid A Critical Track Saw Mistake | #Shorts

Quick Tip, the very first cut you make on your new track saw can determine how accurate your alignment of the rail to your marks will be going forward. If you only have one rail, this tip / trick will ensure first cut accurately cuts your splinter guard which is used for alignment.

#makita #tracksaw #doityourself

[chrisburns]

if you have 2 rails you combine you can also keep in from the front and back, then flip the rails so the ends are now in the middle, easy to trim and stay away from the ends for the first cuts.

[AaronGeller]

This is a very creative solution. I never use the very edges of my tracks because they need to hang over the board in order to give the saw length to complete and start the cut.

[karthiksc]

Thanks a bunch, best tip I have seen for first trim of the black splinter guards. I also read another useful tip from someone to adjust the front and back tightness of the saw to the guide rail first, to eliminate the slop and then make the first cut. Much appreciated.

[hammerandhome]

Anyone who has a track saw should plan on having two tracks with connectors, it’s the whole point of having a track saw. Accuracy, safety, and speed of cutting is the reason to get one. Ripping down sheet goods is a must with two tracks.

[ctradelink]

I very slightly damaged the splinter guard on the first alignment cut, I heated the track with a blow dryer, easily peeled of the splinter guard, and just flipped the guard around and re-stuck it, its now perfect

[meanman]

i have never expected Eminem teaching me how to do proper first cut with track saw...

[ptabz]

This is a great tip, as the 55" does wobble on the ends when cutting 48" width of plywood. Another tip is don't use another saw on your guide rail. Shop foreman borrowed my track and used another saw. Same brand but cut my rubber .5mm narrower

[wkay]

I just used this on my new Kreg Track Saw. Great tip! Thanks!

[hw]

On the makita plunge saw you’ll see an indent at the front of the base, use that to line up with your marks as that’s the “cut line” marker where the blade actually sits in line with. If you’re out using your rails and they’re in and out of a van multiple times a day, the rubber splinter guard doesn’t last very long, this is how I align my saw. 👍🏻

[kevink]

You will lose those tips of the splinter guard over time anyways when you don’t have the added board. **Best thing to do is to put a sharpie mark on your track where the saw can first start to deviate and cut away excess splinter guard making it inaccurate (where the end of the saw comes off the track). Then just know to pay extra attention or don’t use the very ends past those marks when lining up the track for cuts.

[rmTheWalrus]

Or, do what is probably intended by the manufacturers, buy track that exceeds the length of the work piece…. I don’t think anyone intended for the saw to actually leave the track at the end

[Brad-gi]

Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m about to use mine for the first time tomorrow.
The first beer is on me 😊

[thenext]

Interesting! I use a 110” track for long table side rips on final dimensioning. I use an 8’ level (aluminum) to bring the two rails straight. I do this by laying level on side on a flat surface and butting up the metal lip above splinter guard to bring it flush. Then I tighten screws slightly. Once I have this set up I’m good. I don’t take it apart, instead I just bought another track part that I use for shorter cuts so o don’t have to take it apart.

This little rail extension would help on ends, as sometimes the blade digs in at end when coming to a stop because I ran out of track!

[SnootchieBootchies]

If you're going out this far on a regular basis, you're going to mangle your splinter guard at some point. It's not just the first cut, it's every single one after. Getting it dialed like this will help you use the splinter guard to line up with layout marks, but that's it.

[GlennInLaguna]

Seems you could also join two tracks together, and once you get past the joint swap the tracks end to end.

[ac]

After further thought, I’m not sure why you would need to do this. If your saw blade cannot cut into this portion of the splinter guard, it cannot cut material there anyway. You would only need to line up the splinter guard onto material you were actually cutting. If anything, this seems to hurt you because now you don’t know where your saw will actually start cutting, say if you were trying to maximize length of a rip cut with a single piece of track. Seems better to know where the saw will actually start and stop cutting material.

[BolajiNajeem]

Please where can I get this such ruler?…..

[randyrice]

Do you do this on just the end, or the beginning as well?

[yveskleikers]

I have got a Makita SP001GZ03 track saw and when cutting wood, the blade seems to be cutting into the body of the saw. The blade seems to be just 1mm away from the body. What am I possibly doing wrong?

[mv]

now you tell me...just initiated my Ryobi track saw yesterday. It was briefly on sale for $200. I bet that price will come back for black friday etc.