Five Accessories for Makita or Festool Track Saw. Do you NEED them?

Some you need. Some you want. One isn't worth having. In this video, I share the top five accessories that you can use with a makita, festool, dewalt, kreg, or bosch track saw.

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS ⏱
0:00​ Intro
0:23 #1 Foam Insulation for Cutting
2:47 #2 Centec 20' Vaccum Hose
6:15 #3 Rockler Dust Canister
9:09 #4 Bessey Ratchet Clamp
10:55 #5 TSO GRS-16 Guide Rail Square
12:09 Ending

DISCLAIMERS:

This video was not paid for by outside persons or manufacturers. No gear was supplied to me for this video.

The content of this video and my opinions were not reviewed or paid for by any outside persons.

[mikearning]

A tip if you don't have room for a 4x8 sheet of foam insulation. I cut mine into four pieces and duct taped 2 halves together. Each is a 4x4 section and folds up to 2x4 so it can be stored easily. Also, to keep your track bottom rubber clean, use a lint roller. I have the same Makita as you, and it's been working quite well for me. Keep up the good work.

[barstad-]

I bought WHITE, 1” foam board which I cut into fourths and taped accordion style. 1” is thick enough to put on top of my 4’ X 8’ centipede stand. Then I individually slide each sheet good off the bed of my truck onto the insulation. Easy peasy way to rough cut sheets. I don’t have to get down on the ground, stand up from the ground, and then pick up the plywood from the ground. (Gravity is stronger the older one gets!) My centipede and foam get stored in my carport shed.

[warrensmith]

More accessories

1. Love the DeWalt track saw clamps.
2. Look into kerf Jigs for the waist side of your cut. They come in various sizes for your saw blade. Strabytes is on Etsy.
3. I use 2' x 2' ridged foam for under my cuts. They folds up and stores better than a full sheet of insulation. I keep 6 of them around.
4. Woodcraft makes a hose adapter for 27mm that fits on their 2" hose which fits a normal shopvac 2.25" port. Use it on my PC890 and PC390 router and 5" orbital sander as well.

[bigredracingdog]

I would recommend an automatic switch for your shop vac. Turning on your saw turns on the vac and turning off the saw turns it off. Better yet, get a good dust extractor. Not only does it have the switch built in, it's better at getting the fine dust a track saw creates. My set-up is a Fein DE, Home Depot Dustopper, Cen-Tec anti-static hose, Makita track saw, DeWalt clamps, and various lengths of Powertech and Makita track.

[marknylund]

I love your real life way of explaining things. Great Job.

[BillMall]

I actually bought that Cen-Tec hose at the same time I bought my Makita track saw. Love the combination and fit. Wound up buying two more at different lengths since I love them so much. Also, the other end of the Cen-Tec hose just plugs directly into my Ridgid vac port when you remove the stock hose. 👌🏻

[eddial]

I know this video is around three years old, but over the 4th of July sales, I was able to buy the DeWalt track saw for $350 on sale and bought the Festool track starter kit (costed more than the saw). Accessorizing now!

[GolemGolem-hm]

Ensuring that my hose does not pull off my saw, router, planer, sander or whatever, has been solved with the use of a hose clamp, the kind that are used in plumbing and automotive applications. I keep a variety of sizes around and they work well to secure my hose to the tool. The downside is that they have to be screwed and then unscrewed but so far it's been worth it since securing and unsecuring the hose takes up far less time than having the hose pull off the tool several times and having to clean up the mess.

[monticon]

Centec vacuum was great! Purchased the longer one (30 ft I think) with four or five attachments, fit my table saw, miter saw, track saw, and sander! Thanks for the suggestion.

[g.wes.]

Parallel guides for track saw is a must. Combined with rail square should be the 1st accessories on the list. Actually should be considered a part of a track saw kit.

[loganpatterson]

The centec hose is awesome. It came with adapters that fit several other frequent use tools and I can use the quick disconnect to change between them easily. I use hose clamps to make the connections extra secure.

[NathanBilbao]

I love the bessey clamps. I love the matchfit system. I realized this week that the bessey clamps have the same dimensions of the microjig matchfit clamps. You can file the bessey clamps down to fit the matchfit dovetail grooves.

[warrensmith]

1. It took me a while but I found a bit of tubing that fits inside my Festool tracksaw's dust port that allows me to us a standard 1-1/4" dust hose with it.
2. Have the clamps and the square.
3. On the square I added some 1/8" ply to the edge to support it resting on the sheet being cut so it didn't flop downward.
4. Bought the Seneca Parallel guides as well. Oh yah!
5. Made two 2.2mm spacer for off side cuts using the rail. You can now buy them from some of the online or 3D printing stores as well
6. Made an adapter for my PC 890 router so I can use the LR32 sled for doing 5mm shelf pin holes.
7. For breaking down sheet goods, I have 4 2'x2' 1" pink foam sheets to support the wood during the cut. That's all that's needed to support the under sides of a cut as one of them is cut in half as a spacer for each half on the outside. Easier to store when not needed.

[nicholam]

It’s not quite as long (16 ft) but I would strongly recommend the Bosch VAC005 35mm vacuum hose. Around $45, Amazon carries it. Fits standard 2 1/4” on one end (will fit your Rigid), and the small end fits the Makita track saw. So it would be a direct fit no adapters. It’s also flexible rubber on the small end and can fit many other small tools like biscuit joiners and sanders. It’s very similar to the Festool hose. I’ve used it with my Shopvac brand vac and Makita saw for years. For what it’s worth if you want to spend the money, the Festool CT15 is an excellent little extractor as well.

[Golgafrinchamdent]

4:53 Hmm, I have the same Centec hose & connectors. It plugs right into my Ridgid shop vac, in place of the stock hose.

[RunarMagnussen]

I've got a cordless Festool circular saw with the dust bag, and I really like it.

It'll still get dusty and I won't work indoors without a vacuum, but for outdoor work it's great avoiding being bathed in sawdust!

[evanmetz]

I took a gamble on the Centec hose as well to fit the dust ports for my Festool sander and domino. Easily the best collection upgrade and worth every penny. I was able to mate up the hose and Ridgid vac itself without any adaptors. The inner diameter on the vac fit perfectly with the outer diameter of the hose connector.

[Infamous]

Thanks for the items. I did a bunch of research recently on dist collection as I need something quieter than my shop vac due to working on an apartment patio.

The reason for your difference between the dust collection versus the shop vac that I found was this. The shop vac and Festool type extractors move a low amount of air (in comparison to extractors with a 4”) but with high amounts of suction. That is why it is great for your palm sanders and circ saws. Essentially it is better for everything other than items like table saws, planers, jointers...

The extractors with the 4” and larger hoses have large amounts of airflow but a lower amount of suction. They work great for moving the larger chunks and dust from the larger shop tools designed for it.

While it is logical to think you could reduce the hose size on the 4in to fit your smaller tool but it does not create more suction. It only reduces the airflow making it inefficient in comparison to a Festool-type smaller extractor or shop-vac. With too drastic of a reduction this is possible to cause increased wear and potential failure of the extractor.

[benbencom]

Another idea for a cutting surface is the interlocking EVA foam tiles that people use for exercise and play room floors. All the same advantages as the insulation, but you can break it down and store it more easily. Plus you can replace individual tiles if they get damaged, or rearrange them to move heavily used areas. You can get them in different thicknesses and different sizes.

[joshuabray]

I have the hose. It fits perfectly in my Festool dust extractor. The various adaptors fit my various Festool tools, dewalt sander, router table, pretty much everything I have.