Well, I’ve needed a track saw for a long time, and I didn’t want to spend the money on one either. The solution sounds simple; just build one! The only problem was that I hadn’t found or came up with a design that would appeal to my nature. Meaning, I hadn’t found or come up with one that was cheap, simple, easy to build, and would still perform as well as something that was complex and/or expensive.
UPDATE: I’ve made a new track and built it a little bit differently based on viewer recommendations.
I was stuck in a situation where I couldn’t get the cut I needed for my latest “real” build (an all in one board milling station). I had cuts I needed to make from sheets of plywood, and those cuts exceeded my table saw’s fence capacity. So with that pressure on, I HAD to come up with this idea pretty quickly because if I didn’t, it would have meant wasting a day or more…or going to the store to buy a track saw – not happening. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that was certainly the case here. Even thought I had been kicking around the ideas for a long time, I never would have come up with the final design unless I needed it as badly as I did right then.
I was already shooting video, and had originally just intended the track saw to be part of the board milling station video, but I figured some people might be interested in it. As it turns out, it seems like a lot of people are interested and have been wanting the same thing. So far, this video has been off to a more popular start than any project I’ve ever posted before, and by a lot. I had no idea that there was that big of a need for something like this, but I’m happy to share and hope it helps a lot of people.
Oh, and by the way, somebody commented on YouTube saying that they would like it if you could make it without a table saw (with just a circular saw), and this is how you do it:
- Buy a piece of plywood.
- Cut one of the factory edges off (don’t worry about the cut being crooked).
- Attach that strip to the sheet (with glue, screws, etc.) with the factory edge facing towards the meat of the sheet, and the crooked cut of that strip alongside the crooked cut of the sheet.
- Cut the other factory edge off, and then finish up the track as shown in the video…which is this:
- Using a paper shim, butt one side of the circular saw’s base up against the 1st strip you glued in place,
- With glue on the other strip, butt the factory edge of it against the other side of your circular saw’s base and fire a couple nails to pin that section of the track there,
- Repeat that for every section of the track.
- Add end stops, drill holes, and cut the slot. You’re done!