zx9
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Ok I am missing something, it looks like you have just re invented the Skil saw ?!
- Thread starter TechnicAl
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bigegg
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lol.
i have 3 or 4 "skil" saws - one even made by skil!
im trying to cut down to just a couple, including the track saw, but the aldi one doesnt come with a rip fence, despite having fittings for one.
i am tonight building a "paulk" bench, which has hand holes cut in sides for which a parallel plunge cut is needed, so it seemed like a good time to make one.
ive also got a load of plywood to cut into 8ftx11" strips to make some wall cabinets.
this rip fence gives me that capacity - even my big wolf skilsaw only has 8" of rip fence capacity. and obviously, i havent managed to get hold of any extra track, yet.
plus my back is still not up to wrestling full sheets of 18mm on and off the table saw.
zx9
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^^^ I've been there with 18mm full sheets it is just not safe unless you have a very solid table saw with adjustable wings on the table. One of my mates that does hand built kitchens has a massive table saw, rips up full sheets no problems but takes up a lot of space in his railway arch.
bigegg
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eLuSiVeMiTe
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Picking one of those up sunday. Havent got room for a table as big as that but will be built into a 5m bench to make resawig easywhen i had the bookshop, i built my junior whitehead into a 10ftx5ft worktop + cabinet which made cutting up full sheets up to 10ftx5ftx25mm a doddle. the forklift helped, too.
i *miss* that saw.
i only have a 10" clarke "woodworker" set up now which is just about usable - *just*
bigegg
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junior whitehead circular saw - not bandsaw
might have the wrong name.
<edit> nope - junior whitehead sawbench.
easy to spot: the table tilts, rather than the arbor.
mine came without the table top, and i discarded the base years ago.
its in storage, along with the elu planer.
i'm steadily getting to it though.
brewdexta
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I spent the weekend plunging, I've had a track saw for a while for breaking down big sheets, but so far just used the rails with clamps, but I have just started using the MFT style holey table and bench dogs so I thought I would relay my findings so far.
You can buy full 2.44 x 1.22 sheets complete with holes on ebay, but the CNC companies are either down in Kent or Wales and neither offer carriage, you have to sort out your own courier, so I bought a UJK Parf guide mk 1, it is a seconds, presumably because the anodising on the jig is a bit dodgy so well below the £165 now wanted for the mk 2 version. I think I paid 60 quid from memory. It relies on pythagoras and two steel rules so that you can drill a full mesh of 3mm holes that you then enlarge to 20mm. Here's after drilling the 3mm holes and now drilling the 20mm holes.
One blister and lots of MDF dust later, one completed table with only one hole cocked up. If you do this, first I wouldn't use MDF again, pay the extra and use birch ply, also make sure you drill all the way through with the 3mm drill as the pip on the forstner bit to enlarge the holes does not cut, it uses the 3mm hole as a guide. When you drill the 3mm holes the drill has to go through the guide bush to keep it perpendicular to the table, and the ruler as well as the board.
I'm using a couple of Axminster saw horses that have slots in them to take a couple 4 x 2 timbers, I screwed the top down in each corner with well countersunk brass screws to limit the chance and any subsequent damage to the track saw blade should I hit them. This is just temporary until I make a combined holey MFT style top and mitre bench out of a steel bench I was given recently.
I put a couple of clamps on the beams above the table and threaded the hoses and power cables through them so in theory they don't drag across the edge of the table. First job was to break down a full sheet of birch ply, I'm building a new kitchen, but I'm starting on the utility room first. We bought the cheapest B&Q kitchen we could find when we moved in almost 20 years ago, I've repaired it with bolts to hold hinges on and its looking pretty shabby so time to replace it. I'm not using MDF, I hate the stuff with a passion, so birch ply all the way. The trial run before I make lots of identical components for the bulk of the cabinets is an odd ball cabinet to house the bin under the utility room sink.
So first use two rails and clamps as I have done since buying the track saw a couple of years ago.
Making sure to adjust the blade depth so it just scores the top underneath. On the Mafell the red knob on the top left is a cursor for depth, you can turn it through 180 degrees to select if the saw is used directly on the timber to be cut or if the thickness of the track needs to be taken into account. The striped hex bolt is the fine height adjustment, once done you can forget it. I set the depth to just over the marked depth so when you select 18mm it just cuts through into the top.
Here's my first attempt at parf dog style cutting. I have a 4020 aluminium profile as a fence with a stop on it, using two fence dogs from benchdogs.co.uk. Basically two dogs with slots in them to take bolts. The stop is from them too. All looks well, then start cutting and find out a few limitations of the design. I had 3 panels to cut, two the same length, all the same width so the fence and stop came in handy. You don't need a fence to cut square, just dogs, but if you want to cut a lot of components to the same length then the fence is handy to mount a stop or two.
First limitation is the design of the saw, it is wider than the track so hits the two dogs holding the track perpendicular to the fence. A bit of a crap design TBH, both fore,
and aft.
One way around this as shown by Peter Parfitt is to use a known parallel spacer. The Festool track saw suffers a similar malady as the motor hits the post when plunging, probably most saws do. The hinged track on an MFT style table avoids this issue for 600 quid +
The other way is to use the t-slots under the track with t-bolts in the top of dogs. I have some from benchdogs.co.uk for 20 quid, but the t-bolt heads were too deep to fit the 1.7mm deep slot under the Mafell/Bosch track but they are sending some new ones out to me. Again, relatively easy to make and I'll grind the original ones to fit too. Here they are on the upturned track.
I ran out of time to grind a mm off the height of the bolt heads and try them this weekend so will probably have the replacements by this coming weekend.
I'm also ordering a sleeve to cover the hose as it still sometimes catches the edge. The festool domino hose fits the Mafell track saw, the stock hose is corrugated, the smooth one is around 150 notes! So a sleeve for 20 quid off of fleabay is the way to go for me.
I've ordered some more 4020 profile aluminium and some other bits so I can make a 2.4 x 0.9m MFT style table complete with hinged track that will also take a fence for the mitre saw. It will be a bit like Peter Millard's (another youtube advocate of the parf system) but with Mafell/Bosch track. Not sure if I will have that ready for the kitchen build though, I have to start showing some progress on the kitchen and utility if I want to keep my wedding tackle intact. I'll build it in parallel with the temporary table so may be able to use the temporary table for breaking down full sheets then dimension them on the new table.
The other thing you need is a pair of stilsons handy to get the sodding parf dogs out of the holes to move them, you can't always get to the underside to push them out and they are a tight fit.
Cheers
Andy
You can buy full 2.44 x 1.22 sheets complete with holes on ebay, but the CNC companies are either down in Kent or Wales and neither offer carriage, you have to sort out your own courier, so I bought a UJK Parf guide mk 1, it is a seconds, presumably because the anodising on the jig is a bit dodgy so well below the £165 now wanted for the mk 2 version. I think I paid 60 quid from memory. It relies on pythagoras and two steel rules so that you can drill a full mesh of 3mm holes that you then enlarge to 20mm. Here's after drilling the 3mm holes and now drilling the 20mm holes.
One blister and lots of MDF dust later, one completed table with only one hole cocked up. If you do this, first I wouldn't use MDF again, pay the extra and use birch ply, also make sure you drill all the way through with the 3mm drill as the pip on the forstner bit to enlarge the holes does not cut, it uses the 3mm hole as a guide. When you drill the 3mm holes the drill has to go through the guide bush to keep it perpendicular to the table, and the ruler as well as the board.
I'm using a couple of Axminster saw horses that have slots in them to take a couple 4 x 2 timbers, I screwed the top down in each corner with well countersunk brass screws to limit the chance and any subsequent damage to the track saw blade should I hit them. This is just temporary until I make a combined holey MFT style top and mitre bench out of a steel bench I was given recently.
I put a couple of clamps on the beams above the table and threaded the hoses and power cables through them so in theory they don't drag across the edge of the table. First job was to break down a full sheet of birch ply, I'm building a new kitchen, but I'm starting on the utility room first. We bought the cheapest B&Q kitchen we could find when we moved in almost 20 years ago, I've repaired it with bolts to hold hinges on and its looking pretty shabby so time to replace it. I'm not using MDF, I hate the stuff with a passion, so birch ply all the way. The trial run before I make lots of identical components for the bulk of the cabinets is an odd ball cabinet to house the bin under the utility room sink.
So first use two rails and clamps as I have done since buying the track saw a couple of years ago.
Making sure to adjust the blade depth so it just scores the top underneath. On the Mafell the red knob on the top left is a cursor for depth, you can turn it through 180 degrees to select if the saw is used directly on the timber to be cut or if the thickness of the track needs to be taken into account. The striped hex bolt is the fine height adjustment, once done you can forget it. I set the depth to just over the marked depth so when you select 18mm it just cuts through into the top.
Here's my first attempt at parf dog style cutting. I have a 4020 aluminium profile as a fence with a stop on it, using two fence dogs from benchdogs.co.uk. Basically two dogs with slots in them to take bolts. The stop is from them too. All looks well, then start cutting and find out a few limitations of the design. I had 3 panels to cut, two the same length, all the same width so the fence and stop came in handy. You don't need a fence to cut square, just dogs, but if you want to cut a lot of components to the same length then the fence is handy to mount a stop or two.
First limitation is the design of the saw, it is wider than the track so hits the two dogs holding the track perpendicular to the fence. A bit of a crap design TBH, both fore,
and aft.
One way around this as shown by Peter Parfitt is to use a known parallel spacer. The Festool track saw suffers a similar malady as the motor hits the post when plunging, probably most saws do. The hinged track on an MFT style table avoids this issue for 600 quid +
The other way is to use the t-slots under the track with t-bolts in the top of dogs. I have some from benchdogs.co.uk for 20 quid, but the t-bolt heads were too deep to fit the 1.7mm deep slot under the Mafell/Bosch track but they are sending some new ones out to me. Again, relatively easy to make and I'll grind the original ones to fit too. Here they are on the upturned track.I ran out of time to grind a mm off the height of the bolt heads and try them this weekend so will probably have the replacements by this coming weekend.
I'm also ordering a sleeve to cover the hose as it still sometimes catches the edge. The festool domino hose fits the Mafell track saw, the stock hose is corrugated, the smooth one is around 150 notes! So a sleeve for 20 quid off of fleabay is the way to go for me.
I've ordered some more 4020 profile aluminium and some other bits so I can make a 2.4 x 0.9m MFT style table complete with hinged track that will also take a fence for the mitre saw. It will be a bit like Peter Millard's (another youtube advocate of the parf system) but with Mafell/Bosch track. Not sure if I will have that ready for the kitchen build though, I have to start showing some progress on the kitchen and utility if I want to keep my wedding tackle intact.
I'll build it in parallel with the temporary table so may be able to use the temporary table for breaking down full sheets then dimension them on the new table.The other thing you need is a pair of stilsons handy to get the sodding parf dogs out of the holes to move them, you can't always get to the underside to push them out and they are a tight fit.
Cheers
Andy
Looking great, I went for a cheap jig off eBay for the holes which is so far doing me proud the accuracy is bang on. Drilling all the holes is very tedious and dust extraction is very handy it makes a right mess.
Made my bench by welding up some angle:
Made my bench by welding up some angle:
I spent the weekend plunging, I've had a track saw for a while for breaking down big sheets, but so far just used the rails with clamps, but I have just started using the MFT style holey table and bench dogs so I thought I would relay my findings so far.
You can buy full 2.44 x 1.22 sheets complete with holes on ebay, but the CNC companies are either down in Kent or Wales and neither offer carriage, you have to sort out your own courier, so I bought a UJK Parf guide mk 1, it is a seconds, presumably because the anodising on the jig is a bit dodgy so well below the £165 now wanted for the mk 2 version. I think I paid 60 quid from memory. It relies on pythagoras and two steel rules so that you can drill a full mesh of 3mm holes that you then enlarge to 20mm. Here's after drilling the 3mm holes and now drilling the 20mm holes.
View attachment 170765
One blister and lots of MDF dust later, one completed table with only one hole cocked up. If you do this, first I wouldn't use MDF again, pay the extra and use birch ply, also make sure you drill all the way through with the 3mm drill as the pip on the forstner bit to enlarge the holes does not cut, it uses the 3mm hole as a guide. When you drill the 3mm holes the drill has to go through the guide bush to keep it perpendicular to the table, and the ruler as well as the board.
View attachment 170766
I'm using a couple of Axminster saw horses that have slots in them to take a couple 4 x 2 timbers, I screwed the top down in each corner with well countersunk brass screws to limit the chance and any subsequent damage to the track saw blade should I hit them. This is just temporary until I make a combined holey MFT style top and mitre bench out of a steel bench I was given recently.
View attachment 170767
I put a couple of clamps on the beams above the table and threaded the hoses and power cables through them so in theory they don't drag across the edge of the table. First job was to break down a full sheet of birch ply, I'm building a new kitchen, but I'm starting on the utility room first. We bought the cheapest B&Q kitchen we could find when we moved in almost 20 years ago, I've repaired it with bolts to hold hinges on and its looking pretty shabby so time to replace it. I'm not using MDF, I hate the stuff with a passion, so birch ply all the way. The trial run before I make lots of identical components for the bulk of the cabinets is an odd ball cabinet to house the bin under the utility room sink.
So first use two rails and clamps as I have done since buying the track saw a couple of years ago.
View attachment 170768
Making sure to adjust the blade depth so it just scores the top underneath. On the Mafell the red knob on the top left is a cursor for depth, you can turn it through 180 degrees to select if the saw is used directly on the timber to be cut or if the thickness of the track needs to be taken into account. The striped hex bolt is the fine height adjustment, once done you can forget it. I set the depth to just over the marked depth so when you select 18mm it just cuts through into the top.
View attachment 170769
View attachment 170770
Here's my first attempt at parf dog style cutting. I have a 4020 aluminium profile as a fence with a stop on it, using two fence dogs from benchdogs.co.uk. Basically two dogs with slots in them to take bolts. The stop is from them too. All looks well, then start cutting and find out a few limitations of the design. I had 3 panels to cut, two the same length, all the same width so the fence and stop came in handy. You don't need a fence to cut square, just dogs, but if you want to cut a lot of components to the same length then the fence is handy to mount a stop or two.
First limitation is the design of the saw, it is wider than the track so hits the two dogs holding the track perpendicular to the fence. A bit of a crap design TBH, both fore,
View attachment 170772
and aft.
View attachment 170771
One way around this as shown by Peter Parfitt is to use a known parallel spacer. The Festool track saw suffers a similar malady as the motor hits the post when plunging, probably most saws do. The hinged track on an MFT style table avoids this issue for 600 quid +
View attachment 170776
I ran out of time to grind a mm off the height of the bolt heads and try them this weekend so will probably have the replacements by this coming weekend.
I'm also ordering a sleeve to cover the hose as it still sometimes catches the edge. The festool domino hose fits the Mafell track saw, the stock hose is corrugated, the smooth one is around 150 notes! So a sleeve for 20 quid off of fleabay is the way to go for me.
I've ordered some more 4020 profile aluminium and some other bits so I can make a 2.4 x 0.9m MFT style table complete with hinged track that will also take a fence for the mitre saw. It will be a bit like Peter Millard's (another youtube advocate of the parf system) but with Mafell/Bosch track. Not sure if I will have that ready for the kitchen build though, I have to start showing some progress on the kitchen and utility if I want to keep my wedding tackle intact.
The other thing you need is a pair of stilsons handy to get the sodding parf dogs out of the holes to move them, you can't always get to the underside to push them out and they are a tight fit.
Cheers
Andy
I was enjoying reading your post and smiled seeing the axminster trestle with height adjustment. I use the same.
Then, bless me, somebody else who enjoys the Mafell brand
Closely followed by MFT style tables with storage drawers for sortainers.
And there I was thinking this was purely a metal working forum
waldershelf
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Today I got round to making a couple of joiner bars from some flat bar, filed down to fit, drilled, tapped and fitted with 6mm grub screws.
And modified a couple of car boot F clamps to use as track clamps.
Total cost, less than a tenner.
And modified a couple of car boot F clamps to use as track clamps.
Total cost, less than a tenner.
indy4x
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Used mine today to make some cupboards for our utility room.
When joining the track I checked it with a straight edge and was surprised to find the ends are not cut square, if I use the straight edge to line up the track I have a gap at the join
Also had a little oops moment, blade jumped while plunging and caught the track
When joining the track I checked it with a straight edge and was surprised to find the ends are not cut square, if I use the straight edge to line up the track I have a gap at the join
Also had a little oops moment, blade jumped while plunging and caught the track
eLuSiVeMiTe
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That's not good. A tight butt is usually enough to line my rails up (festool) worth sorting for ease of setup.Used mine today to make some cupboards for our utility room.
When joining the track I checked it with a straight edge and was surprised to find the ends are not cut square, if I use the straight edge to line up the track I have a gap at the join
View attachment 171388
Also had a little oops moment, blade jumped while plunging and caught the track
View attachment 171389
Spent years plunging into worktops cutting out sinks. Never had one jump before even one handed at awkward angles.
indy4x
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Used my Brothers Festool quite a few times and had no dramas with it.
The Workzone does the job but not as nice to use as a Festool.
Gonna splash out and buy a 1.4m track rather than faff with joining the 700mm ones, ones junk now anyway
The Workzone does the job but not as nice to use as a Festool.
Gonna splash out and buy a 1.4m track rather than faff with joining the 700mm ones, ones junk now anyway
indy4x
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I asked the same question a while back on this very thread, no one seems to know for sure
I did rewatch Pete Millards videos on YouTube as he did talk about tracks and compatibility plus some internet searches but still none the wiser
bigegg
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The aldi one is compatible with the scheppach only - I haven't been able to find another compatible type.
The festool is supposedly compatible with several other makes - makita and erbauer, possibly others
