TrueTrac System - anyone have any experience?

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
I've seen them at the Woodworking Shows (Chantilly two years ago.) I couldn't justify that kind of money for a "store bought" straight edge guide, when I use scraps to build my own. Mine depends upon me holding saw against the fence, while theirs is guided by a shoe that mates with the track.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
I had a version of something like this years ago. It was pretty useful in the field but the accuracy would not raise to cabinet level fit. Had to detail the cuts if I wanted a perfect tight fit. I have a 10 ga piece of Stainless Steel I got from work I use it for a straight edge when needed.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
I had never heard of this product until now but Looking at their website, The main thing that jumps put at me its not an entire system. They say you can use whatever saw you want, an existing that you already own, why buy another?, Well, for me, Im a Festool TS75 owner. While ive only used a TS55 to compare it to, it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to cut up sheet goods, youre going to have a hard time with this unit and a standard circular saw. One of the problems I see is, their track is 8 feet long. The same length as sheet goods. This would be OK if your circular saw plunges like a Festool , but none Im aware of do. So, how do you cut an 8 foot log sheet?. I suppose you can add length buy purchasing another section and bolting it in, I guess thats why they have a seemingly otherwise useless, 2 foot long piece?. Lets move on to adapting an existing circular saw to their "sled". Without any information on how this happens, this appears to be where alot of aggravation can come into play. For me, its alot like aligning a tablesaw fence to the blade without the benefit of the long tablesaw fence and Tslots to work with. The only alignment surfaces you have are extremely short ( the guide surfaces under the shoe and the circular saw blade). The slightest error here in being out of parallel would raise havoc to the final cut IMO. They have a section "comparing" their system to other and the only thing they really say is its heavier than others. Well I have a 3000mm long festool guide and I apprecite the lighter weight, although I must admit , I feel I need to be extremely careful with it.
 

woodlaker2

Ray
Corporate Member
Looking at track saws and, of course, thinking about the costs. Have an extra circular saw and am considering this system.
TrueTrac - The Better Track Saw System
Has anyone seen or used them?
Understand they've been on the Woodworker Shows circuit for some time...
I have had this sysem for several years and use it all the time to breakdown 4x8 sheet goods right off the back of my pickup. Also great for putting a straight edge on rough sawn lumber for mill prep.. Works great for me even without the clamps as the weight of the saw is sufficient to hold the tracks in place. They also (or did) sell a jig for holding a variety of circular saws. I got the Scheppach circular saw and it works great even with it's 5 1/2" blade. Compared to several other systems I found this to be the least expensive and with good function.
 

FredP

Fred
Corporate Member
I have the easy smart system. It works fine. the benefit of these systems are not having to buy special 6 1/2" 10MM arbor blades at a premium price point. I can get a good 60 tooth 5/8 arbor 7 1/4" blade at the big box store for around 20 bucks. I don't have to go to a specialty store to find a blade or order on line and wait. fussytool blades are big bucks and they don't last any longer than other blades. I am also not a fan of the forward plunge but there are advantages for the plunge cut such as cutting a hole in the middle of a door but there are work arounds for that too. I have a few circular saws so I simply dedicated one to the track. YMMV. mine didn't cost several hundred dollars either.
 

cmarzahn

New User
Chuck
Bringing my own saw (dedicated to this system) doesn’t seem like a hardship to me. Only real downside I see is the dust control.
 

FredP

Fred
Corporate Member
Bringing my own saw (dedicated to this system) doesn’t seem like a hardship to me. Only real downside I see is the dust control.
this is true. most of the plunge saws have decent dust collection. mine don't. but I do have a shop vac, broom and a dust pan. when the woo-floo is done there will be plenty of dust masks available too. ;)
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I would buy a track saw but Fred's point about blades is valid. Most are around $50 but some are $30 or a little less. Certainly more than 7.25 inch where $20 will get you a good blade.

Advantages of the track saw I use, a DeWalt, include the 106 inch track, riving knife, anti kickback piece in saw base, easy adjustment of the saw to the track, good dust collection, the plunge action, and extras like the router attachment for the track. My saw also follows the track well without burning the wood or doing other undesirable things. I think you could rig up something with a circular saw that will make roughing cuts well pretty easily (I did that for years). You would need to do more tuning to get to finished table saw quality cuts like my track saw but with a good circular saw and blade you should be able to get there. But you still won't have all the advantages of a track saw.

If you don't want to spend $500+ like I did, there are also less expensive track saws. Wen might be the cheapest. About $200 with two 50 inch tracks. You can apparently use Makita tracks so there is a way to have a long one. You would give up some of the features but I think it would still be better than a circular saw rigged up. Just my opinion.
 
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cmarzahn

New User
Chuck
I’ve had that system for several years. It works well for me.
Thanks, Mark.
What saw did you use for the system?
I'm assuming you've "dedicated" one...
Have you any experience with the other parts of the system like the track kit for the cutting table? The router jig?
 

cmarzahn

New User
Chuck
I wanted to circle back to let you know that I did, in fact, get the complete "system" and have been using it with a Dewalt saw I bought new specifically to use with it.

After being careful to follow instructions on setup, I've used it as a track saw and as a router guide for dadoes.
It has performed better than I expected and I'd give it a hearty "recommend."

I think the total I spent was 609 and 130 for the saw.
That's comparable to a track saw system in price but I also have the ability to rout dadoes on side panels and not have to manhandle 4x8 sheets of 3/4 ply.

Let me know if any questions.
 

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