Spent $340 on a track saw and it made my circular saw feel like a toy

I fought this for a long time (mostly because I'm cheap and I already owned two circular saws) but I finally dropped $340 on a track saw six months ago and I'm telling you the difference is not hype. Cutting down 3/4 birch ply for cabinet boxes used to take me 20 minutes of clamping a straightedge and praying, with at least one cut per sheet coming out a hair off. Now I line the track up on my marks and it's done in 4 minutes with an edge so clean I barely touch it with 220. My old circular saw still lives in the truck for framing, but for anything that has to look good, the track saw wins and it's not close. Here's my real question though: did you buy the long track or just join two short ones? I've got the 55 inch and I'm sick of setting up joints for full sheets, and I'm wondering if the 106 inch is worth the coin or just a pain to store in the shop. Also if anybody in here is still on the fence, what scared me off was the price, not the tool. It paid for itself on one kitchen job, easy.

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zara_hill467d ago

Man, I ate my words on this one. I spent years saying a track saw was just a fancy circular saw with extra steps and anybody paying for one got suckered. Then a buddy let me borrow his for a built-in job and I had the ply broken down in half the time with edges I didn't have to fight. I bought my own the next week and I still feel a little dumb about all that time I wasted clamping straightedges.

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