I m often asked when setting up a joinery business what should you buy first a track saw or a table saw.
Track saw vs table saw reddit.
A track saw is a circular saw with a track that it runs on.
More so than even with a large table saw and rollers on each side from our experience.
This is not possible with a table saw.
Table saws are usually fixed on a work table and at a point so that their use is limited to the area of installation.
With a track saw there is much more freedom to make angled cuts or plunge cut into a sheet with a very high level of accuracy that would be much harder to tackle with any other method we ve found.
Track saw vs circular saw.
A quality track saw can cost as much as a table saw or more so the price isn t necessarily the highest priority between the two.
These tools are actually designed quite differently allowing a track saw to tackle projects and tasks that a conventional circular model simply can t handle.
The combination of a table saw crosscut sled and miter gauge is much more efficient repeatable and accurate than a track saw at performing those cuts.
My circular saw has sat in a bag the last 2 years since buying my track saw.
Next if you have a top rated track saw you will be able to make long straight cuts.
However a table saw is a fully stationary device in most cases.
Today i m putting my trusty dewalt dw745 table saw.
But as you can see there are times when one is superior depending on space manpower material and type of cut.
While portable table saws do exist they are usually less powerful than their stationary counterparts.
For starters a track saw is portable and you can easily move it to where the material is.
The track saw is considered the better of the two on that front because the whole unit can be taken from place to place with some effort.
It packs up quickly and can be carried by one person.
But just because they look alike doesn t mean they re interchangeable.
Finally it s very expensive.
Well i thought i would do a comparison in the two types of sa.
The track saw cant stray from its straightedge so you are guarenteed perfect cuts every time.
This combination of saw and track allows you to make extremely fast straight long cuts and some even argue that it is more accurate than a table saw.
Since they look so similar it s easy to confuse a track saw with a circular saw.
Even with a straight edge youre not going to get a dead straight glue ready cut because you can still get lateral movement with the circualar saw.
