Track Saws Help You Cut Straight, Like a Pro

NOT ALL THAT LONG AGO, TRACK SAWS WERE N made by only a handful of companies and were employed almost exclusively by professional tradesmen.

Designed to make long, straight cuts in sheet material-like plywood-these saws are more accurate and easier to use than table saws. But their singular purpose and high price (some more than $1,000) made them hard to justify for folks who need one only occasionally. That has all changed, though, as many companies have recently added track saws to their lineups. We called in a range of saws to test how well they work and see what their differences are, in case you're considering getting one yourself.

HOW WE TESTED

To evaluate these track saws, we used them to cut through dense, 2 x 4-foot, 9-ply, 4-inch maple plywood. We set up the tracks, adjusted the saws' depths, and made repeated cuts 48 inches long at both 45 and 90 degrees. We started our cuts, both off the ends of the plywood and by plunging the blades into the wood.

To test maximum cut depth, we stacked up three sheets of the 3/4-inch plywood, set the saws to their deepest setting, and then measured how deep the kerf was for each saw. We assessed the track saws based on how easy they were to set up and use, the quality of the sawed edge they left, and how much effort it took to push them along the track.

DIY TRACK

If you want to mimic the accuracy of a track saw without the investment, you can build a makeshift track to use with your own circular saw. To do this, you'll need a sheet of plywood with a clean factory edge.

1/ Mark the factory edge (A) and cut 2 to 3 inches off of it.

2/Cut an additional 8 to 9 inches (B) off the sheet of plywood.

3/ Position the 2-to 3-inch strip (A) on top of and along the edge of the larger strip (B), with the factory edge facing the middle.

4/Screw the narrow strip to the wider strip.