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Leon[_5_]

"Mike Marlow" wrote:
wrote:

Mike, there is MUCH more to a straight, smooth cutting track saw than
just the blade. The blade is very important, but you can get a lot
of nearly perfect blades these days just about anywhere. So while
you need one, that isn't really an issue.

The key to a perfect cutting track saw is the arbor alignment. The
arbor in the saw has to be PERFECTLY perpendicular to the track.
That means it must be perfectly perpendicular to the housing on the
saw. Then the track must hold the saw at a perfect 90 degrees (with
the arbor/blade assembly in alignment) while cutting.

Good stuff Robert. Leon had also replied in a similar vein of thought. As
I said to him - I just had never considered this factor. Now that it's been
brought up - it makes all the sense in the world. I guess that's in part
due to the fact that we think of a circular saw as a rough carpentry tool,
and as such we don't worry about that stuff. Now - introduce that saw to a
more precise world, and new issues come to light. Quite interesting
stuff...

Maybe one big difference in the track saws is that attention had been paid
to how they simply on a surface, work surface or track. Regular circular
saws have their blades and guards protruding through the shoe all of the
time. When you set it down they typically sit cocked and sitting on the
edge of the shoe and the guard, if the guard had not been removed. I would
imagine that might lead to mis alignment problems over time depending how
gently it gets set of dropped when put down.