Supporting tracksaw

[duckkisser]

I need to cut some sheets of plywood and I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what to put under it on sawhorses and nock together frame to support the plywood.  Want to prevent chipping  and splintering.  Had thought to use sheets of foam insulation.  Anyone have any cheaper ideas?

Seems like there are some videos on woodwisperer of Marc using insulation anyone else remember those

 

[Mark J]

Not sure if I'm answering the question you're asking.

I use the 2" thick Foamular insulation laid on the floor.  This gives room for the saw teeth with plenty of margin for error and plenty of space to set up the cut.  I can't remember if I saw Marc do it or not, but it's a pretty common approach.

The foam board is re-useable many times.  To manage and store the foam board more easily you can cut it into two 4x4 pieces and use them separately for smaller pieces of plywood or together for a full sheet.

[..Kev]

33 minutes ago, duckkisser said:

Had thought to use sheets of foam insulation.  Anyone have any cheaper ideas?

 

 

That's about as cheap as it comes!  You can obviously reuse it many many times before it needs to be replaced.

I have a split top in my OF table and use that for the blade track which certainly doesn't provide anything directly under the cut and was a hell of a lot more expensive

 

[duckkisser]

7 minutes ago, ..Kev said:

That's about as cheap as it comes!  You can obviously reuse it many many times before it needs to be replaced.

I have a split top in my OF table and use that for the blade track which certainly doesn't provide anything directly under the cut and was a hell of a lot more expensive

 

Wish I had a designated staton but shop is just not big enough......cut down in drive and get to size in garage when it’s small enough

[duckkisser]

17 minutes ago, Mark J said:

 

The foam board is re-useable many times.  To manage and store the foam board more easily you can cut it into two 4x4 pieces and use them separately for smaller pieces of plywood or together for a full sheet.

Thanks I’ll have to cut down ply and insulation sold my truck after it final bit the bullet and bought a c-max a hybrid compact car.....fill up car once a month instead of 3 times a month. But I’ll want smaller panels anyways for storage

[..Kev]

3 minutes ago, duckkisser said:

Wish I had a designated staton but shop is just not big enough......cut down in drive and get to size in garage when it’s small enough

Well,  as Mark mentioned, you can cut the foam insulation into smaller chunks and lay them out as you need.  There just might not be a perfect solution for your needs.

[Just Bob]

I use a 2" foamular sheet on saw horses.  If I have several sheets to cut I just make a "sandwich"  with the foam in between sheets.  The insulation is strong enough to support one piece of ply to break it down.  

[Mark J]

4 minutes ago, duckkisser said:

Thanks I’ll have to cut down ply and insulation sold my truck after it final bit the bullet and bought a c-max a hybrid compact car.....fill up car once a month instead of 3 times a month. But I’ll want smaller panels anyways for storage

My last car was a hybrid.  I loved it.

The first time I bought a sheet of Foamular I had the 4x8 sheet tied to my roof.  It's only a couple of miles to the BORG and I drove home on the side sreets very slowly.  If you go to HD they may be able to cut it down for you, though now I think they are charging a buck.  How will you get your plywood home?

Just thinking about it out loud, I don't see any reason why you couldn't have four 2' x 4' sections of foam board that you would use in various combinations to support your plywood.  Of course I'm talking on the floor.  Divided foam board is not going to work on saw horses.

[wtnhighlander]

Its pretty easy to make a support frame of 2x4 with lap joints. Breaks down easily for storage, and you can lay or screw ply panels over it for a stable work surface over sawhorses. The plastic folding horses that Lowe's sells (Blue Max???) have notches in the top rail to accept 2x stock. Makes a pretty decent knock-down work table.

[duckkisser]

 

10 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

Its pretty easy to make a support frame of 2x4 with lap joints. Breaks down easily for storage, and you can lay or screw ply panels over it for a stable work surface over sawhorses. The plastic folding horses that Lowe's sells (Blue Max???) have notches in the top rail to accept 2x stock. Makes a pretty decent knock-down work table.

That’s what I have already just need a supporting surface

[wtnhighlander]

Cool! Then the foam insulation on top is just the ticket. I don't have a track saw, or any DC on my circular saw, so I don't use it. That foam make a huge mess of static-clingy crumbs all over my garage....

[duckkisser]

1 minute ago, wtnhighlander said:

Cool! Then the foam insulation on top is just the ticket. I don't have a track saw, or any DC on my circular saw, so I don't use it. That foam make a huge mess of static-clingy crumbs all over my garage....

That’s why I do it in driveway and if you don’t have a huge space and the ability to cut down panels on table saw I can’t recommend it enough. Love my track saw

[Chestnut]

I didn't read anything but +1 to foam.

I have a small piece that fits in my car if i need to get something if i don't have a pickup available. I bring along the cordless track saw and just break things down in the BORG parking lot before i load it up.

I use the 3/4" stuff because it has a slightly higher PSI raiting and seems slightly stiffer so when i kneel on it I don't dent the crap out of it.

[Wimayo]

Using the foam board is the best idea. However, if you have a pretty good stand of grass in your yard, you can just lay your plywood out on the lawn and then cut it. The grass well serve a similar purpose as the foam. Of course, keep your depth of cut at a minimum.

[SawDustB]

12 hours ago, Mark J said:

My last car was a hybrid.  I loved it.

The first time I bought a sheet of Foamular I had the 4x8 sheet tied to my roof.  It's only a couple of miles to the BORG and I drove home on the side sreets very slowly.  If you go to HD they may be able to cut it down for you, though now I think they are charging a buck.  How will you get your plywood home?

Just thinking about it out loud, I don't see any reason why you couldn't have four 2' x 4' sections of foam board that you would use in various combinations to support your plywood.  Of course I'm talking on the floor.  Divided foam board is not going to work on saw horses.

I've got a few pieces of foam that are each 2'x4' for this purpose. It works great. I usually don't worry about trying to have the whole plywood sheet supported completely, so I don't always bother getting all 4 out and lining them up.

[Coop]

When it comes to cheap, I’m right there with ya. I lay my ply on my lawn and support the board just outside the cuts with 2X4’s. 

[Art]

Then there's this thing from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43455&p=76830

It looks interesting and packs away nicely, although I'm not sure if it has any advantages over some 2x4's or foam on the ground or some sawhorses.

[pkinneb]

12 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I didn't read anything but +1 to foam.

I have a small piece that fits in my car if i need to get something if i don't have a pickup available. I bring along the cordless track saw and just break things down in the BORG parking lot before i load it up.

I use the 3/4" stuff because it has a slightly higher PSI raiting and seems slightly stiffer so when i kneel on it I don't dent the crap out of it.

This is my go to as well except mine is the 1 1/2" thick version. 

[duckkisser]

Borrowed a trailer from someone who just happened to have it attached to car and didn’t feel like putting it away for the night. So worked out great now to just cut it to 4x4 pieces so I can store it in garage

[duckkisser]

8 hours ago, Art said:

Then there's this thing from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?cat=1,43455&p=76830

It looks interesting and packs away nicely, although I'm not sure if it has any advantages over some 2x4's or foam on the ground or some sawhorses.

Hahaha man lee valley creates so much stuff that is useless well not useless but definitely easy enough to make something for free that does the same job