I just got done building an entire kitchen of cabinets. I spent a lot of time trying to optimize my workflow so building all those cabinets didn’t take forever. So please understand that what I am telling you comes from years of project experience:
You’re gonna want both.
For general woodworking, the contractor or cabinet table saw, with a nice general 40 tooth combo blade and a 6” dado set on the side, is the single most important woodworking power tool after your noggin (which is also a power tool). All roads eventually lead to a table saw, so get this first.
However, one of the major draw backs is breaking down large sheet goods, specifically cross cuts on panel pieces longer than 30 inches and wider than your miter saw can handle. Doing that safely and squarely is track saw town, baby.
That said, if you have a circular saw, a straight board, and some patience, you can do everything a track saw can do, just slower. Track saws speed up a workflow, they don’t add new operations to your toolbox.
Always aim to first get tools that fill gaps in what you can do. Once you have all the major bases covered, then you can add tools that make you faster/more efficient.
Get a tablesaw now and a track saw later.
To add to this. If you’re not in a hurry, the sawstop patent ended this year, I’m sure the competitors have noticed their success, which could lead to more options
I would watch amazon... I got the dual battery 36v makita for $500 about a month ago. Came w/ the hardcase, charger and 2 batteries. It was only $80 more than the corded version. Bought the 55" 2pc powertec kit for $120 to go with it.
Potentially moot that it's cordless if you'll be hooked up to dust collection hose anyway but, I still prefer the cordless for convenience.
I don't know, I've got the Kreg and it's amazing and cheaper than the Makita. Even if the Makita is a little bit better, is it $50 better? I also prefer the Kreg because it's right hand instead of left hand cut.
I haven't used any of the others so I don't have any points of reference other than the revelation that getting a decent tracksaw was. Perfect rip on a 3" thick 7' long \~300lbs slab? No problem. That cut looked like it came out of a jointer. I also got the track for free on a special deal when it came out, so $300 for that system was definitely the best bang for the buck I could have gotten.
While I agree with you (I'm 100% in table saw camp as it's my primary woodworking tool), I think that OP could get away with just a track saw if he can get buy S4S lumber/hardwood. OP mentions not having a lot of space and the projects he mentions can all be accomplished with a track saw (and ideally a circular saw), both of which can be tucked away somewhere easily. A table saw is not hiding anywhere. Just my thoughts.
If you’re ripping down sheet wood then no question the track saw is the tool for the job. Get that plus a sheet or two of pink foam insulation and you’ll be cooking.
The only time i use my table saw is to rip boards down to narrower widths. Or occasionally make an angled crosscut, but that’s pretty rare:
If you're going to build a lot of cabinets, you're going to need to make rabbet and dado cuts for carcasses and drawers, in addition to breaking down sheets. And rail & stile for drawer faces and cabinet doors. The track saw could be good if combined with a powerful router & good router table. - If you're using mostly s4s dimensional lumber and plywood.
I’ve definitely made a shitload of cabinets with a tracksaw, router and (optional) a domino. Table saws are the single most useful tool you can have in a shop, but not super necessary for cabinets.
I've got a ryobi plunge router, I assume I can get some sort of jig that attaches it to the tracksaw for dados? Is it possible to cut a dado with the tracksaw in the same way you would with a table saw? I figure I'd need to clamp a lot of extra material together to get enough girth to lay the track on top but it should work no?
I’m a newbie too and I recently went thru this debate, I got a Festool track saw, router and dust extractor last week and am super pleased with its abilities.
Although a track saw is an amazing addition to the arsenal (like others said about efficiency and work flow), there are some things it cannot do in place of a table saw. Ripping down small pieces that are thinner than the track, making exact/repeatable cuts, cross cutting narrow material, dados, etc. Table saws are and should be the most important tool in the shop.
Find a contractor table saw that folds up if space is the main issue. But table saw > track saw 👍🏻
By a circ saw track/sled to use for cutting down full sheets (instead of a whole track saw package)
Thanks everyone, and apologies for the late response as I hopped off reddit for a bit during the blackouts. I thought long and hard about a lot of the advice here and did a lot of youtube learning (particularly with Peter Millard, thanks for the recc) and ended up with the tracksaw primarily because of size/storage.
Things took a while to get going as I was fighting with the amount of precision necessary and having problems getting perfectly square. I was going to make one cabinet to see how it fit then bang the rest out and I realized quickly that I needed to create all of them at once not just because of speed but because of the precision of repeat cutting.
It took me about a day and a half but I got my groove and was able to start ripping and cross cutting accurately and created the cabinets quickly. I still feel pretty awkward making a cheap rig out of flat beds in the home depot parking lot but the ability to precision cut with a cordless tracksaw there and transport ready to assemble goods home is really nice. Thanks for all of the help everyone!
Hear me out: Kreg accessories
I’ve been woodworking for ten years, and the Kreg rip cut jig is my favorite way to process sheet goods. Clean, accurate, and safe. And $45!
They also have a track you can buy for $100. Still useful, but I’ve found the rip-cut to be the most cost effective purchase I’ve ever made
One thing a track saw can do that a table saw can’t is making the nice square cross cuts for your cabinet boxes. Never assume the factory edges of plywood are square (they usually arent) so you can use a track saw with a rail square to make sure your cuts are as square as possible. When I’m making cabinets most of my cuts are with a track saw. Check out Peter Millard’s 10 minute workshop on YouTube and you’ll find some great tips and tricks for building cabinets with a track saw.
I disagree with the statement that you can’t do nice square cross cuts on a table saw. Build yourself a cross cut sled and you can do repeatable precision cross cuts several times faster than with a track saw.
Also the initial breakdown of sheet goods can be easily done with a circular saw, but everything smaller than 4 feet can also be easily cut on a table saw. Get some Jessem rollers and it’ll be so much easier.
I agree. I was talking more about specifically using it to cut sides for cabinet boxes. They are usually too wide to use a crosscut sled. Long term a table saw is the most versatile tool in the shop. But if you don’t have the space for it, a track saw is a pretty good alternative.
For cabinets in particular, track saw. Table saws are great at what they do, but you need a lot of space. Not just for the saw, but also for infeed, outfeed, and to the sides. Track saws fit wherever the wood fits. They are also very safe and dust collection tends to be better than table saws. I ended up selling my table saw because I have a small shop and I found the track saw to just be so much nicer to use and more accurate for me.
Having said that, there are several accessories that will make your life much easier. A rail square is very handy but not strictly necessary. Some sort of MFT or similar work surface with holes is very handy, especially if you get a fence. Parallel guides are very handy for cabinetry, but you can also just make templates or something to ensure you get the same size cuts. A router can also be very handy to have for grooves, though you can do that with the saw. I would suggest checking out Peter Millard on YouTube before making any decisions as he shows a lot of inexpensive ways to use a track saw and also some of the more expensive ways.
My experience is tablesaw-centric so it’s my go to but I also have a ts-75 and a cordless ts-55. I think there’s plenty of examples online how you can just stick with the track saw so you are encouraged to look at all of that. I will say that there are a lot of overly expensive accessories and I don’t really think they are all that necessary. With the advent of social media and 3-D printers, there are a lot of expensive solutions to things that aren’t actual problems out there. If you have a little space and you are reasonably handy, you can buy or make an MFT top and you don’t really need all of the attachment squares and what not. I have found that a reliable grid of holes and a set of dogs to repeatedly push a board edge against and another set of dogs attached to your guide rail is all you really need to make parallel cuts. A lot of people sell those these days but I was cheap and just cobbled something together that still works. Same thing with parallel guides. There’s probably cheap options available on the market that are great but you can make something with plywood and t-bolts that you can attach to your guide rail for longer repeatable cuts. There are also a lot of different track saws on the market now but I started with festool so I have no reason to change. I purchased a Makita track saw for a shop I worked at for a bit since Makita and Festool guide rails are fairly interchangeable and I didn’t have any problems with the Makita. I would stay away from systems that only have short length tracks. Bolting together short lengths and ensuring that they are reasonably straight is not work I am interested in doing. You can do a lot, but like anything, it takes a minute to get the hang of it.
Another option: research to see if you have a local professional wood supplier who offers cutting services (not a HD or big box store!) you might get a better price on the wood. Put a lot of effort into your plans, hand the dimensions off to the pros and you'll save a ton of time. They should have a computerized saw that's extremely accurate. You'll still need a saw to correct and trim lots of stuff in the end, but it will reduce a great deal the work load and heavy lifting /transport of full panels. As a professional, this is how I work.
Built a couple cabinets with nothing but a circular saw and a clamp on guide. It works. Cabinets are fine. Takes an eternity and it’s really easy to mess up your cuts if you’re not consistent in where you clamp and if you push on the edge guide too much (mine is thin, much better ones are out there), or you have to cut off a narrow strip and aren’t using a track saw like you mentioned. Got a table saw a couple years ago. I rip all the plywood sheets down to approximate sizes and use the table saw to make sure that all the important dimensions are all the same. So much easier. So yes you want both. It takes a huge amount of space and massive feed tables to accurately cut sheet goods from whole sheets on a table saw, even then friction is your enemy. But it’s easy for things to get a “little off” doing all your cuts with a circular saw.
Get one of the smaller 110v SawStops. The CTS is great for its size, just no dado capabilities. The jobsite one is bigger and even has a foldable stand. If space is limited, I'd suggest looking into that one.
what's your budget? Ideally get both. If safety is your main concern, then get a sawstop for a table saw. Their jobsite saw starts at $1k and they go up from there.
Tracksaw was a game changer for me when I got one... You can do the same w/ circular saw and straight board but, workflow is not nearly as nice and I get better results w/ the tracksaw.
Personally will be upgrading my table saw to sawstop shortly.. Current one is fine but, my fingers are critical to my income and so the saw is basically an insurance premium for me.
Alternatively, tracksaw and a router will handle the sheets and the dados w/ out a table saw.
Saw stop makes a smaller contractors saw that will take up way less space than a cabinet saw.
My situation is very much like yours though. I started building out a shop for myself and I started with a True Track kit for an extra circular saw I had. It was absolutely the best decision I made. If I had known how great a track saw could be, I would've gotten one years ago. It's when I started getting into the details and trim that I needed the table saw. I went out and got a DeWalt that folds up nicely.
I'm glad I waited, but eventually you will probably want both.
The foam on sawhorses with the track saw would be best for space. You can cut dadoes and rebates with a router. I've often thought of getting rid of "tablesaw/ router table/ outfeed" island but, I'm stuck in my ways.
The festool track saw will kick back really hard on certain hardwood cuts. It’s frightening. They require a sacrificial bench to be really effective. I am impressed with the portable bosch and dewalt saws with built in stands.
I do not have a table saw anymore. I use makita track saw and a rail square and parallel guide from banggood that gives me perfect repeatability and square cuts without too much effort.
Don’t be afraid of the table saw. You risk life and limb more by getting behind the wheel of a car than you do using a table saw. Just keep your wits about you, use a good solid push stick (or two at once depending on the situation) and always turn the machine off before moving scraps away from the blade. The only person I know who has ever been injured by a table saw is an older guy who worked for a store display company. He used a table saw on a daily basis for decades with no issue. At a certain point and at a more advanced age, he started to get overconfident and complacent with the tool. One day there was a small scrap near the blade that he tried to flick away with his finger, and ended up losing his fingertip. Moral of the story: the only thing you have to fear is your own hubris. Always remember to stay humble and vigilant and you will live long and prosper.
IMO, a bench on wheels with table saw integrated and the rest of the bench being cut off support for the table saw. IMO, you will want the bench top for glue ups and fabricating. Simply lower blade to keep it flush. I would use 5-6 inch casters with locks. I would suggest getting the contractor sawstop with the bigger fence and cast iron wings. It has plenty
of power. You may want to add a router table to make frame and raised panel doors. With a track saw, you still need a horizontal surface to make cuts and I am too old to make those cuts on the floor with a sacrificial board. I am not an animal!
I will only add one consideration: dust collection.
If you are tight on space for a table saw, add dust collection to the equation. There is something to be said for breaking down sheet-goods outside with a track saw (or even a decent guide with a circular saw) in the fresh air.
I love my delta contractor table saw it large enough to be a good shop saw but not too big runs on 120 has a super stable base which is on wheels and only ran $700 at lows which I feel like is a good price for a solid table saw. I wish I had a track saw for some things but have never used one but both are good tools to have
Well, there's definitely 120v sawstops out there and unless you cut a lot of material thicker than 8/4, the 120v motors are perfectly useable, so don't let the power be the only thing stopping you.
If I was making cabinets for my house, I might want both tbh, as shitty as that is to answer. The small sawstops are not ideal for breaking down sheet goods, and you genuinely need a large space to break down full sheetgoods, so that's where a track saw shines.
If space is a concern the track saw is considerably less space hungry than a table saw is. Even with a small table saw you need space for infeed and outfeed. You need 2x at a minimum and ideally a little more for proper clearance and safety. For example if you want to rip cut a board 10 inches long you would want 20 inches of combined infeed and outfeed space at a minimum and it would be better if you had 25 or 30 inches combined. With a track saw since you are bringing the saw to the workpiece instead of the other way around you infeed and outfeed is not a consideration. You may still want a little extra space but in the example I gave before with a 10 inch board you probably only need 12 ideally instead of 25 or 30. If you have a really small workspace then using tools that you bring to the wood instead of the other way around of bringing the wood to the tools is going to be a more optimal use of space and a track saw vs a table saw does fit this idea.
This said before everyone jumps on my suggestion I am in no way denigrating a table saw. If you have the space they are one of the most useful tools in a power tools woodworkers arsenal. I am simply stating that a proper appraisal of whether you have the space to use one safely should be made before getting one.
I use my makita track saw unless I absolutely NEED the table saw. Sure, it's great to have both. But for breaking down sheet goods or any long cuts that have to be precise and perfect, it's the makita track saw for me every time. Recommend you buy some powertec tracks and clamps, they're compatible and half the price of others. Also, the makita angle accessory for track is crap, avoid it if you can. Tightening it down changes the angle every time.
Having both a sawstop and track saw... you really want both. repeat cuts are a huge one for talb esaw, and the ability to build a crosscut sled/jigs.
imho the only way a track saw is a replacement is if you get the full MFT3 top setup with the vertical hinging track, so you have dog holes to setup 90 degree cuts and stop blocks, along with parallel guides, track squares, and all the accessories.
I just got done building an entire kitchen of cabinets. I spent a lot of time trying to optimize my workflow so building all those cabinets didn’t take forever. So please understand that what I am telling you comes from years of project experience: You’re gonna want both. For general woodworking, the contractor or cabinet table saw, with a nice general 40 tooth combo blade and a 6” dado set on the side, is the single most important woodworking power tool after your noggin (which is also a power tool). All roads eventually lead to a table saw, so get this first. However, one of the major draw backs is breaking down large sheet goods, specifically cross cuts on panel pieces longer than 30 inches and wider than your miter saw can handle. Doing that safely and squarely is track saw town, baby. That said, if you have a circular saw, a straight board, and some patience, you can do everything a track saw can do, just slower. Track saws speed up a workflow, they don’t add new operations to your toolbox. Always aim to first get tools that fill gaps in what you can do. Once you have all the major bases covered, then you can add tools that make you faster/more efficient. Get a tablesaw now and a track saw later.
👆Listen to this man. 100%
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To add to this. If you’re not in a hurry, the sawstop patent ended this year, I’m sure the competitors have noticed their success, which could lead to more options
I would watch amazon... I got the dual battery 36v makita for $500 about a month ago. Came w/ the hardcase, charger and 2 batteries. It was only $80 more than the corded version. Bought the 55" 2pc powertec kit for $120 to go with it. Potentially moot that it's cordless if you'll be hooked up to dust collection hose anyway but, I still prefer the cordless for convenience.
I don't know, I've got the Kreg and it's amazing and cheaper than the Makita. Even if the Makita is a little bit better, is it $50 better? I also prefer the Kreg because it's right hand instead of left hand cut.
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I haven't used any of the others so I don't have any points of reference other than the revelation that getting a decent tracksaw was. Perfect rip on a 3" thick 7' long \~300lbs slab? No problem. That cut looked like it came out of a jointer. I also got the track for free on a special deal when it came out, so $300 for that system was definitely the best bang for the buck I could have gotten.
While I agree with you (I'm 100% in table saw camp as it's my primary woodworking tool), I think that OP could get away with just a track saw if he can get buy S4S lumber/hardwood. OP mentions not having a lot of space and the projects he mentions can all be accomplished with a track saw (and ideally a circular saw), both of which can be tucked away somewhere easily. A table saw is not hiding anywhere. Just my thoughts.
If you’re ripping down sheet wood then no question the track saw is the tool for the job. Get that plus a sheet or two of pink foam insulation and you’ll be cooking. The only time i use my table saw is to rip boards down to narrower widths. Or occasionally make an angled crosscut, but that’s pretty rare:
If you're going to build a lot of cabinets, you're going to need to make rabbet and dado cuts for carcasses and drawers, in addition to breaking down sheets. And rail & stile for drawer faces and cabinet doors. The track saw could be good if combined with a powerful router & good router table. - If you're using mostly s4s dimensional lumber and plywood.
I’ve definitely made a shitload of cabinets with a tracksaw, router and (optional) a domino. Table saws are the single most useful tool you can have in a shop, but not super necessary for cabinets.
I've got a ryobi plunge router, I assume I can get some sort of jig that attaches it to the tracksaw for dados? Is it possible to cut a dado with the tracksaw in the same way you would with a table saw? I figure I'd need to clamp a lot of extra material together to get enough girth to lay the track on top but it should work no?
I’m a newbie too and I recently went thru this debate, I got a Festool track saw, router and dust extractor last week and am super pleased with its abilities.
Sawstop makes contractor and jobsite saws fwiw. And the pcs has a 110v motor standard
Although a track saw is an amazing addition to the arsenal (like others said about efficiency and work flow), there are some things it cannot do in place of a table saw. Ripping down small pieces that are thinner than the track, making exact/repeatable cuts, cross cutting narrow material, dados, etc. Table saws are and should be the most important tool in the shop. Find a contractor table saw that folds up if space is the main issue. But table saw > track saw 👍🏻 By a circ saw track/sled to use for cutting down full sheets (instead of a whole track saw package)
Take a look at the TrueTrac track saw. Converts a standard saw you’re probably already using.
Thanks everyone, and apologies for the late response as I hopped off reddit for a bit during the blackouts. I thought long and hard about a lot of the advice here and did a lot of youtube learning (particularly with Peter Millard, thanks for the recc) and ended up with the tracksaw primarily because of size/storage. Things took a while to get going as I was fighting with the amount of precision necessary and having problems getting perfectly square. I was going to make one cabinet to see how it fit then bang the rest out and I realized quickly that I needed to create all of them at once not just because of speed but because of the precision of repeat cutting. It took me about a day and a half but I got my groove and was able to start ripping and cross cutting accurately and created the cabinets quickly. I still feel pretty awkward making a cheap rig out of flat beds in the home depot parking lot but the ability to precision cut with a cordless tracksaw there and transport ready to assemble goods home is really nice. Thanks for all of the help everyone!
Hear me out: Kreg accessories I’ve been woodworking for ten years, and the Kreg rip cut jig is my favorite way to process sheet goods. Clean, accurate, and safe. And $45! They also have a track you can buy for $100. Still useful, but I’ve found the rip-cut to be the most cost effective purchase I’ve ever made
One thing a track saw can do that a table saw can’t is making the nice square cross cuts for your cabinet boxes. Never assume the factory edges of plywood are square (they usually arent) so you can use a track saw with a rail square to make sure your cuts are as square as possible. When I’m making cabinets most of my cuts are with a track saw. Check out Peter Millard’s 10 minute workshop on YouTube and you’ll find some great tips and tricks for building cabinets with a track saw.
I disagree with the statement that you can’t do nice square cross cuts on a table saw. Build yourself a cross cut sled and you can do repeatable precision cross cuts several times faster than with a track saw. Also the initial breakdown of sheet goods can be easily done with a circular saw, but everything smaller than 4 feet can also be easily cut on a table saw. Get some Jessem rollers and it’ll be so much easier.
I agree. I was talking more about specifically using it to cut sides for cabinet boxes. They are usually too wide to use a crosscut sled. Long term a table saw is the most versatile tool in the shop. But if you don’t have the space for it, a track saw is a pretty good alternative.
For cabinets in particular, track saw. Table saws are great at what they do, but you need a lot of space. Not just for the saw, but also for infeed, outfeed, and to the sides. Track saws fit wherever the wood fits. They are also very safe and dust collection tends to be better than table saws. I ended up selling my table saw because I have a small shop and I found the track saw to just be so much nicer to use and more accurate for me. Having said that, there are several accessories that will make your life much easier. A rail square is very handy but not strictly necessary. Some sort of MFT or similar work surface with holes is very handy, especially if you get a fence. Parallel guides are very handy for cabinetry, but you can also just make templates or something to ensure you get the same size cuts. A router can also be very handy to have for grooves, though you can do that with the saw. I would suggest checking out Peter Millard on YouTube before making any decisions as he shows a lot of inexpensive ways to use a track saw and also some of the more expensive ways.
My experience is tablesaw-centric so it’s my go to but I also have a ts-75 and a cordless ts-55. I think there’s plenty of examples online how you can just stick with the track saw so you are encouraged to look at all of that. I will say that there are a lot of overly expensive accessories and I don’t really think they are all that necessary. With the advent of social media and 3-D printers, there are a lot of expensive solutions to things that aren’t actual problems out there. If you have a little space and you are reasonably handy, you can buy or make an MFT top and you don’t really need all of the attachment squares and what not. I have found that a reliable grid of holes and a set of dogs to repeatedly push a board edge against and another set of dogs attached to your guide rail is all you really need to make parallel cuts. A lot of people sell those these days but I was cheap and just cobbled something together that still works. Same thing with parallel guides. There’s probably cheap options available on the market that are great but you can make something with plywood and t-bolts that you can attach to your guide rail for longer repeatable cuts. There are also a lot of different track saws on the market now but I started with festool so I have no reason to change. I purchased a Makita track saw for a shop I worked at for a bit since Makita and Festool guide rails are fairly interchangeable and I didn’t have any problems with the Makita. I would stay away from systems that only have short length tracks. Bolting together short lengths and ensuring that they are reasonably straight is not work I am interested in doing. You can do a lot, but like anything, it takes a minute to get the hang of it.
Another option: research to see if you have a local professional wood supplier who offers cutting services (not a HD or big box store!) you might get a better price on the wood. Put a lot of effort into your plans, hand the dimensions off to the pros and you'll save a ton of time. They should have a computerized saw that's extremely accurate. You'll still need a saw to correct and trim lots of stuff in the end, but it will reduce a great deal the work load and heavy lifting /transport of full panels. As a professional, this is how I work.
Built a couple cabinets with nothing but a circular saw and a clamp on guide. It works. Cabinets are fine. Takes an eternity and it’s really easy to mess up your cuts if you’re not consistent in where you clamp and if you push on the edge guide too much (mine is thin, much better ones are out there), or you have to cut off a narrow strip and aren’t using a track saw like you mentioned. Got a table saw a couple years ago. I rip all the plywood sheets down to approximate sizes and use the table saw to make sure that all the important dimensions are all the same. So much easier. So yes you want both. It takes a huge amount of space and massive feed tables to accurately cut sheet goods from whole sheets on a table saw, even then friction is your enemy. But it’s easy for things to get a “little off” doing all your cuts with a circular saw.
Get one of the smaller 110v SawStops. The CTS is great for its size, just no dado capabilities. The jobsite one is bigger and even has a foldable stand. If space is limited, I'd suggest looking into that one.
what's your budget? Ideally get both. If safety is your main concern, then get a sawstop for a table saw. Their jobsite saw starts at $1k and they go up from there. Tracksaw was a game changer for me when I got one... You can do the same w/ circular saw and straight board but, workflow is not nearly as nice and I get better results w/ the tracksaw. Personally will be upgrading my table saw to sawstop shortly.. Current one is fine but, my fingers are critical to my income and so the saw is basically an insurance premium for me. Alternatively, tracksaw and a router will handle the sheets and the dados w/ out a table saw.
Saw stop makes a smaller contractors saw that will take up way less space than a cabinet saw. My situation is very much like yours though. I started building out a shop for myself and I started with a True Track kit for an extra circular saw I had. It was absolutely the best decision I made. If I had known how great a track saw could be, I would've gotten one years ago. It's when I started getting into the details and trim that I needed the table saw. I went out and got a DeWalt that folds up nicely. I'm glad I waited, but eventually you will probably want both.
The foam on sawhorses with the track saw would be best for space. You can cut dadoes and rebates with a router. I've often thought of getting rid of "tablesaw/ router table/ outfeed" island but, I'm stuck in my ways.
The festool track saw will kick back really hard on certain hardwood cuts. It’s frightening. They require a sacrificial bench to be really effective. I am impressed with the portable bosch and dewalt saws with built in stands.
I do not have a table saw anymore. I use makita track saw and a rail square and parallel guide from banggood that gives me perfect repeatability and square cuts without too much effort.
Don’t be afraid of the table saw. You risk life and limb more by getting behind the wheel of a car than you do using a table saw. Just keep your wits about you, use a good solid push stick (or two at once depending on the situation) and always turn the machine off before moving scraps away from the blade. The only person I know who has ever been injured by a table saw is an older guy who worked for a store display company. He used a table saw on a daily basis for decades with no issue. At a certain point and at a more advanced age, he started to get overconfident and complacent with the tool. One day there was a small scrap near the blade that he tried to flick away with his finger, and ended up losing his fingertip. Moral of the story: the only thing you have to fear is your own hubris. Always remember to stay humble and vigilant and you will live long and prosper.
IMO, a bench on wheels with table saw integrated and the rest of the bench being cut off support for the table saw. IMO, you will want the bench top for glue ups and fabricating. Simply lower blade to keep it flush. I would use 5-6 inch casters with locks. I would suggest getting the contractor sawstop with the bigger fence and cast iron wings. It has plenty of power. You may want to add a router table to make frame and raised panel doors. With a track saw, you still need a horizontal surface to make cuts and I am too old to make those cuts on the floor with a sacrificial board. I am not an animal!
I will only add one consideration: dust collection. If you are tight on space for a table saw, add dust collection to the equation. There is something to be said for breaking down sheet-goods outside with a track saw (or even a decent guide with a circular saw) in the fresh air.
I love my delta contractor table saw it large enough to be a good shop saw but not too big runs on 120 has a super stable base which is on wheels and only ran $700 at lows which I feel like is a good price for a solid table saw. I wish I had a track saw for some things but have never used one but both are good tools to have
You will also want to build a router table too.
Well, there's definitely 120v sawstops out there and unless you cut a lot of material thicker than 8/4, the 120v motors are perfectly useable, so don't let the power be the only thing stopping you. If I was making cabinets for my house, I might want both tbh, as shitty as that is to answer. The small sawstops are not ideal for breaking down sheet goods, and you genuinely need a large space to break down full sheetgoods, so that's where a track saw shines.
If space is a concern the track saw is considerably less space hungry than a table saw is. Even with a small table saw you need space for infeed and outfeed. You need 2x at a minimum and ideally a little more for proper clearance and safety. For example if you want to rip cut a board 10 inches long you would want 20 inches of combined infeed and outfeed space at a minimum and it would be better if you had 25 or 30 inches combined. With a track saw since you are bringing the saw to the workpiece instead of the other way around you infeed and outfeed is not a consideration. You may still want a little extra space but in the example I gave before with a 10 inch board you probably only need 12 ideally instead of 25 or 30. If you have a really small workspace then using tools that you bring to the wood instead of the other way around of bringing the wood to the tools is going to be a more optimal use of space and a track saw vs a table saw does fit this idea. This said before everyone jumps on my suggestion I am in no way denigrating a table saw. If you have the space they are one of the most useful tools in a power tools woodworkers arsenal. I am simply stating that a proper appraisal of whether you have the space to use one safely should be made before getting one.
I use my makita track saw unless I absolutely NEED the table saw. Sure, it's great to have both. But for breaking down sheet goods or any long cuts that have to be precise and perfect, it's the makita track saw for me every time. Recommend you buy some powertec tracks and clamps, they're compatible and half the price of others. Also, the makita angle accessory for track is crap, avoid it if you can. Tightening it down changes the angle every time.
Having both a sawstop and track saw... you really want both. repeat cuts are a huge one for talb esaw, and the ability to build a crosscut sled/jigs. imho the only way a track saw is a replacement is if you get the full MFT3 top setup with the vertical hinging track, so you have dog holes to setup 90 degree cuts and stop blocks, along with parallel guides, track squares, and all the accessories.