Buying a Tracksaw

[robgul]

Sorry to pee on your fire but I think that you will find that B&Q have advertised that price but out of interest I looked and the item is not available for home delivery and even though I live near to one of the largest B&Q in the country it shows no stock and also no stock in any nearby store.

Not unusual behaviour with B&Q (and to a lesser extent with Screwfix) - products at seemingly great prices but they don't actually have them available at all, anywhere.

... and a rant - I Googled a specific adhesive the other day - first at the top of the list was Screwfix "we don't stock XYZ - but we have ABC" - OK I know it's marketing but I'm not stupid, there was a reason for the specific product.

 

[harryc]

Save your money and when funds are available get yourself a festool.
I made the error of buying a cheapo track saw which to be fair was ok but the tracks were awful, hardly ever got a straight cut.

 

[Bojam]

Save your money and when funds are available get yourself a festool.
I made the error of buying a cheapo track saw which to be fair was ok but the tracks were awful, hardly ever got a straight cut.

But the choice isn't just cheapo vs festool is it? Makita, Bosch, Mafell... all excellent saws.

 

[Systematic Renovations]

There's always the used market. If you own a transformer I've seen 110V makita, dewalt and bosch saws on ebay for £150-170.

 

[harryc]

But the choice isn't just cheapo vs festool is it? Makita, Bosch, Mafell... all excellent saws.

Dont disagree I’m sure all those are good just giving my experience.

 

[Systematic Renovations]

I now own the makita 36v plunge saw, but before I could afford/justify it, I invested in makita tracks and used a rail adapter with the track and my circular saw. I've included a link to the adaptor I used.

https://www.buyaparcel.com/makita-1...IdIz1axJWu9hWcX68m8EOzbhLR0dciCEaAoPLEALw_wcB

 

[Spectric]

If you own a transformer I've seen 110V makita

The 110 Makita is cheaper than the 230 volt version, do not know why but as having always brought 110 volt tools so can use on site or home I believe there motors give better service, lower voltage and higher current for a given power.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Because the market is getting smaller? More and more site workers are are moving over to battery stuff.

 

[JobandKnock]

There's always the used market. If you own a transformer I've seen 110V makita, dewalt and bosch saws on ebay for £150-170.

A word of caution, if I may. Trade tools are often disposed of when the work they were bought for dries up, or when they are worn/near end if life. As saws like this are "bread and butter" tools for many tradesmen you need to be a bit wary, especially if you don't know what to look for by way of faults or excessive wear

 

[Spectric]

If I was a jobing chippie and needed 110 volt tools that my jobs would pay for eventually then would I pay £680 for a Festool,

https://www.toucantools.co.uk/festo...FVz8is6pUvuC-fQOwyO6yMjmvK_odsocaAhIIEALw_wcB
£600 for the Maefell

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/sn/MAFMT55CCKIT1L#.YMKCeT_TVhE
or £470 for the Bosch

https://www.ffx.co.uk/Product/Get/B...-110V-165Mm-Plunge-Saw-And-Fsn-Guide-Rail-Kit
or just stick with a Makita at £430

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/section//sn/MAKSP6000K1KITL#.YMKDJz_TVhE
For me the Makita is a good basic saw that would be great out and about without the frills, bells and whistles, plus Makita, Bosch and dewalt are well trusted brands amongst the trades, but maybe in just a workshop enviroment the Maefell with it's added refinements would be nice but you see a lot of comments saying the Bosch/Maefell tracks are better than Festool, as this has previously been discussed and that with @JobandKnock giving sound advice I went Makita, look for this thread for some good info and advice.

 

[pe2dave]

From memory, the Makita 'scoring' facility has a niggle, a slight offset relative to main cut. From @Spectric table - not much to choose DeWalt/Makita?
Equally, scoring doesn't seem to score high on any of the reviews?

 

[pe2dave]

Trade / hobby?
Perhaps when asking about tool selection, we should state one or the other? The answers above seem to paint quite a different picture?
I doubt any of the tracksaws mentioned would 'wear out' with hobby use, though I'm sure some / many would with site use of heavy production use.

 

[Spectric]

The problem I find is that it is more than a case of trade v hobby because for some reason the manufacturers seem to think the DIY / hobby market accepts poorer results and does not aim to produce quality workmanship, therefore the tools are cheaper, will last ok for occasional use but often fail to deliver great results so you are forced into, if you want trade results buy trade quality tools.

 

[Spectric]

From memory, the Makita 'scoring' facility has a niggle, a slight offset relative to main cut.

Has anyone experience of this, I did see in a Pete Millard video this was an issue on I believe the Maefell but not seen it on the Makita.

 

[Gary_S]

I hd the Lidl, now have the Bosch. The Lidl was a very good value for money tool. The Bosch has amazing dust extraction.
I don't think its a question of Trade or Hobby but what type of work you do. If yo are ripping lots of sheet goods per day it will pay to have one that is easier to use and more robust than entry level. If though you are a furniture maker and only need to get things near enough to finish by hand then I would opt for quiet and dust free. If you are buying it to make a kitchen for yourself, then get one that you don't mind gathering dust when you have completed the job.

 

[pe2dave]

Has anyone experience of this, I did see in a Pete Millard video this was an issue on I believe the Maefell but not seen it on the Makita.

IIRC it was from a comparison review on youtube. A minor annoyance of <1mm.

Agree on the issue of 'between' users, but I guess makers have to make that balance to satisfy a price conscious market?

 

[Spectric]

If you are buying it to make a kitchen for yourself, then get one that you don't mind gathering dust when you have completed the job.

Or buy a decent trade one that you can sell for a good proportion of what you paid, but these days it will probably need to be cordless, although there must be the older gen out there who still like to be attached!

 

[PerryGunn]

...but these days it will probably need to be cordless...

Don't get me wrong, I love the freedom & flexibility that comes with cordless tools but, for anything that routinely needs to be attached to dust extraction, I'm quite happy with corded as I don't find the power cord any more of a hinderance than the extraction hose - my tracksaw being a prime example.

 

[Filament]

I’ve gone through this exact decision-making process recently myself and in case it’s useful at all my thinking (or self-justification for buying a nicer toy!) was:

I’m a fairly competent DIY’er. For breaking sheet goods down I had made a guide for my circular saw out of plywood which worked as well as it could, but was a nightmare to clamp securely if what I was cutting was a lot shorter than my guide. Also, dust extraction was awful.

I considered the cheaper saws as I won’t use it all the time but, though I’ve bought a lot of cheaper tools in the past and been happy, I’ve often found that you need to fettle them in one way or another to make them work well, which in itself needs a level of technical competence or familiarity with that type of tool, neither of which in this regard I felt I had.

Also, as has been said above, the premium saws tend to have a very good resale value and (although in some ways this was very a part of the self-justification as I doubt I will ever sell it) it is always good to know that if you ever did need to get yourself out of financial hole you would be able to sell things and make something back. Also, I think you will often get a better future support for them if anything goes wrong (although some premium brands are known for better or worse after-care, I tend to find that if you don't have any joy with customer service, you will usually get a good result if you escalate to CEO-level with the premium brands)


This, combined with watching many reviews on YouTube (Peter Millard’s and Skilbuilder’s tracksaw showdown) as well as reading lots of forums led me to go for Makita as it seemed to be the best balance between quality/performance and price. Festool and Mafell did seem superior but were too much £ for me (and the difference not pronounced enough to make me dig deeper)

Initially, I was going to go for the corded SP6000J1 (around £280), as with a track saw you are always going to want to use dust extraction, so as soon as you’re plugged in to any sort of extraction device it makes cordless somewhat immaterial. However I am already bought in to the Makita 18v system and found that Screwfix had the cordless version DSP600 for £320 (including a Makpak box) which was considerably cheaper than anywhere else and actually was not that dissimilar to what some secondhand ones were going for on eBay. So, having used all that self-justification I bought the Makita and although it is my first track saw so I’m not comparing like for like, I am exceptionally happy with it and what it can achieve is mind-blowing.

For info, the cheapest (at the time) sources I found for the some of the bits you may want/need need with it were as below:

Saw- Screwfix £320

Joining bar to connect two rails together £13.95 Powertoolworld

1m guide rail £39.95 Powertoolworld

1.5m guide rail £55.15 ebay seller: buyaparcel

Pair of Makita guide rail clamps ebay seller: buyaparcel

Both buyaparcel items used a 15% off coupon (they often have ebay coupons for this seller)



I have recently bought a waste side jig and depth from Strawbyte workshop which was one of the most pleasant buying experiences I’ve ever had (and the cheapest postage ever)

Links to all above below (all will work with corded or cordless Makita other than the waste-side jig as the kerf is narrower on the cordless if my memory serves correctly)

Makita DSP600ZJ 36V Li-Ion LXT 165mm Brushless Cordless Plunge Saw - Bare

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/ma...joining-bar-connector-for-194368-5-sp6000-saw

https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/makita-199140-0-1m-guide-rail-for-use-with-sp6000-dsp600-saws

Makita Aluminum Plunge Saw Guide Rail 1.5m 1500mm 59" SP6000 SP6000K1 199141-8 88381528689 | eBay

Makita 194385-5 Guide Rail Clamps For Plunge Saw SP6000 - 1 Pair 88381314084 | eBay



1.45mm Kerf Track Saw Guide - Waste-side Cut Jig (Pair) (Makita Efficut Blades) — The Strawbyte Workshop

Depth Stop Indicator for Makita Plunge Saws - SP6000J DSP600ZJ XPS01Z XPS02ZU — The Strawbyte Workshop

 

[bluenose]

Thank you all so much for your valued input, the replies have been most helpful and, in some cases, extremely comprehensive, each of them would have taken some time to compile and I thank you once again.

I have settled for the Makita SP6000 240v saw but unfortunately, the suppliers offering the best prices all seem to be out of stock. It seems that most of them won't have new stocks until at least the end of the month. There does seem to be plenty of the 110v units available.

Some of the prices for the tracks seem to be a little expensive but, from what I can see, there is a choice of other manufacturers tracks that are compatible with the Makita. I might just research them a little more. I think that initially I can make do with a 1.5 metre length. Anyone know which other suppliers track is the best alternative?

Thanks again to all. Enjoy the expected sunshine during the coming days