DeWalt Plunge Saw

[xraymtb]

Hi Guys

On my quest for a new CS, I've started to look at guide rails.

Without turning into another Festool vs EZ vs The Rest topic...does anybody actually have the DeWalt Plunge Saw (Corded one - not the cordless), what do they think of it and would they recommend it over the others?

Additionally, what comes with the DeWalt package? Are the clamps included or a bag? If not then added those would make it a lot more expensive.

I really don't want to go Festool...I've can't afford another addiction!!

 

[big soft moose]

Ive used the dewalt rail system at work and its certainly a tasty bit of kit (tho there is no way i can justify the cost to getting one myself) - i cant sensibly comment on how it compares cos ive not used anything else.

 

[wizer]

I played with it at a show and my only comment was that I preferred the Festool's plunge system.

My only thought, is I don't know why they cost so much.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got the mafell myself. I love having a guide rail. I rarely use the saw without it. Of course if I was buying again I'd look at this:

http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php?sn=BSHGKS65&site=emjuly250708


Fraction of the cost of any other system.

Dave

 

[xraymtb]

So, just as I was resigning myself to spending at least £300, davejester comes along and saves my marriage!!!

I had looked at the Bosch with an EZ rail - I think that deal is too good to pass up!!

 

[wizer]

The Bosch in Dave's link comes with it's own rail system, not EZ.

It's not as versatile as the EZ system.

Ironically just before I bought the EZ system I had a large order with Tool-Net.co.uk for a bosch saw a selection of guide rails. Tool-Net.co.uk turned out to be the worst retailed on the planet and I cancelled my order.

Needless to say that I was very very glad that happened in the end.

 

[Another Dave]

I've got the DeWalt, and think it is great, as I have posted about it before.

The clamps are extra, as is the bag!

You'll also need a rail joiner if you buy two lengths of rail (far more manageable and less likely to get damaged than one l_o_n_g and expensive one!)

The Bosch, while an excellent buy, is not a plunge saw, so you're not comparing like for like there.

One big advantage of the DeWalt and Festool plunge saws is the improved dust extraction from that all-enveloping guard - great for MDF.

My only gripe is that it takes a different size of blade from our other DeWalt saws - and we have a big stock of spare blades in the two sizes we were already using. Hey-ho, that's progress for ya! :?

Dave.

 

[xraymtb]

The Bosch in Dave's link comes with it's own rail system, not EZ.

I was aware of that, however it would allow me to see how I get on with guide rails before spending a couple of hundred on an EZ. I originally planned on getting a new CS and using a home made guide anyway.

The Bosch, while an excellent buy, is not a plunge saw, so you're not comparing like for like there.

As above, this all started as needing a new CS and turned into a spendfest!!

My original need was for a circular saw to replace my Triton (budgeting around £100-200). This got me looking at the EZ system as an extra to allow me to replace a lot of table saw functions. Once I added up my CS budget with the cost of a reasonable EZ system that put me in DeWalt and Festool plunge saw territory.

Hence my looking at the Bosch and the DeWalt (and the Festool).

 

[Another Dave]

Ah, see, it was the title of the thread that threw me:

DeWalt Plunge Saw


And don't believe that you need the maker's guiderails for a plunge saw - mines is currently being used on a 2.4 m homemade sawboard!

I'm keeping the DeWalt rails good!



Dave.

 

[wizer]

What's wrong with the Triton?

 

[xraymtb]

What's wrong with the Triton?

I sold it when I moved. We moved (due to work) from a semi-detatched with a big outdoor covered space that I used as a workshop to a flat with no outdoor space. I thought my woodwork days were finished so I sold my big machine kit (the Triton, my Bandsaw, P/T).

Then the missus wondered why our bedroom was so small while we decorated...I drilled a small whole and found a 12ft by 30ft room under the eaves that had been sealed off. One sledgehammer and a bit of door hanging and I have an new indoor workshop!!! The useable, full height, space is around 7-8ft by about 18ft, fully floored, with a small, very old, window in the roof.

According to our surveyor friend, it looks like they did it as the only access is through the bedroom and without the false wall there wouldn't be a full height flat wall in the whole room. It appears to have been there for almost thirty years.

So...I kinda wish I hadn't sold the Triton but decided to go CS and Rail as a lot of the work I'll be doing in the next year or two will be with sheet goods.

Ah, see, it was the title of the thread that threw me:

DeWalt Plunge Saw


And don't believe that you need the maker's guiderails for a plunge saw - mines is currently being used on a 2.4 m homemade sawboard!

I'm keeping the DeWalt rails good!

Yeah, I was going for a 'normal' circular saw until I started to watch some Festool videos (and that DeWalt Plunge Saw one). As for guide rails, the plunge saws all seem to come with guide rails or are only marginally cheaper without them. Now I can't decide between my three options...

CS - Hitachi C7U2 or similar - with homemade sawboard or EZ Rail

Festool TS55 (or TS75)

DeWalt Plunge Saw

I'm leaning towards the DeWalt as the Festool doesn't seem to be £80 better. On the other hand, the EZ route would allow a gradual build up of kit.

 

[Mcluma]

I will make your life better now

On ebay there is a mafell with guide rails.

An no its not mine

 

[chippy1970]

That Bosch saw isnt a plunge saw do you realize that ? its just a standard circular saw.

I have the Festool system and it is worth the money in my eyes I use it a lot though.

 

[xraymtb]

That Bosch saw isnt a plunge saw do you realize that ? its just a standard circular saw.

Yeah, I realise that. I just can't decide between something like the Bosch (CS with guide rail @ £140) or a plunge saw system (DW @ £320, Festool @ £380).

 

[Londoner100]

I have the Festool TS55 with guide rails and can honestly say it is one of the best quality, most accurate tools I have ever owned. every thing you see on the internet about it is true. It has made cutting up material a pleasure and there is also the bonus of being splinter free. I have no links to Festool but one word of warning, once you have have it it is an addiction its just a shame Festool stuff is so expensive.

Ian

 

[Jake]

I've had the Bosch and two guide rails for ages, but eventually and recently succumbed to the Fesdrool urge. There is a big difference, but as ever the incremental gains aren't linear - the Bosch is 85% of the Festool. Ultimately, both cut things in a straight line.

 

[xraymtb]

Jake

Does the Bosch have any form of anti splinter strip on the guide rail?

 

[Jake]

It has a strip down the front of the rail, which bizarrely as supplied (unless they've changed it, this was a good five years ago) doesn't reach the point of cut .. I replaced with a spare so it did ... but then the disadvantage is that the tilt mech isn't as clever, so the point of 'entry' of the blade is different depending on the tilt. So one bevel cut and you stuff the edge up again, DAMHIKT. I ended up just measuring the (4mm) offset. Not quite as convenient, but really not a problem. It doesn't (or didn't then) have the anti-splinter thingy for the other side of the cut.

In practice, given the right blade, you would only really notice if you were doing the final cut on veneered board, or more so melamine. That's where part of the 15% kicks in (bearing in mind that a table saw with a scoring blade would be even better still).

It depends what you want to do, really. For breaking stuff down, it served me well.

 

[JanneKi]

One forum member in our Finnish www.kotiverstas.com (in Finnish only) actually bought the Festool TS-55 and sold off the Bosch. He said that could never get the Bosch to track the guide without some play and there was no adjustement to that. Plus there was no plunge in it either.

Might be one of those cases where you save a bit, but then in the end need to go the full tilt anyway after a while (been there, done that - from one Skil to Makita and now I'm to Festool TS-75 - but this time I'm sure I don't have to upgrade ever again).

 

[Karl]

DAMHIKT.

Ok, can somebody put me out of my misery and tell me what this stands for? I've seen it all over the place, and haven't been able to fathom it out (mind you, it took me about a month to work out what a "SWMBO" was....)

Cheers

Karl