Erbauer plunge saw advice please

[Antonio-d]

Morning all I purchased a Erbauer plunge saw over the weekend locally to me and I’m looking at getting some rails for it. I have seen a number of people say the Excel rails work on the saw I am just wondering if anyone has any first hand info on this.
The second contender is probably going to be the evolution rail as the other know brands are out of my price range.
Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[ChaiLatte]

It uses the same style of rail as Festool, so Makita, Excel, Evolution will all fit.

Excel ones are £99 for 2 x 1500mm here: (https://tools4trade.co.uk/collectio...mm-guide-rails-connectors-clamps-and-rail-bag) You would have to spend £1 extra for free delivery.

Evolution ones are £79.99 here: (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HRDG2JG/) The clamps are nasty.

 

[Windows]

I don’t have direct experience of Erbauer, but here’s a guy using Erbauer with Makita track



You seem to be excluding Makita track, but it’s the cheapest of the big brands and if you shop around it might fit your budget. You should be able to find 1.5m Makita track easily for around £60-65. Maybe for less than £60 if you shop around.

For rail clamps, I recommend the Axminster quick clamps for less than £10 each.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-clamps-quick-action-guide-rail-clamp-105258

Depends on your use, but for me, a single 1.5 m Makita rail with nice Ax clamps at £80-£85 would be a better buy than 2 x 1.4 rails with bad clamps for £80, but if you need to cut over 1.5 m frequently, two rails would be better for you.

Do you have a budget or particular plans for use?

 

[Antonio-d]

I don’t have direct experience of Erbauer, but here’s a guy using Erbauer with Makita track



You seem to be excluding Makita track, but it’s the cheapest of the big brands and if you shop around it might fit your budget. You should be able to find 1.5m Makita track easily for around £60-65. Maybe for less than £60 if you shop around.

For rail clamps, I recommend the Axminster quick clamps for less than £10 each.

https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-trade-clamps-quick-action-guide-rail-clamp-105258

Depends on your use, but for me, a single 1.5 m Makita rail with nice Ax clamps at £80-£85 would be a better buy than 2 x 1.4 rails with bad clamps for £80, but if you need to cut over 1.5 m frequently, two rails would be better for you.

Do you have a budget or particular plans for use?

Thank you, no specific use its my first plunge saw i guess cutting up sheet material etc i want to get a new blade for it too found a rennie 2 pack on amazon (photo attached) which should see me right for now i hope.
the erbauer blade currently fitted is a 2.2mm kerf where as the rennie is 2.5mm kerf hopefully this will be ok.
looking at the makita rails now for reference.

 

[Windows]

One thing to be aware of is that the first thing you do with a rail is cut the splinter guard strip on the edge of the rail. The splinter strip not only prevents tear out, but also shows you where the edge of the cut will be so that you can line up the edge of the strip with your marks. You want to cut the strip using the blade you intend to use long term so that lining things up is accurate for that blade. You can get replacement strips, but my advice is just to make sure that you know which blade and kerf width you’ll want to use long term before you cut the strip.

 

[Antonio-d]

One thing to be aware of is that the first thing you do with a rail is cut the splinter guard strip on the edge of the rail. The splinter strip not only prevents tear out, but also shows you where the edge of the cut will be so that you can line up the edge of the strip with your marks. You want to cut the strip using the blade you intend to use long term so that lining things up is accurate for that blade. You can get replacement strips, but my advice is just to make sure that you know which blade and kerf width you’ll want to use long term before you cut the strip.

great advice thank you i guess i will have to sound out what are the most common 185mm 20 bore blades and stick to them

 

[ChaiLatte]

For rail clamps, I recommend the Axminster quick clamps for less than £10 each.

Plus £4 delivery.

For 46p extra, you can buy the Makita clamps.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-194385-5-SP6000-Plunge-Silver/dp/B004Z55D2G

For me, a tracksaw without the ability to cut an 8' sheet of material is pointless. If you did a blind test on the Makita track and the Evolution track, you would struggle to find anything to distinguish them.

 

[Windows]

Yeah good points. You’ve definitely got to factor in delivery charges. The Evolution tracks are shorter than the Makita and Excel tho? I think 1.5 is a better length than 1.4, but if you need longer, you need longer.

I have those Makita clamps as well as the Ax ones. If you are planning to also use the clamps away from the rail then maybe the Makita clamps would be a better option because they can clamp harder. But for rail clamping, I find the quick clamps are way more convenient than screw or lever clamps, and there’s no concern at all about the strength of clamping. I have Festool screw and lever clamps, and Makita screw clamps that fit my rails, but I always use the Ax quick clamps on the rail now.

 

[MintSauce]

great advice thank you i guess i will have to sound out what are the most common 185mm 20 bore blades and stick to them

The Trend Craft Pro blade is available on 20mm bore and 2.2mm kerf. Fitted one to my Erbauer track saw.

Example: https://trenddirectuk.com/trend-csb-18548-craft-saw-blade-185mm-x-48-teeth-x-20mm.html