Hand circular saw / plunge saw

[dchallender]

Hi I thought I would ask for a bit of advice, I'm looking around at the moment for a new circular saw. I'm a bit unsure what to get; I've looked at festool, dewalt and makita plunge saws but can't really see much of a difference between them except the price.

I generally use it for ripping sheets down and cutting stock pine boards for cupboards, etc. as my workshop has limited space so I struggle on my table saw.

What do people out there recommend?

Darren

 

[Krysstel]

I bought one of these a few months ago for the same purpose.
Choice was based mainly on the cast aluminium base that I considered more rigid and square than the pressed steel variety - better for running along a guide rail.
Also from previous experience of good extraction with Dewalt equipment - something that proved to be totally wrong with this saw :shock:
It is however, well made (apart from the non exsistent extraction), solid and relatively cheap.
It replaced a still servicable but inacurrate green Bosch.

Mark

 

[ndbrown]

I was really taken with a demo of the Mafell plunge saw with flexible track at a woodworking show earlier in the year. It was out of my league price wise and I started looking at alternatives. I thought that a cordless one would be handy for visits to the timberyard but again the Dewalt kit was expensive. I found a New Dewalt 18v bare saw (DC352) on e-bay for £100, but did not want another battery system as I already have a few Makita tools with the 18v Li-Ion batteries. So I decided on a hybrid Dewalt / Makita. An old 18v Dewalt battery was stripped down and a base from a Makita LXT torch grafted on - result a plug in solution that can take either existing Dewalt or Makita 18v batteries. The 3ah Makita ones give the saw a good long life when cutting and by the time I added a rail, the total cost for saw plus rail came in at under £150. This avoided having to buy a Dewalt charger plus more batteries and works really well. See pictures below.
Saw as purchased

Modified (old) Dewalt battery

Completed Saw powered by Makita

 

[Mr Ed]

I'd definitely go for a track mounted saw if you can afford it as it transforms a circular saw into a more accurate and less intimidating tool.

I have a Mafell KSP55F which is excellent, but not cheap.

Ed

 

[dchallender]

Thanks for the advice guys, I must admit I am very tempted to get a track mounted saw as it would be so much easier, maybe I'll get one for xmas from the wife :shock:

darren

 

[chippy1970]

I have the TS55 as many other members here do and cannot fault it.

Warning... If you buy Festool you will want more :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Martingchapman]

I agree with chippy1970, you cant go wrong with the Festool TS55 (apart from the price).
Also agree, beware the "slippery slope" that is the Festool system.

Martin.

 

[Anonymous]

Another vote for the Mafell ksp55. I was using mine at the weekend and the long double locking fence is fantastic. 12ft beam cut along length no problems. The rail, plunge and spring action riving knife really make it worth the extra money over a standard circular saw.

Dave

 

[jedmc571]

TS55 every day of the week, no competition, the rest are just clones of Festool.

 

[ndbrown]

Yep, the Festool fan club are alive and kicking, only joking
Festool make good tools, no doubt and I am not the worlds greatest fan of DeWalt. I only have the DeWalt DC352 plus the 621 router, all my other tools are Bosch, Makita, Hilti and Fein.
But if you look on the american web sites, you can see reviews side by side of the DeWalt plunge saw versus the Festool, and at the price differences they are quoting on the reviews, I would buy the Festool as well.
But shopping around for a cordless DeWalt version including rail at £150 (excluding batteries) and using some ingenuity, you can save a lot of cash and get a perfectly good rail saw, without breaking the bank.

 

[dchallender]

I have been looking at the festo kit longingly for quite a while now and I think fellas you may have tipped the balance in its favour

I am intrigued with the Dewalt for £150 though, I'd never though of modifying batteries for it. The only piece of DW kit I have is a drill and the batteries were useless hence why i never thought of it.

Well I'm off to start breaking the news to SWIMBO :lol:

Thanks

Darren

 

[Peter T]

I had this waiting for me when I got back from a business trip yesterday -

I plan to re-do our kitchen later this year and, since I don't have table saw, I thought this would do the business.

Only had time to cut in the splinter guards and make a few cuts in MDF but the cut quality is way beyond my expectations.

I'm now going to go and polish it before storing it away in the container, sorry Systainer!!

 

[Tim Nott]

A few years back I was on site when I realised my SKIL saw couldn't hack 25mm MDF, and as I need something that did, in a hurry, I went to the local bulders merchant where they had a a Makita 5903 (9") for ISTR 230€ (about £165 at the time), including three TCT blades.

It's a corker. It will rip sawn oak to its max depth of cut, and its main use now is to make a straight edge on boards before putting them on the table saw.. It doesn't have a guide rail, but it's easy enough to make one with two strips of ply (or MDF), and you can make the guide as long as you can get the sheet stuff.

Cut (or have cut a strip of ply, say 150mm wide another 150mm + the inside edge of the saw plate to blade plus a few mm
Line the two bits up and screw, glue together to make a long rebate. Run the saw down the guide with the sole plate in the rebate to trim of that extra few mm.

You now have a wysiwig guide system - just put the edge of the guide where you want to cut and run the saw along the rebate. Since the saw is guided by the rebate it doesn't matter if you damgew the 'cutting' edge

 

[dchallender]

I have a home made guide at the moment but I'm now at the point where I need to produce longer and more accurate cuts.

I think the pics may have sent me over the festo edge !! :shock:

 

[Peter T]

I have a home made guide at the moment but I'm now at the point where I need to produce longer and more accurate cuts.

I think the pics may have sent me over the festo edge !! :shock:

I was doing the same thing. A home made guide with a DeWalt cordless saw.

Doesn't even come close to ease of use and quality of finish of the Festool. (Sorry to sound like a salesman)

Mine came with the 1400mm guide rail plus a free extra 1400mm rail and the joiner bars.

Even including the price of the saw, I should still come out on top when the new kitchen is done...................that's my excuse anyway!!

 

[dchallender]

I have a home made guide at the moment but I'm now at the point where I need to produce longer and more accurate cuts.

I think the pics may have sent me over the festo edge !! :shock:

I was doing the same thing. A home made guide with a DeWalt cordless saw.

Doesn't even come close to ease of use and quality of finish of the Festool. (Sorry to sound like a salesman)

Mine came with the 1400mm guide rail plus a free extra 1400mm rail and the joiner bars.

Even including the price of the saw, I should still come out on top when the new kitchen is done...................that's my excuse anyway!!

Where did you get it from with the extra guide rail?

 

[Peter T]

I have a home made guide at the moment but I'm now at the point where I need to produce longer and more accurate cuts.

I think the pics may have sent me over the festo edge !! :shock:

I was doing the same thing. A home made guide with a DeWalt cordless saw.

Doesn't even come close to ease of use and quality of finish of the Festool. (Sorry to sound like a salesman)

Mine came with the 1400mm guide rail plus a free extra 1400mm rail and the joiner bars.

Even including the price of the saw, I should still come out on top when the new kitchen is done...................that's my excuse anyway!!

Where did you get it from with the extra guide rail?

There are one or two places around, but I used these -

http://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/fes...h-guide-rail-free-2nd-rail-561192-561311.html

Ordered Tuesday last week, arrived Wednesday. Can't be bad

 

[chippy1970]

I spotted powertoolworld the other day they seem to be very cheap for Festool accesories , but my local dealer nearly always matches prices for me so I buy from them handy if anything goes wrong too they are only down the road. I just treated myself to an OF1010 router with an 800 rail and got a free router bit systainer

 

[ndbrown]

This review was a fairly balanced comparison of the Festool and Dewalt if it helps. http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=94081

 

[Karl]

Interesting info on this thread - i'm shortly to upgrade my saw and had decided on either the Festool or the DW. I originally intended to go for the DW on price, but it appears that the price difference (when "buying" two rails) is minimal.

There is an interesting video on The Wood Whisperers website where he reviews the DW, and compares to the Festool.

Cheers

Karl