New Circular Saw
- Thread starter Joe Shmoe
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Eric The Viking
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Makita: yes, it goes right off the rails :roll: .
You can also get a fence as an accessory. And the rail clamps are a bit cheaper than the Festool ones. And Makita do now sell a 3m rail (for full-length cuts in sheet materials).
I've also seen claims of compatibility between the two systems (rails and saws), but it's not quite clear who's claiming compatibility with what exactly. They are very similar designs though, and nominally identical depth of cut, etc.
The Makita doesn't have a splinter guard nor a riving knife, but it does have a catch to stop it falling off the rail sideways when you do mitre cuts. And the manual's still rubbish: Download the US version of the T55 manual, as it covers pretty much all you need.
Good ideas on how to trim the rubber have been discussed recently here too.
Now you'll just have to choose
.
Cheers,
E.
You can also get a fence as an accessory. And the rail clamps are a bit cheaper than the Festool ones. And Makita do now sell a 3m rail (for full-length cuts in sheet materials).
I've also seen claims of compatibility between the two systems (rails and saws), but it's not quite clear who's claiming compatibility with what exactly. They are very similar designs though, and nominally identical depth of cut, etc.
The Makita doesn't have a splinter guard nor a riving knife, but it does have a catch to stop it falling off the rail sideways when you do mitre cuts. And the manual's still rubbish: Download the US version of the T55 manual, as it covers pretty much all you need.
Good ideas on how to trim the rubber have been discussed recently here too.
Now you'll just have to choose
.Cheers,
E.
chippy1970
Established Member
Joe Shmoe":2hdqyo8q said:
I wouldnt recommend it most plunge saws are design to be used on a rail, yes you can use them off the rail but its not advisable, very high chance of kick back.
Eric The Viking
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One thing I did note from the Makita manual is that they insist it isn't ever to be used with one hand. And there are a number of safety notes warning about kickback too.
The Festool has to score here, because of its riving knife, although I've used a similarly-sized circular saw for many years without one, on rare occasions without a guide batten either.
The Festool has to score here, because of its riving knife, although I've used a similarly-sized circular saw for many years without one, on rare occasions without a guide batten either.
Eric The Viking":swbodlhj said:
The DW scores even better because it has an anti-kickback mechanism which stops it pushing back along the rails.
If I had my time again i'd go for either the Mafell or Festool (having now seen both in the flesh). There's nothing specifically wrong with the Makita, and if your budget won't stretch to the Mafell/Festool (as mine didn't when I bought the Makita) then i'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
Sorry, that probably doesn't help.
Cheers
Karl
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