Track Saw

[HamsterJam]

I crashed what seemed like a ton of cash for the TS55 a few years back but never once regretted it.
I’ll admit that I have not tried (or even seen) the Mafell or Bosch Pro equivalents but I found quality of cut and dust extraction from the Festool are excellent.

 

[sundaytrucker]

I have the 36v Makita, it doesn’t get a huge amount of use but has come in handy a few times. Being cordless is great and I use it with a Mafell dust bag which works really well. I’d prefer a smaller table saw but the Makita has been great and the finish straight off the saw is great.

 

[Gazzarose]

After seeing all of Peters tracksaw videos and having just built a garage that needed shelving, cabinets and a bench making I bought the Erbauer saw. My heart wanted the Festool, but I just couldn't justify the extra £300 or so, plus any extra rails I may need. Using some of what I've saved I bought the 3m Makita rail. I've only made some shelves so far out of cheap hardwood ply and from someone who's only ever done 'functional' wood wood before now with a hand me down circular saw that's older than me, I was amazed. My brother has also been borrowing it (as well as my garage, it incredible how people suddenly had jobs to do when you've got a big garage!) to cut laminated ply panels for his campervan and the cuts, at least to our eyes, are damn near perfect. I'm not suggesting it's as good as the Festool, but for occasional use I'm really impressed with it.

 

[AJB Temple]

Good for you ^. In the end it's just a circular saw with an easy to use guide. Spend money on a good quality blade when you start using more expensive wood.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

When I built my kitchen (pre-internet), I didn't have any tools, or skills. 15 years on I have more tools - skills not so much. As a complete novice at that time, I took myself off to the wood yard with a cut - list and they cut all the sheet goods on a huge commercial saw - probably £20,000 worth of automated, hydraulic and exciting cleverness. There is no way I could compete with that, and I don't really see the point in trying. Get someone else to do all the difficult work, for pennies, so you can do the fun stuff.

I love my table saw, but I still get my sheet goods cut to size before I collect it because fighting with huge sheets of ply is no fun at all. If I was working on site then it's it's an entirely different thing, but if the brief is to make my own kitchen then I want a table saw for all the stiles and rails and doors etc, and get my sheet goods cut to size by someone with better kit than I could ever afford.

 

[Ollie78]

Just a quick note on this discussion.
If buying just one " track saw" I would probably just buy the HKC 55 with a the crosscut rail and a couple of 1400 rails.
I have owned a TS55 for over 10 years and it is great but its function is more limited.
The HKC is more useful for "normal" circular saw stuff, but can also be used on the long rails as well.
Since owning it I use the TS55 so much less, only getting it out when doing a bunch of plywood or mdf stuff.
It does not have the little anti splinter guard on the outside edge which does make a difference but a sharp blade and careful cutting makes very nice cut.
I would consider the Maffel kss range too, I quite like the one with the flexible rail, I almost bought a kss 40 after trying it at a trade show, only didn't buy it because it won't trim the bottom off a door off, only cuts 40mm, I think they do bigger ones now.

Ollie

 

[Spectric]

If buying just one " track saw" I would probably just buy the HKC 55 with a the crosscut rail and a couple of 1400 rails.

If dust extraction is at all important then the advantages of cordless are gone as you are in effect tethered to a dust extractor unless you are ok with just the bag, but if this is anything like a biscuit jointer the bag fills very fast and then you get dust everywhere plus batteries have a limited life span and another oncost.

 

[harryc]

i totally get track saws but given a choice i would get a triton work centre and a 235mm saw. but for fitting kitchens doors trimming on site a track saw is superb.
for making wooden things at home some kind of table saw is indispensable in my mind. and a hand held circular saw is a real bonus when needed.

I had the triton work centre many years ago and got to admit a pain to get accurate cuts, maybe that was just me but the ear deafening sound of a 235mm circular saw!

Luckily a Kity tablesaw came up cheap on EBay and although not without its faults, mainly lack of power and awful dust extraction It’s been a revelation.

A table saw is indispensable same as the track saw imo.

 

[Ollie78]

If dust extraction is at all important then the advantages of cordless are gone as you are in effect tethered to a dust extractor unless you are ok with just the bag, but if this is anything like a biscuit jointer the bag fills very fast and then you get dust everywhere plus batteries have a limited life span and another oncost.

Spectric
You are correct about the dust extraction, I do always use the extractor.

The reason for my preference over the TS55 is not really the fact that its battery powered, though this can be handy on occasion, but rather the fact that you can use it as a normal circular saw. Set the depth and it stays set, you can use it for trenching cuts with the crosscut rail, it is perfect for cutting stuff to length and angles accurately without setting up the mitre saw or the mft table. However it can still plunge if required to cut out for a sink or something in the centre of a board.
If only ripping MDF or plywood sheets down all day then a TS55 edges it on cut quality, just a bit, but as a versatile tool I think the HKC is better and so better overall value for money.

Ollie

 

[johnnyb]

I was trying to imagine going backwards and choosing which tools I would want if all other tools were unavailable tbh. rip and crosscut combined really with handheld potential. I reckon the triton 2000 with the triton saw would be a pretty versatile combination. the mk3 wasn't dreadful just a bit clunky.

 

[Spectric]

The reason for my preference over the TS55

When you look at the reviews many say that the TS55 is getting left behind by the likes of the Makita cordless and reckon Festool will soon launch a new version with more power. The ability to perform as both a normal circular saw and plunge saw is a real bonus, always increases value for the money if you need the functions.

 

[partsandlabour]

I've been using a TS55 since around 2005 (I think!). It's done a hell of a lot of work for me and is still running sweet on it's original brushes. I would buy the same again - it's a total workshorse. Defo buy a 2700 rail too when budget permits as it makes light work of knocking down 8x4 sheets without the faff and potential for inaccuracy of jointing 2x 1400 rails.
I also have a makita LXT battery powered plunge saw which fits onto the same rails and is also excellent in terms of build quality.
I don't know what flavour cordless battery sytem you're on, but if it's Makita LXT I would consider buying the bare Makita cordless and some rails, if you're not going to be using it all day long.
Please stay away from the budget / aldi / parktools kit. Some may seem attractive at first but you will regret it when they burnout or break and there is zero spares availability. Buy cheap, buy twice and throw more of the planet's resources in the landfill. Cheapo tools are my pet hate - can you tell?!

 

[Spectric]

Cheapo tools also can lead to injury and totally agree, you may buy cheap tools but eventually having brought several more cheap tools you realise buying the more expensive tool would actually have been cheaper in the long run. Everything falls into a price bracket and the OEM is aiming to maximise profit, so you have the cheap, works enough to be legally sold and not going to upset trading standards, then the middle ground where you find the workhorses used by trade that will meet expectations and give good service and finally the ones that may or may not be marginally better but will cost more and are often sold due to the badge. Same in the world of cars, basic model makes OEM reasonable profit but stick an RS badge on it and spend very little more but OEM makes massive profits.

 

[sammy.se]

Regarding safety and the cheaper tracksaws, I have the Parkside (Lidl) saw, and with some tuning, I have it cutting as well as the £350 Dewalt I recently acquired. I have used it for ~24 months now and not encountered any safety issues, thankfully.

The models with the riving knife (Festool, Dewalt) have that additional safety feature by design, but that's not down to cheap/expensive - that's a design decision.

It's true about the spares - but for £70, you know what you are getting.

Has anyone had specific safety issues with the Parkside or Scheppach clone saws, due to their 'cheapness'?

 

[marcros]

Cheapo tools also can lead to injury and totally agree, you may buy cheap tools but eventually having brought several more cheap tools you realise buying the more expensive tool would actually have been cheaper in the long run. Everything falls into a price bracket and the OEM is aiming to maximise profit, so you have the cheap, works enough to be legally sold and not going to upset trading standards, then the middle ground where you find the workhorses used by trade that will meet expectations and give good service and finally the ones that may or may not be marginally better but will cost more and are often sold due to the badge. Same in the world of cars, basic model makes OEM reasonable profit but stick an RS badge on it and spend very little more but OEM makes massive profits.

I am not convinced that the vast majority of this post is actually correct but life is too short to unpick each sweeping generalisation.

 

[Spectric]

Marcos please feel free to elaborate, there are many cases where cheap tools have resulted in some type of injury and ok some can be attributed to an inexperienced user but many cannot. I worked for many years in product design and development alongside the marketing teams so I know how they tick, and how they convince customers to purchase their products over a competitors and often walk close to the line, others for example VW crossed it. Another interesting point is that people normally will talk about a product more for two reasons, They are not satisfied with it, so complain to all or they feel they have spent to much for it and then try to justify it by bragging it up.

 

[partsandlabour]

but for £70, you know what you are getting

Yes landfill eventually, unfortunately.

 

[Spectric]

Whats the saying, buy cheap buy twice.

 

[GarF]

Buy once, cry once! Generally try to get the best I can justify unless it's a one off task

 

[Spectric]

Here is a journey of learning I made many years ago, twenty plus when I was into photography. I was looking at buying a tripod, now given all my years of experience in engineering and was given expert advice from experienced photographers I thought that a tripod was just a three legged item to sit the camera on so ignored it all and brought a £60 job. Soon having issues with the leg clamps and all I got from the guys in the know was "told you so". Went out and brought a better one for about £115 and less issues with the leg clamps but still not happy as it was not solid enough and some images were just not sharp. Last resort went a looked at the advice given and types of tripod recomended, went out and purchased a Gitzo 2220 tripod and ball head for about £350 and never looked back, easy to setup, rigid with no noticable resonance and could get so low. Sold the other two at a loss but gained a valuable lesson.