Does anyone have a non festool tracksaw? Looking to buy a tracksaw , I may buy the Festool, but Id like to hear if anyone has bought any of the other brands now available. Thanks!
Non Festool track saws
- Thread starter chris_goris
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I have the Scheppach; same company that makes Grizzly and some others. Which means blades, tracks and clamps can come from many vendors.
I tested it against a Festool; side by side. I didn't see a bit of difference. Maybe Scott Smith saw some differences, but his eyes are younger!
I tested it against a Festool; side by side. I didn't see a bit of difference. Maybe Scott Smith saw some differences, but his eyes are younger!
I have the DCS520 60-Volt MAX 6-1/2 in. cordless track saw and love it! Accurate, powerful and CORDLESS! [FONT=opensans-regular, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica-, Arial, sans-serif]My father in law has a cabinet shop with a festool and we compared cuts...same precision, same clean cut. [/FONT]
Chris one question to possibly consider. How is the dust collection with the others saws?
If this s a checker, it adds an additional $600 to Festool unless you already have a dust extractor. I have asthma so the Festool plunge made sense for the sanders. The track saw was an add on after an assortment of sanders and a domino.
If this s a checker, it adds an additional $600 to Festool unless you already have a dust extractor. I have asthma so the Festool plunge made sense for the sanders. The track saw was an add on after an assortment of sanders and a domino.
I bought the WEN track saw. Its is basically the same as the Grizzly, Shop Fox, Scheppach and maybe some others. I don't think the dust collection is as good as a Festool from what I've read, since I don't have a Festool to compare it with but for $159 to make it easier to break down sheet goods to a manageable size, works for me.
I am in the market for one too and I'm really leaning toward the Makita cordless. It has a few features that I really like (cordless, anti tip when cutting bevels, good dust collection) and it's about $200 less than the Festool.
Chris, I can't provide any insight about non-Festool saws, but I can say that I have never been disappointed with any of my Festool products (dust collection is a huge plus). That said, I wish that Festool adjustments were in the imperial system rather than metric, but that is a relatively small negative. Festool is pricey, but the products do perform well.
Festool products are way over priced. I'm on the low cost end of the spectrum. I have an 8 & 4 ft. straight edge clamps. With these and a Skill worm drive I cut down my sheet goods to a size I can handle.
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We use the Grizzly track saw at school and I'm generally pleased with it.
For my purposes its a safe convenient way for students to cut down sheet goods.
I wouldn't call it precision engineered, the adjustments are useable- you can check out the review at Woodwhisperer.
My experience pretty closely mirrors his.
While we're on the subject- if someone can recommend a good replacement blade for this saw I'll appreciate it.
Again, mostly looking to cut down sheets of 3/4" ply.
For my purposes its a safe convenient way for students to cut down sheet goods.
I wouldn't call it precision engineered, the adjustments are useable- you can check out the review at Woodwhisperer.
My experience pretty closely mirrors his.
While we're on the subject- if someone can recommend a good replacement blade for this saw I'll appreciate it.
Again, mostly looking to cut down sheets of 3/4" ply.
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I really like my shop fox, did some upgrading, and have a frued blade. If you look around you can find upgrade how tos that really change the saw. Out of the box it's fair saw but it comes alive when you mess with it. Probably never as good as a festool but alot cheaper and I could take the cost difference and buy the next tool.
After reading (and watching YouTube demonstrations) reviews and comparisons to other track saws I placed an order for a Makita cordless track saw kit last night. Makita is now offering a free 55" rail and two additional 5 amp batteries with the kit. Although A****n has a $34.00 lower price on the kit, it does not have the free items deal. A 55" track section costs more than $34.00.
Im not really sure at this point. I borrowed a fEstool from a friend and was extremely impressed by the quality of cut. I am wondering are the tracks interchangeable? can you buy a "cheap" track and use a Festool on it?
The festool tracks are not interchangeable with any of the brands that I know of.
The makita and Festool use pretty much the same track, the dewalt is the only one that doesn't use the same track from the major brands.
I've been using the EZSmart track saw system from EurekaZone for several years with no complaints. You can find more information here: http://www.eurekazone.com/default.asp
I bought a DeWalt track saw kit with 106 and ~59 inch tracks close to 10 years ago and later bought a ~40 inch track for it. I like it a lot. I use a Rigid shop vac with either a dust deputy or a quasi HEPA filter (if working away from my shop). The vac with the cyclone has it's stock filter which isn't quite as fine. I think dust pickup is great. I also have the router attachment which fits my PC 690 routers fine. Works well. The DeWalt blade change mechanism is my only complaint. It got stubborn on me, was probably clogged with dust, and when I forced it, it broke a little piece of the aluminum housing. The plus side is the blade change doesn't require all the pulls and tugs it used to. Saw still works fine. I used it over the weekend to cut a stair stringer. I cut the others with my Milwaukee circular saw and noticed I was fighting it a bit. I cut one stringer and got it to fit then traced two more off it. The traced lines were not completely straight because the first stringers cuts were not completely straight. The last one went much better with the track saw. Stock 48 tooth blade was fine.
I wanted the long track and I think the DeWalt with both long and short track is much cheaper than the Festool and a bit cheaper than the Makita. I wouldn't want to drag the long track around but for in shop use, it is very handy. I use it to straighten boards.
Besides being cheaper, both the Makita and DeWalt have more powerful motors than the smaller Festool. Some have complained about the Festool in even dimensional lumber. Something to consider.
Whichever saw you get, get the DeWalt track clamps. They are much better. The main advantage of the Festool is many more "extras" are available. It's possible to do everything with the other saws but it may mean you have to make something yourself that you could easily purchase for the Festool. But for making accurate cuts in sheet goods or hardwood or even dimensional lumber, my DeWalt works great. The old Milwaukee has been gathering dust and I see that trend continuing.
I wanted the long track and I think the DeWalt with both long and short track is much cheaper than the Festool and a bit cheaper than the Makita. I wouldn't want to drag the long track around but for in shop use, it is very handy. I use it to straighten boards.
Besides being cheaper, both the Makita and DeWalt have more powerful motors than the smaller Festool. Some have complained about the Festool in even dimensional lumber. Something to consider.
Whichever saw you get, get the DeWalt track clamps. They are much better. The main advantage of the Festool is many more "extras" are available. It's possible to do everything with the other saws but it may mean you have to make something yourself that you could easily purchase for the Festool. But for making accurate cuts in sheet goods or hardwood or even dimensional lumber, my DeWalt works great. The old Milwaukee has been gathering dust and I see that trend continuing.
Thanks for the correction, I didn't realize that. The festool saw is not compatible with the Grizzly track either. The wood whisperer shows that in his review.
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