Which track saw?

[Honest John]

Been giving some serious thought lately about investing in a track saw, probably a cheep but serviceable one as it will get little use. My rational is that I can rip on my table saw, crosscut on my Makita (non sliding) mitre saw ... max 5 inch width, and deal with anything bigger by using Parf dogs in my met type table with a track saw. This would enable me to unbolt my sliding table from my AXY TS2500 and get a lot more space back. The sliding table doesn’t half take up a lot of room, but is useful on occasions. My crafting activities are all hobby based and I’m not making a living out of this so I don’t need the Green tools, although I toyed with the idea of a Kapex sliding mitre saw for the increased capacity and better dust handling, but happily ive managed to talk myself out of one in favour of a (much) cheaper track saw. So I’m think8ng in the area of Screwfix Titan, Aldi or Lidl ones. What do you guys think of those items or can you suggest any other contenders?

 

[MikeJhn]

John

I have the Rutlands version and it does what it's supposed to, at under £100.00 just, its fine.

Mike

 

[Scottdimelow]

I have the Scheppach one, and to be honest it's not great. It feels very under powered, and plunging requires some brute strength. I wish I'd waited and gone for a Festool TS55.

If you have a circular saw already, you could just make a track out of 12mm mdf. That's what I now use with an old black and decker, as it has more power. There are plenty of youtube videos showing this done.

 

[basssound]

I have the titan plunge saw from screwfix and whilst it's great at its main job which is breaking down large sheets, I always find myself looking at the Festool TS55 in the Facebook classifieds and eBay...

I just know the first time I use the Festool I'll fall in love with the tool even more.

Plunge/track saws really are in a league of there own for large sheet cutting.
I'm in the midsts of buying a jig to make an 8x4 MFT so that it's even more accurate and easy to hold work pieces.

 

[Inspector]

I bought a Grizzly track saw set a few years ago with some extra track and joining bars. I don't know what the equivalent is in your world. Although I can join the two 55" tracks and the 28" tracks for long cuts like diagonally on a sheet of plywood or MDF, there is always a little catch as the saw goes over the joint. I have to anticipate and get the other hand ready to press the edge down as I approach it. Not always easy when you're reaching across a sheet, just awkward but not dangerous. The joining bars aren't very precisely made and they are on one side of the track so when together the thin edge will stick up a little bit. Someday I'll mill some new ones that fit more precisely in the hope that doesn't happen. The saw otherwise works well enough and the dust collection is reasonable. I plan on getting a rip blade for it to straighten the edges of longer boards before going to the table saw. If I were going to buy again I might spend a touch more and get a Makita or a Dewalt (as much as I dislike that brand) because they sell long tracks.

https://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2019/main/293?p=293
Pete

 

[Rorschach]

I have the lidl saw, it has been an amazing bit of kit for the money and perfect if you are an infrequent user.

 

[Honest John]

Thanks all. I did wonder about the Lidl saw. Don’t know if they are always available or if you have to wait for them to come in store on their Thursday special buys. A good number of these entry level saws look to me to be the same saw in different livery. I think the Grizzly one fits into this group.Titan looks attractive as it can be had over the counter at Screwfix. Although dearer, Triton also are in the market, and they have always seamed to produce half decent kit, and good to talk to when things go wrong! The Triton one has a soft start, but I’m not too sure whether this is a good thing to have in this tool.i can see the attraction for Festool kit, but it’s not really for me with the limited use it would get. In truth I could manage with hand saws well enough, but hey ho that’s never stopped me before.

 

[petermillard]

I compared the Titan to the Festool in a video series last year; the Festool’s a better saw (shocker) but the Titan did very well. I’m using the Aldi in a series now and have to agree - it’s not great, even at the £80 asking price. If I’d paid £160 for this badged as a Scheppach PL55, I’d be sorely disappointed.

I’ll be comparing the Aldi with the Titan in another vid once the current series is done.

I’m curious about the mid-range saws too, eg the Triton, maybe the Erbauer. Perhaps there’s room for a further video on the subject. FWIW I wouldn’t want to use a saw regularly that lacked soft-start.

Cheers, P

 

[basssound]

The hard start on the titan is very harsh, I wish it had a soft start feature.

 

[Lons]

If you have a circular saw already, you could just make a track out of 12mm mdf. That's what I now use with an old black and decker, as it has more power. There are plenty of youtube videos showing this done.

Works well but even better are a couple of lengths of laminate flooring. Hard smooth top surface for the saw to slide on and if you get the click / locking edge type it's simple and secure to click lengths together for long sheets.

You can buy odd discontinued lengths fro the sheds for pennies or even free if damaged.

 

[Rorschach]

I compared the Titan to the Festool in a video series last year; the Festool’s a better saw (shocker) but the Titan did very well. I’m using the Aldi in a series now and have to agree - it’s not great, even at the £80 asking price. If I’d paid £160 for this badged as a Scheppach PL55, I’d be sorely disappointed.

I’ll be comparing the Aldi with the Titan in another vid once the current series is done.

I’m curious about the mid-range saws too, eg the Triton, maybe the Erbauer. Perhaps there’s room for a further video on the subject. FWIW I wouldn’t want to use a saw regularly that lacked soft-start.

Cheers, P

Did you ever get your hands on the Lidl version Peter? It does not appear to be Scheppach based.

 

[petermillard]

Did you ever get your hands on the Lidl version Peter? It does not appear to be Scheppach based.

No, I never have. A number of the Parkside tools are made by Einhell, but I don’t know if the plunge saw is.

 

[user22161]

I went for middle of the range Triton which ticks all the boxes for my hobby use. Decent length tracks so no need to join multiples of 700mm. No riving knife but has anti- kickback cam which can be disengaged with left hand for positioning . Have only played with it so far but far more accurate and cleaner cut than with home made track and circular saw. Made a router template for Paulk type bench stringers and the plunge action is spot on. Only one I've used so can't compare with other makes.

 

[Honest John]

Thanks to all that have answered. I have weighed up the pro and cons of what has been said and have decided to go with the Triton. I was warming to that as I’ve got quite an investment in Triton kit and I know what to expect. GrahamF was the final persuader! Yandles have got a deal on at the moment and is considerably cheaper than Screwfix so that was another plus. Thanks again.

 

[user22161]

Have a careful look at Amazon, mine had a damaged box and was on offer for <£100, can't remember just how much though.