Makita track saw?


bushwacked

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I am looking at getting a track saw to help around the shop. I have the makita circular saw but was looking for something to help possibly make some finer cuts with less upkeep after the cut.

95435266b5fb195f48e3b4b62659c13e.jpg

This one seems to be getting a lot of good reviews on Amazon ...

Thoughts?

Yes I know festool make a very good one just not sure I want to drop double the money ...

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I have the FT but, see no reason why this wouldn't do just fine.  Would be interesting to see a side by side comparison on something where you're looking for a glue ready edge.

I agree with Amos in that having the longer track and a shorter track is super nice!  

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Cliff has one, I have one as well. It works great. I have only used the festool for a couple test cuts, so I can't really fairly compare... But they felt really similar to me.

But I bought it after seeing a couple reviews, one being FWW, that said the makita had a quality of cut just as good as the festool for half the price.

The dust collection is excellent, i couldn't tell the difference between makita and festool in this rare case. It is also lacking a riving knife, which the festool has... but the real thing you'll be missing out on would be the plug and play of having everything in the festool system... One hose, one power cord, etc...I don't have the other tools from festool anyway, so it was an easy call for me. At this point in my journey anyway. 

Also, that is a good price, it's usually $404... Trust me I know, I watched it for a while...

Edit: FYI, I did read online that the tracks are hit or miss on quality. The track is made in China, not Europe like the saw itself....I was prepared to return to amzn if the track wasn't straight, but I got a good, so I can't complain. It will also run on a festool track, I might go that route when I get the 8' track someday.

I'd also skip the makita clamps and get the dewalt ones like I did, or even the fancy festool ones.

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Thanks for the input guys ... sound like this is a good one. I will look for the FWW article as well and read up on that.

 

13 hours ago, JosephThomas said:

Cliff has one, I have one as well. It works great. I have only used the festool for a couple test cuts, so I can't really fairly compare... But they felt really similar to me.

But I bought it after seeing a couple reviews, one being FWW, that said the makita had a quality of cut just as good as the festool for half the price.

The dust collection is excellent, i couldn't tell the difference between makita and festool in this rare case. It is also lacking a riving knife, which the festool has... but the real thing you'll be missing out on would be the plug and play of having everything in the festool system... One hose, one power cord, etc...I don't have the other tools from festool anyway, so it was an easy call for me. At this point in my journey anyway. 

Also, that is a good price, it's usually $404... Trust me I know, I watched it for a while...

Edit: FYI, I did read online that the tracks are hit or miss on quality. The track is made in China, not Europe like the saw itself....I was prepared to return to amzn if the track wasn't straight, but I got a good, so I can't complain. It will also run on a festool track, I might go that route when I get the 8' track someday.

I'd also skip the makita clamps and get the dewalt ones like I did, or even the fancy festool ones.

Oh I did not know it would work on the festool tracks. I may just not risk it and get them anyways or borrow my brother in laws when needed for now.

The makita clamps not any good?

Which dewalt clamps?

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These are the makita clamps...no they aren't very good, according to what I read online...also kinda pricey for what they are ($39 as of now) so I just skipped them:

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-194385-5-Clamper-Set/dp/B004Z55D2G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1464983234&sr=8-3&keywords=track+saw+clamps

These are the dewalt ones, as you can see they are cheaper ($33), and are the "quick-clamp" style, which is better for this IMO...you really don't need a lot of clamping pressure, just enough to keep the track from moving.  The dewalt ones work just fine with the makita track, seemed easier to use, and were cheaper so I went that route:

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWS5026-TrackSaw-Track-Clamps/dp/B001J31PJM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464983234&sr=8-1&keywords=track+saw+clamps

Or, you could get these festool ones, which I thought I had read worked with the makita track, but haven't tried yet (because they are expensive, $39 for just one, not a pair).  I have used the clamps before on a festool track and they work really well, super nice and easy to use:

http://www.amazon.com/Festool-491594-Quick-Clamp-System/dp/B001U309KW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464983234&sr=8-2&keywords=track+saw+clamps

5 minutes ago, bushwacked said:

Oh I did not know it would work on the festool tracks. I may just not risk it and get them anyways or borrow my brother in laws when needed for now.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think using a different saw on his track might cause an issue with the splinterguard strip, the blades probably aren't offset exactly the same so the strip on the side (which shows you exactly where your cut line will be) would be out of position for one of them...it would suck if it were yours and then his track didn't line up correctly with his saw blade anymore. Might be worth trying out once if you're willing to pay to replace the strip after if needed... (I think they are $30-40). Just food for thought.

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I have a track saw and have never used the clamps to clamp the track down for breaking down sheet goods. It stays put with the runber on the bottom and the weight of the saw. If budget is a concern, you could get away with not buying the clamps.

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

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6 minutes ago, shaneymack said:

 

I have a track saw and have never used the clamps to clamp the track down for breaking down sheet goods. It stays put with the runber on the bottom and the weight of the saw. If you budget is a concern, you could get away with not buying the clamps.

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Totally true. I will add that I mostly have used them when I have bowed sheet goods (almost always, sadly)...otherwise I can't get enough surface area to make contact, hence no friction to keep it from sliding. 

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I love mine. If Festool is better than the Makita then it must be made of diamonds and space metal. I bought two other blades, a rip blade and dedicated crosscut blade, I don't even bother using them because the cut is so perfect. Only time dust goes somewhere besides the hose is if it's exposing the blade or something on an end cut. One half negative is that the track is a little warped but once I clamp it down it's straight as can be. Oh.. I don't find that the track stays very well without clamps. I bought the Dewalt ones and they just rock everything. 

I'd buy this thing again in a second.

Edit - The reason my track may not stay as well as others could be the slight warping, or that I'm constantly doing it in an odd place where the cord maybe pulls the saw a bit. I've also not used it on sheet goods yet. Just my walnut counters. 

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10 minutes ago, krtwood said:

I love mine and I bet the Amazon guy who made the first one I ordered disappear loves his too.  I use the dewalt clamps too but as they aren't an urgent need I would just pick them up when there's a sale.

So you ordered one and it never showed? I had a similar experience...amazon reps kept telling me "wait one more day I assure it will be there tomorrow" and the tracking said it was in my city and "on the truck for delivery" for a week in a row, so I eventually cancelled.  Luckily the next week the amazon warehouse had a couple open-box and scratch&dent units for sale so I grabbed one of those, and it actually showed up this time.

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1 minute ago, JosephThomas said:

So you ordered one and it never showed? I had a similar experience...amazon reps kept telling me "wait one more day I assure it will be there tomorrow" and the tracking said it was in my city and "on the truck for delivery" for a week in a row, so I eventually cancelled.  Luckily the next week the amazon warehouse had a couple open-box and scratch&dent units for sale so I grabbed one of those, and it actually showed up this time.

Yeah it was around Christmas time a couple years ago.  It never got scanned by UPS or Fedex, whichever it was.  They gave me the wait a week to see if it shows up routine and I think I didn't even wait until the date they told me to wait before I wrote them again and said it's still never been scanned and isn't going to magically appear at my door tomorrow.  They sent me a replacement next day.  They sent me a replacement lathe next day too when the first one had a bad bearing out of the box. 

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1 hour ago, shaneymack said:

They are referring to Cliffs comment about festool being made of space metal. You haven't missed anything

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

I hate to miss a good rant. But I hope it wasn't about that dude on youtube that opened up the FT track saw and complained about plastic parts. Cause I don't buy into that theory that using plastic is bad or wrong. I'm sure there is bad plastic and good. Just like there is good chinese made stuff and bad.

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59 minutes ago, Janello said:

I'm sure the makita is a great saw...I own the dewalt and it does the job. My regret for not getting the festool is the inability to use my festool router with the dewalt track. I doubt a festool router would work with the makita track as well.

Do you have the dewalt router adapter? Is the problem that the dewalt adapter not connect to the festool router, or a festool acessory that won't work with the dewalt track?  

I had read online that the dewalt accessories like the router adapter was really really good, so I'm just curious. (It was a little tempting to get the dewalt track saw and guide at the time for this reason).

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