EZ Smart guide system

[Jaze Derr]

Because we all need another post about this, right? At least, after using the search function on here, it seems there are millions of posts about the EZ smart guide system by Eurekazone.

I've read reviews, forum posts, watched videos, accosted random people on the street...

I see lots of good stuff about it. Now, what are it's limitations?

Mine is a table saw free shop, and it's going to stay that way. But I'm awfully tired of my wobbly cuts with a circular saw, despite making 3 different guides, and using just about everything that could possibly be called a straightedge in my shop as a guide. I'm inclined to think that maybe, possibly, it could be the operator.

If you have the EZ Smart system, what DON'T you like about it?

[Rich Engelhardt]

But I'm awfully tired of my wobbly cuts with a circular saw, despite making 3 different guides, and using just about everything that could possibly be called a straightedge in my shop as a guide. I'm inclined to think that maybe, possibly, it could be the operator

Jaze,
I found myself at a similar crossroads about two years ago.
I faced the sad fact that my skills were just not up to the task of whipping out perfect cuts using shop made guides & if I was going to progress any further, I'd either have to do some quick learning or pony up for the equipment to do it.
After factoring in all the costs involved, (waste, goofed cuts, need to upgrade my present Skil saw, etc) the track saw made economic sense.
I sat down and went over the Festool and the EZ and listed some of the differences & some of the +'s and -'s of each system, and what I would need to get them up and running to where I wanted them to be.

The lower cost of the EZ caught my attention right off.
The plunge feature if the Festool and the last item about the PBB swayed me to the Festool along with the Festool's built in riving knife.
I have a decent table saw that I can use in place of the EZ PBB for most things, and setup a folding table for the track saw when I need it.
Back when I bought my GSS, the DeWalt hadn't hit the market yet. I'm adding it below simply because it has one feature unique to it ( the ability to almost flush cut) that could be the deciding factor for someone.

- I want or need a plunge saw?
Yes or no.

If yes--> DeWalt or Festool.

If no or not right now --> EZ.

(I should add here that the plunge feature of the Festool also saved me a trip to the ER. My TS55EQ kicked back at me one day this past Summer when I was making a hurried cut and not paying 100% attention. When the saw came back across the top of my thigh, the blade had retracted as soon as it left the guide. I'm not sure & I never want to find out if a regular blade guard would have acted as quickly)
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- Do you want to add a router?
If yes - Festool or EZ.
If no or not right now -->DeWalt.
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- Dust collection is a critical feature to me.
If you agree, Festool.
If it's imprortant but not critical -->EZ.
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- I need to make cuts in flooring or other similar cuts where getting as close to the wall or adjacent surface as possible is critical.
If yes --> DeWalt.
If no - Any
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- The cost of replacment blades is a prime concern.
If yes, then EZ.
If no (or, I'm willing to spend a bit more upfront for higher quality blades) then Festool.
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I have the room in my shop to dedicate floor space to about a 5'x5' area.
- If yes - then Festool w/MFT or EZ and PBB.
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IMHO - overall - the EZ w/the PBB is the most versitile system. The Festool w/MFTis a close second, but, it's propritary. The DeWalt and the lesser known Makita trail the other two.
I'm "getting by" with the Festool and no MFT because, as I mentioned, I have a table saw also.
To get the most out of the EZ, figure on adding a PBB and probably upgrading your current circ saw.
Dust collection on the EZ is also an afterthought. It can be added, but, it doesn't come designed in from the beginning.
The Makita, Festool and DeWalt also all come with a built in riving knife.

Not exactly what you asked for, but, I HTH since I went through the same process not that long ago.

[Matt Meiser]

Rich, have you tried any of the aftermaket blades? I've got an Oshlun on my saw right now and can't tell the difference between that an the OEM blade. I think its about a $28 blade which isn't bad when you compare the plate thickness and carbide size to the BORG blades for construction circular saws.

[Jaze Derr]

Rich, that most certainly did help, and I thank you very much for listing out all pros and cons like that.

[Roger Jensen]

Regardless of what you buy, I recommend you check out the Smart Table Top Kit from EZ. For $70 and some scrap wood you have a nice expandable support system that can sit on top of any table or between saw horses. It sure beats working on your knees with plywood on the ground (or on a sheet of insulation or strips of wood). Don't forget you need room to clamp the guides to the plywood so you need it off the ground. I know Matt says he doesn't use the clamps with his Festool guides - but I think most folks use clamps.

I ended up with Festool guides and a Hilti 267e circle saw, which fit the Festool guides. Unfortunately, they discontinued the Hilte 267e. Too bad, it is a great saw.

Good luck,

Roger

[Matt Meiser]

Roger, depends on what I'm doing, but most of the time, no. If I don't have enough surface contact I'll use them--mostly things like doing a diagonal cut on the corner of a shelf or or crosscutting something that's narrow but too big for the TS--like a 42" cabinet side. I've been looking at a shorter rail for that problem though.

[Julian Tracy]

I've had three tracksaw systems, first the Pro-Grppr clamp rails and sleds, then the full EZ system and now the Festool system.

The biggest drawback to the EZ and others is that finding a standard circular saw that has the same precision as the Festool is not easy. True 90 degree cuts are the standard when you are building cabs and most regular circular saws' pivot mechanisms allow for a slight bit of play causing a less than perfect cut.

But the real advantage to a plunge saw like the festool is the speed at which you can immediately set down the saw after a cut every time, because the blade retracts into the saw. It can be set down on ANY surface immediately. Whereas, the EZ, with the anti-splinter inserts, the blade guard cannot fully come back into place, meaning you have to first wait till the blade stops and then carefully set it down somewhere. You're a bit luckier if you have a saw that has a brake, but it's still a pain.

On the version of the EZ rails I used, the anti-splinter rail insert had some spring to it, so that when you clamped down the rails the insert would shift off the line a bit. I think Dino's fixed or modified that, so it's probably not still an issue.

Even regular circ saws can be slightly modified to have about the same dust collection as a festool - Dino's got tips and accessories for that, but now that the Makita saw is commonly available for about $300 and is certainly thought to be the equal or perhaps even the better as the Festool, I'd say there's now not even much of a cost advantage to buying high quality regular circ saw and using it with the EZ system, unless you regularly cut very thick or stacked items and need the extra depth or power that a 10" circ saw would bring.

If I was a framer, cutting stacks of sheathing, or cross cutting rows of studs, maybe the EZ would be a bit more durable on a jobsite and I could use a more powerful standardized saw with cheap blades; and the heavier rail extrusions would hold up better to idiot crew members.

The TS55 Festool is NO powerhouse. It'll require a slower pace even when cutting a standard 1 1/2 built-up particle board counter top. But for absolute precision, and great dust collection and the not to be forgotten ability to set the saw down IMMEDIATELY after a cut (which is huge!), it's a no brainer. (That applies to the Makita and Dewalt versions as well.

I know Hilti makes a high-quality plunge saw as well that Dino shows on his rails, but even by itself, it's very expensive and I tried one once and man, that saw is LOUD.

JT

[Rich Engelhardt]

Matt,
I've not tried the aftermarket/third party, but, I've seen some good words put out there for them.
I'll have to order a couple and give them a try. I have some passage way doors I plan on cutting up to make some things for the shop out of and wasn't lloking forward to subjecting my good Festool blade to the (what looks like) plastic skins on the doors.

Jaze,
Glad I could help.
I discovered that each system has it's own merits and demerits and you have to put some thought into exactly what you plan to use it for.

[sean c kelly]

I'm a new forum member and as there seems to have been drama in the past in the spirit of full disclosure I'm an EZ user. Though I have had a Makita SP6000 in the past. I came across this thread while lurking and joined the community to respond.
Rich's comment about the plunge feature of the TS55 possibly saving him a trip to the ER. Maybe it is more important to try and figure out why the saw kicked back. I've always associated kickback with torquing and binding the blade in the cut. Not something you can really do with a tracksaw. You could argue that warped wood could bind the blade and cause kickback but the riving knife is supposed to prevent this. I've read that some feel the plunge saws are prone to kickback if not careful, I never had the problem with my SP6000 but if I had I'd want to understand why it happened
In Julian's response where he stated that the EZ anti chip inserts interfere with the action of the blade guard. I've never heard of this before and they certainly don't on my saws. Also I know it's EZ's intent that their products don't interfere with the blade guard. I would encourage Julian to take a look at his saw and make sure the EZ Base and inserts were installed correctly to allow full function of the blade guard.
Lots of good points have been made over what system is best and a lot of it is personal preference. One of things that influenced me towards EZ is that you can use virtually any circular saw with that system. So if you have a favorite manufacturer or like left blade saws, or worm drives they can all fit. Also if you look at saw power the TS55 is a 10A motor, you can find sidewinders that are 14-15A that's 50% more power. Another thing about EZ is there is lots of room to expand their system if you think you'd have the need to add a router or a bench they have a system that uses all the same components.

[Peter Pedisich]

Jaze,

I own both, and like them both for different purposes. I use my Festool TS55 primarily on my MFT and that combo works great for 70% of my work. The EZ system excels when you need to clamp small or odd shaped peices to the bottom of the EZ rail - the clamps they provide in the packages are brilliant - and the cut quality, with $15 Freud blades, is the same as my Festool saw. For almost all ripping, I still use my table saw...

[Darl Bundren]

I own the EZ track and use a Dewalt saw that I'm not real happy with as it is easily knocked out of adjustment, so unless I double check, the cut may not be a perfect 90 degrees. I suspect that the Festool saw is pretty much always 90.

Depth of cut is another issue that vexes me some--I cannot rip a 2x4 with the EZ Smart Guide and still use the saw on the track.

Dust collection on the saw I have is nonexistent, so I either cut outside or sweep.

Other than that, I am happy with the EZ system. Very accurate cuts, easy to tote around, and fairly affordable. I saw on Dino's website that he has a 25% off sale going right now, so that'd be like $70 off of the 108" system (which I'd recommend so you can deal with a full sheet of plywood.

If you do not have a guide system, I'll bet you'll like either. Also, I second the recommendation for the Smart Table from Eurekazone. I like mine immensely even though sometimes if I'm not careful the inserts start to slide out as I pick it up. No big deal there.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Rich's comment about the plunge feature of the TS55 possibly saving him a trip to the ER. Maybe it is more important to try and figure out why the saw kicked back. I've always associated kickback with torquing and binding the blade in the cut. Not something you can really do with a tracksaw. You could argue that warped wood could bind the blade and cause kickback but the riving knife is supposed to prevent this. I've read that some feel the plunge saws are prone to kickback if not careful, I never had the problem with my SP6000 but if I had I'd want to understand why it happened

Sean,
I know for dead certain exactly what happened. It wasn't warped or twisted wood or anything else. It was 100% operator error.

OE - in a hurry to make (the infamous) "just one quick cut". I *knew* I didn't have as much track at the beginning of the cut as I should have, but, didn't want to take the time to reposition the track.
OE - not paying 100% attention to what I was doing. I was looking ahead at the next step after I made this "one quick cut".
OE - Fetool provides a plunge stop that stops the saw from kicking back when making plunge cuts. Even though this wasn't a plunge cut, I probably could have/should have used more track and started the cut well in front of the plywood I was cutting.
OE - I was standing too near the path of the saw should it happen to kick back.
OE - when the saw came back, I held on to it. The thought of $500.00 worth of saw bouncing across the driveway kicked in & I held on tight to the saw.

In short - it was 100% OE. I'm just thankfull the saw reacted & retracted as quick as it did.

[Dan Karachio]

I was very interested in the EZ PowerBench, but went with Festool MFT/3 and TS 75. In this case, Festool was CHEAPER than the EZ Power Bench (wow, how many times can you say that?). That EZ power bench looks super interesting and seems to solve some of the issues I have with the MFT. For example, you can lift saw and rail on the EZ and that would seem to result in much faster repetitive cuts. The Festool rail is too flexible for that. The EZ looks like it stays square while the MFT has some wiggle not on the fence, but with the guide rail to the MFT. Clamping options for cutting on the EZ look very interesting too - rip and cross cut. You can cut a whole 4x8 sheet on it and I would never attempt that with my MFT (but you can always get two). There was a video from some type of Industrial Design magazine on the EZ power bench. I'm not sure I can post links to videos so go to either the EZ site for the power bench or YouTube - the title is "Core77 Drive-by Video: Eurekazone's new EZ1 Powerbench." It is like the ultimate adult tinker toy - they have taken extrusions to the ultimate.

I bought the $60 smart table kit and actually use it with my Festool saw and long rail for sheet good break down. Just some plastic extrusions you screw to a board and cut your own sacrificial suport pieces. I put it on my MFT!

[Mike Goetzke]

Because we all need another post about this, right? At least, after using the search function on here, it seems there are millions of posts about the EZ smart guide system by Eurekazone.

I've read reviews, forum posts, watched videos, accosted random people on the street...

I see lots of good stuff about it. Now, what are it's limitations?

Mine is a table saw free shop, and it's going to stay that way. But I'm awfully tired of my wobbly cuts with a circular saw, despite making 3 different guides, and using just about everything that could possibly be called a straightedge in my shop as a guide. I'm inclined to think that maybe, possibly, it could be the operator.

If you have the EZ Smart system, what DON'T you like about it?

I have had the EZ Smart system for several years now. I still have a cabinet saw but I use the EZ for all my panel cuts, cross cuts, and 4' and under rip cuts. I bought the EZ rail first when I was feeding a full sheet of ply through my Uni and actually stalled the 3hp motor. Since then I have added many of the EZ gadgets. I like making fixtures and messing around in the shop so that's why I like the EZ so much but you can start with a rail and see how you like it.

Also, all circular saws aren't the same. I really like the Makita's. The 5007MGA is light weight magnesium with a brake and CAN CUT A 2X on the rail. The Makita 5008MGA is an 8-1/4" saw that accepts an 8-1/2" blade and I have used it to clean an edge and size up 8/4 rough sawn lumber. Since I'm a tool nut I also have the Makita 5104 which is a 10-1/4" circular saw. They all have low vibration, lots of power, and can be modified to have excellent dust collection.


Mike

[Jaze Derr]

thank you all for your responses, and those of you who PM'd me as well. I've purchased the small kit from Eurekazone, and we'll see how I like it. Although at this point, I could hold a woodchuck at a piece of plywood and get better cuts than I'm capable of making right now, it seems.

*no animals were harmed in the making of this post