Pondering acquiring a tracksaw

[Anthony Whitesell]

I have begun to start pondering getting a tracksaw. Coincidentally, Fine Woodworking sent an email with some basic information and listed six manufacturers.

Festool
Dewalt
Makita
Triton
Grizzly
(and one other I can't read, but is red-orange in color).

Does anyone have any experience with any of them? Anything you don't like or wish was different on the one you have?

There is also the EZSmart Tracksaw kit to convert any circular saw into a panel saw. Any one have or used one of these? How well does the EZSmart track work when compared to the dedicated tracksaw?

Since it looks like a $400-500 investment, I want to slant the odds in my favor of getting the saw I will like the best.

[Jim German]

Mafell was the last one in the fine woodworking article.

Festool was rated best overall by them, if I recall correctly the Makita was rated best value.

I've always been quite happy with my Festool TS 55. Plus if you have a Festool router, it can ride on the same rails for making all sorts of cuts like dados or v-groves.

[Mike Wilkins]

Got the track saw with the 55 inch rail from Festool several years ago after making a mess attempting to cut some pricey plywood with a not-so-straight edge guide. Best money I have ever spent and well worth it. No experience with the others, but suspect they are all OK. Popular Woodworking magazine made a positive review of the Grizzly offering, and I have to agree it does look good. Good luck and watch those fingers.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I'm picking up a Festool TS55 and a CT36 but won't be getting it for another few weeks so can't tell you how I like it until I get it and use it. I do have a Festool OF1010 Router and have to say I love it. It's no where near as loud as my other routers and for it's size has a lot of power.

[Jeffrey Martel]

The grizzly is the cheapest. That's what I have. It's certainly not the nicest of the bunch, though. If you only need a 55" track, you're only in for about $275. Be advised that it does rock a bit in the track (fixed with one of the little plastic accessories in the accessory pack), and it's not as splinter free as some of the others. That's fixed with a new blade and cutting over top of some rigid foam insulation, though. I think it's a good value. If I was using it every day I'd buy the Festool, but I'm not and can't see spending the premium price on it.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Also, there's a good video on youtube that compared the Dewalt vs. festool.

[Rich Engelhardt]

This Festool owner ( I have TS55EQ) would replace mine in a heartbeat with a DeWalt if anything happened to it.
The DeWalt cuts closer to walls for those times I need to cut flooring or a sub floor.
The DeWalt also has a built in anti-kickback. I have to add that little device to my Festool and always end up forgetting about it until the saw kicks back at me.

(In case you're wondering why I didn't get the DeWalt to begin with - - it wasn't out yet when I got fed up screwing up decent plywood with the horrid cuts my shop made jig delivered.)

[Anthony Whitesell]

Also, there's a good video on youtube that compared the Dewalt vs. festool.

Do you have link or search string to find it?

[Jim Dwight]

The wood whisperer made a video comparing the DeWalt to the Festool. He has a Festool and liked it best. He criticized the blade change on the DeWalt and the different plunging action. He might have not liked something else but, if so, I don't remember it. I got the DeWalt with a 55 and a 102 inch track for about $600. Getting roughly the same in a Festool would be more like $1,000 (they don't sell a 102, I think the closest is about 106 inches). The long track is expensive from Festool, two 55s would be cheaper. I didn't want to join tracks, however. I don't love storing the 102 track but I put it on my lumber rack which works fine. It's too long to go vertical in my current shop. I used to think it was a little short for cutting 8 foot sheet goods but then I started setting it with about 1 inch overhang on the final end and 5 inches of overhang where I start the saw. That works well and I think 102 is long enough. I might buy a shorter 46 inch track but you're pretty well set up with the 55 and 102.

The biggest advantage I see of the Festool is the accessories. I had to make my own parallel guide for my DeWalt (wasn't that bad, cost was around $100 for the parts). They sell a router setup. Festool sells a track with holes on 32mm centers, however, for boring holes in cabinets at that spacing. Not available for my DeWalt unless I get a machine shop to do some work and rig something up. Festool markets a pretty nice little fold-up work surface for their tracksaw, the MFT. It seems like it would help a lot with cross cuts. Ron Paulk sells plans for his version of a worksurface I think I like better but I'll have to build it, nothing commercially available. This seems to be the pattern, you can get, at most, a router adapter for the other brands. Lots of extras available for the Festool - at a price. For a hobbiest (like me) it isn't a huge obstacle to tell me I need to build something. If I was doing it for a living, I don't think I'd like that.

In terms of cut quality and accuracy, if you put a decent blade on the Grizzly I think they are similar. The reviews I've read indicate cut quality of at least the DeWalt, Makita and Festool is very similar. Grizzly might be a little behind even with a good blade but maybe not. Not sure of the Triton but probably closer to the better saws. I've seen a review saying the Festool was miles ahead in quality but also a tear down of the Festool which was kind of critical. My overall conclusion remains that at least the F, D, and M are good tools with the biggest distinguishing feature is the extras available for the F.

I'm happy with my DeWalt. No problems with power, even trimming a 1 3/4 door with the 55 tooth stock blade. Good dust collection with my Rigid shop vac, Dust Deputy combination using a Bosch 35mm hose. Blade change is easy. Nice tool.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Do you have link or search string to find it?

Dewalt - https://youtu.be/r-3Ow-wegeU

Grizzly- https://youtu.be/PcfiKe1PkXU

I think he was very fair with his review and opinion considering he's a festool fan.

[Bob Falk]

I just went through the same decision process and decided on the Makita. Festool was a bit too rich for my blood. While the Dewalt had a riving knife and both sides of the track could be used, the Makita has a stop to prevent the saw from tipping on angled cuts and a longer track (118" vs. 102" for the Dewalt)....the real kicker was that Amazon currently has a 20% sale on Makita accessories, so I ordered the saw bare and two tracks, the router attachment, and track connector at the discount. In total, the Makita was about $80 more than the Dewalt.

[Michael Cole]

I just went through this process very recently. First I decided I wanted something and did consider the EZ Smart system, but then decided to go for a dedicated track saw. I then considered all of those saws including the Grizzly. The price of the Grizzly is very attractive. In the end I bought a Festool and a CT26. I am very happy with my purchase. I do wish that their long track was cheaper, but it is not so I bought 2 55" tracks (one with the holes). I have heard that you can use the Makita tracks with the Festool and their long one is cheaper. I am thinking about that.

[Ken Kortge]

Since nobody else from the Eurekazone user community has responded yet I'll speak up. I first came upon the Eurekazone system in 2008 and have been using it regularly since then - and increasing my shelf of components since then. I was faced with the need to cut plywood. I hated cutting plywood on a table saw, and I found I simply could not make a straight cut with a circular saw to save my life - not even with a straight edge. Their track system literally changed my woodworking life. Now I can cut straight, safe, and very very accurately.

The base of the Eurekazone system is the track, which to my knowledge is quite unique compared to the other tracks. Look a the cross section of their track and you'll see that it is double-layered - kind of a very wide rectangular box with several inner "I-beams" for strength, rather than a sheet of aluminum with a single rectangular track. Dino, the founder of Eurekazone, apparently once used the tracks as a ramp for his Fiat, though I wouldn't do that with my track.

If you look closer at the cross section of the track you'll also notice that side grooves and the center groove have dovetail-like shapes. These come into play when connecting rails together or when connecting other components (such as the Miter Square, the Repeaters, ...). When tightening the connectors or components the dovetails auto-center the rails, connectors, and components so that you don't typically need check to make sure rails are straight, that the miter square is at 90 degrees, or that the repeaters are properly aligned. Its a slick feature that really works. I don't think any of the other tracks have this.

By the way, the track packages come with clamps. I like Eurekazone's clamps and use them religiously - to get the most accurate cuts possible.

Recently I saw a post in one of the woodworking forms voicing concern about connecting 50-70" rails to provide one longer rail. With the other rails they recommend using another rail or long level to make sure the two rails are aligned. I connect my two 50" rails (I recently bought a 64" rail because I think 50+65 will work better than 50+50) all the time without needing to adjust - they are just straight every time. Dovetails!!

The second component that is key is the saw base. This base allows you to buy your own circular saw and attach the base to your saw. OR you can buy an EZ Ready saw - which is what I did (I have the Hitachi - great saw and they add a dust collector to the saw, which I like). The base allows 90 degree and bevel cuts. The base has slots for two inserts. One provides the equivalent of a zero clearance table saw insert on the side away from the rail - the rail edge plus the insert edge covers both edges of the cut - which provides extremely clean cuts (remember that circular saws cut upwards). The other insert provide an anti-kickback fin that rides through the kerf cut. Somewhere there is a video of Dino running a freehand cut with the fin, but doing his best to torque the saw side-to-side to cause a kickback - and nothing. It adds a tremendous amount of safety.

The thickness of the base plus rail do reduce some cut depth. My Hitachi on rail will just barely not completely cut through the 1.5 depth of a 2x4 - leaving less than a cereal box cardboard thickness of wood. I can easily finish the cut with a knife. Saws with bigger saw blades are available but its not worth the cost to me. Of course you could use the edge of the rail as a straight edge and put the saw base directly on the wood for a deeper cut, but I've never bothered doing that.

I have the EZ Smart Clamp System which allows me to attach the rail to a rip long narrow boars without a table saw.

I have the older EZ Square, which when used with a shorter rail provide very easy quick 90 degree cuts. The current EZ Miter Square allows you to set about any angle and make repeatable miter cuts. Use a short rail for short cuts or longer rails for longer cuts.

I have the EZ Repeaters used to make identical width cuts (like ripping lengths of plywood on a table saw using the fence but with zero risk of kickback). Another option many prefer is to use Eurekazone's Universal Edge Guide which also provides rips of repeatable width.

If I combine the Square with one Repeater they call this a "Cabinet Maker" used to make repeated 90 degree cuts of equal width.

Some people point out that the circular saws don't plunge like in other rail saws, but for me that is a non-issue. I almost never need to plunge and when I do I can place one end of the saw on trail, hold told the saw guide back, start the saw, and then lower (plunge) the saw to the wood. Not a problem, at least for me.

If you provide the saw, the 64" rail starter kit (with base) runs $200 via Eurekazone.com. A lower cost 54" rail kit is available but I'd recommend the 64" to cut 48" lengths of plywood - it provides space for the saw to start and end the cut. The Hitachi EZ Ready saw is available for $220, but the saw alone can be purchased on Amazon.com for $120. You could buy the tracks and clamps separately for $160. So, attaching the base and vacuum attachment ($17.25) yourself will run $337.25. Letting them attach the base with a vacuum attachment will run $380. You decide. For $40 I let them do it. :-)

I don't work for Eurekazone. I'm just a user that was not thrilled with using a table saw, and not even a fancy woodworker, but I'm learning. Eurekazone's products, plus a sliding miter saw and the Kreg jigs, have done what I need to do to date. Please don't discount Eurekazone because they're the little guy. They are very high quality, Eurekazone is the classic small business, and the products are made in Florida. Hop on to their forum and say hi. I'm sure you'd get a warm welcome.

ADDED - By the way, I should mention that the idea is that each time you buy a new blade for your saw you also buy new anti-chip edges (need two 64" edges at $8 each, 3 for $22) for the rail and a new anti-chip base insert ($8) for the base. They are custom cut for each blade.

[Alan Lilly]

I got the makita and can't imagine needing anything more. I therefore concur that the makita is the best value and if money were no object, I suppose the festool may be better. Not sure exactly how though. The makita does everything I would expect and I have no issues.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Thanks for all of the responses. Great information. I have the AO quick clamp guide, but it requires an 8" offset and nearly square edges for clamping. I have a saw dedicated just for the edge clamp guide. So I don't mind having or purchasing a saw to be dedicated to the tracksaw system.

I have a few more questions.

-Of the six dedicated purchased track saws, they are all 6 1/2 or am I missing something?

-Of the six dedicated track saw listed, they are all plunge style saws?

-Slightly OT, why would you need plunge cut with a circular saw? I cannot think of a time that I have needed it in 25+ years of fixing and making stuff.

-In regards to the EZSmart Eurekazone system, if I provide my own saw it would be a 7 1/4" saw. Would I be able to gain and use the extra?

-In contemplating the EZSmart system, are there any good circular saws with a dust collection port? Neither of mine do but both are older.