Thread: Plunge cut saw comparison

Originally Posted by Dengue

Looking around on eBay for a circular saw that will capture dust via a shop vac, I saw Vek Tools were selling the Triton Plunge Cut saw, with 700mm track and 36mm vacuum hose attachment. Does anyone have any idea how this compares to the Festool equivalent?

Does anyone know of any other saw that will meet my criteria ?

Good Morning Dengy

Presume that you are referring to this one that VEK are discounting from $899 to $499 - nice discount!
TRITON 160mm Plunge Cut Saw & Guide Rail Combo Kit

VEK are also discounting the Festool TS55 from $999 to $921 - nice discount but no where near that of the Triton.
FESTOOL 160MM Plunge-cut Saw Kit

I have not used the Triton but have limited experience with the Festool, but it is head and shoulders above any other plunge saw that I have used. [Makita, GMC, deWalt, B&D, AEG, Hitachi, etc] Easier to use, more precise, quieter, smoother - just better. At full retail, I would unhesitatingly recommend the Festool. But there are big discounts on offer. But is it $422 better than the Triton - only you can answer that. Perhaps it is.

May I suggest that you ring your local Festool agent (or VEK if you are heading South) and make an appointment to have the Festool TS-55 demonstrated - they do this all the time - and they will let you play with their demo machine. You can even take your own clean wood in.

WARNING: Festool is addictive and cumulative.



Fair Winds

Graeme

Triton saw comes with two 700mm tracks and joiners. Ask your self what size boards are you cutting down. Allow for some track to start and finish your cuts. If you are working on a door, 2040 high, (pardon the pun) but you will not be able to cut (trim) it in one pass.
Just my thoughts after using Festool 1400mm or 800mm tracks. To do a door I could buy 2400mm or 3000mm track but get by using two 1400mm joined.

Have the Festool track saw with various lengths of track. Wonderful saw and if blew up tomorrow i think i would buy the Fein track saw..Reason is it gets great reviews and i would just try something different. I know there is always the arguement about servicing if i got it from the UK. But i have never had any drama really..so i would go for it.
In the UK there is comparisons with track saws and Fein was the way to go then i think the latest Festo knocked it off. But if you do a search Fein also has automated track saws...hit the button and the saw runs along the track then returns. They also has one with a roll up track for smaller work.
Sinjin

Originally Posted by Dengue

Looking around on eBay for a circular saw that will capture dust via a shop vac, I saw Vek Tools were selling the Triton Plunge Cut saw, with 700mm track and 36mm vacuum hose attachment. Does anyone have any idea how this compares to the Festool equivalent?

Does anyone know of any other saw that will meet my criteria ?

You haven't stated your intended use for the saw. Reading between the lines, your concern seems to be more about dust capture.

All saws with an outlet will capture some dust when connected appropriately to quality dust extraction.

Plunge saws are better than "pendulum" saws in this regard. Festools plunge saws are some of the best available locally. Better performing saws, such as Mafell, aren't.

If dust capture is of paramount importance, then a "hazardous materials" saw from Festool is the only alternative. It's expensive, but it's all encompassing blade guards, the fine dust sealing brushes and comprehensive air and dust channeling provide the closest solution available to truly dust-free operation.

been using the makita professionally for the last 2 years, and it as been awesome. if it were to die, i would buy another without question.

the dust collection on it is great, it tilts over more than the festool and has a feature that stabilizes the saw from tipping over., and has more power than the festool. it does not have a riving knife, but this is ok fo me as i mainly cut HMR and MDF with it.

it comes in a systainer like the festool, its blades are up there but not as much as a festool.

some whinge about the cable being too short, yet i have never had an issue with the cord length.

its made in the UK, so sort of European in a way, and not the "landrover" kind of way

Originally Posted by GCP310

its made in the UK, so sort of European in a way, and not the "landrover" kind of way

Mmmm. Cheap Pommy labour ?

So..whats wrong with land Rover????

Makita's global factories compete against each other in the tendering process in a tool's development stage.

If a tender is successful then that factory makes the entire global production of that particular tool. The British factory has a reputation for winning production on some of Makita's more sophisticated, higher quality tools.

Originally Posted by Ratbag

Makita's global factories compete against each other in the tendering process in a tool's development stage.

If a tender is successful then that factory makes the entire global production of that particular tool. The British factory has a reputation for winning production on some of Makita's more sophisticated, higher quality tools.

yep, and the LXT 18v planer is also from the UK and its a cracker too.

Aldi recently had basically the same saw on sale for under $400 IIRC, and I have seen heaps of them in some Aldi stores (Belconnen for one). If they are still there store managers will be marking them down soon to save sending them back to the warehouse. Same shape saw, same tracks, different colour (red & silver I think).

Those saws at Aldi are now marked down to $129.00 from $179.00. 11 in stock at Aldi Belmont NSW store.
regards, Ned

I managed to pick up one of the aldi saws for $69 a week ago. They are simply a rebadged scheppach track saw with 2 joinable 700mm tracks.

For less than the price of a single track from hare and forbes it was certainly worth the price.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk