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17th December 2008, 09:42 PM #1
Makita and Festo go head-to-head — sort of
was browsing around Sydney Tools at Castle Hill today and saw a Makita guide rail saw for $850 (including two 1400 guide rails and other stuff)
my first though was "the patent on the Festool guide rail must have expired"
The Makita guide rail looked very similar to the Festool one, to casual inspection it has the same profile, same splinter guard, same base plate on the saw
I should have checked if the rails were interchangeable
I know a lot of people whinge about the price of Festool gear, let's see what happens ...
ian
disclaimer – I have no vested interest
I own both makita and Festool products
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17th December 2008, 10:35 PM #2
DeWalt have just come out with one as well. But it is no cheaper than the Festo TS55.
Cheers,
Bob
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18th December 2008, 07:32 AM #3Member
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Ian, the difference between the makita and the festool rails are that the makita rail has an extra ridge on the inside of the outer rib. (I know this might sound like a weird description, but it's for the anti-tilt feature the makita saw has; there's a tab on the sole plate, that you can extend so it hooks underneath the "ridge", to prevent the saw from tipping over when making bevel cuts)
Apart from that the rails are identical and the festool saws can be used on the makita rails; The makita rails are cheaper, but are only availbable in 1400 en 3000mm lengths, the festool rails have more options between 800 and 5000mm.
The good thing about being the market leader is, that competitors, even those who have their own different rail systems, such as mafell or dewalt, make their machines compatible with the festool rails, so if you own a mft table for example, you can use it with the dewalt saw.
btw, I have read positive reviews by users of the makita saw, but personally I would consider the lack of a riving knife a reason to go for another brand of plunge-cut saw.
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18th December 2008, 10:15 PM #4
Cool must look into that.
The price on the 3000 mm Festool rail convinced me to put up with joining my two 1400 rails together, at least for the moment. The TS55 saw and rails work well, but am happy to seriously consider 3rd party options if they are up to the task.
Will have to start chasing thru catalogs and dealers to find these Makita rails. Havent laid eyes on em as yet.www.lockwoodcanvas.com.au
I will never be the person who has everything, not when someone keeps inventing so much cool new stuff to buy.
From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".
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