Circular Saw with Rail

[ziggy1979]

HI Everyone

I am thinking of getting a circular saw with guide rail. The saw "glides" over the rail which is meant to make an easy and accurate cut.

I've come across 3 brands, Makita, De Walt and Festool tthat do them.

I was wondering whether you guys had used these saws and what you thought of:

a) the saw + rail in general ; and

b) the different brands.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Deluks]

Don't have one, seems like a luxurious and unnecessary accessory to me.

What's wrong with clamping a straight bit of wood and holding the saw tight to it?

A 6" strip ripped from a sheet of ply or mdf, plus a couple of speed clamps will do the same job.

BTW, Bosch do them also, according to the diags in my cordless circ manual. Never seen one in the flesh though.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Festool - the best around.

Specially when you're on your knees on a wooden floor and need to cut the design parquet pattern to install a border (very hard to clamp Deluks )

Plus, these saws can get very close to the wall, instead of the normal circular saws.

 

[ziggy1979]

How accurate are they ... the ads i've seen say to simply place the rail along the line you want cut and slide the saw on it and thats it.

Are these more accurate than cheap (like Ryobi) and small table saws?

THanks

 

[WoodYouLike]

Ziggy, I wouldn't know how the other brands compare with Festool - we've been using this brand for many years now with great success and although pricy - and with an extremely good customer service! - we never even look at another brand.

 

[Deluks]

How accurate are they ... the ads i've seen say to simply place the rail along the line you want cut and slide the saw on it and thats it.

Are these more accurate than cheap (like Ryobi) and small table saws?

THanks

How accurate do you need it to be? what kind of stuff will you be using it for?

I find that when using any of my circular saws, the cut is as good as the straight edge itself. I use an aluminum plasterers feather edge as my straight edge. The cheapest saw I have is a Wickes 1400w pro jobbie.

Any half decent saw will cut straight so long as you guide it in a straight line. Circ saws are much less susceptible to blade wander like a jiggy.

 

[Symptoms]

ziggy - unless you're doing a lots of door trimming/floor work I think you'd be better off getting an 'standard' circular saw and something like a Trend guide clamp (you'll also be able to use this with a router).

But back to your question ... I saw a DeWalt demo at Interbuild/W8 last month showing their Plunge cut tackle ... it looked very impressive. I'm a DeWalt junkie so I got one (at a show price) and an additional rail guide and I'm thrilled with it (a bit Girly, I know).

 

[ziggy1979]

guys thanks a lot ... i'm thinking of the trend guide with a makita or dewalt circular saw. This should be plenty i guess?

 

[oilman]

I bought a Festool. Wish I'd bought it years ago. It's MILES better than the others, and you can cut bits to size in the workshop that FIT when they get to the customer's. Within a mm is easy. As it's a plunge saw, it is much safer too. The speed control keeps the speed constant, no dropping off as you strt cutting.

There's plenty of stuff about them on the woodwork forums.

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

Festool are the nuts