Which Plunge Saw...

Joined
9 Sep 2019
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Kent
Country
United Kingdom
So moved recently and looking to get a plunge saw to help with some DIY, Doors and a kitchen refit.

was looking to get the ERBAUER ERB690CSW from Screwfix/B&Q https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb690csw-185mm-electric-plunge-saw-240v/3875p

pretty much comes with everything we need, but than the misses pointed out might aswell get a half decent one as we need to do a kitchen at some point also,

I find it hard to find anything low-mid teir its seems to go £160 to £400 odd?

Quiet like the BOSCH GKT 55, I know bosch is solid but £314 for the saw + anywhere from £50+ for the rails, is the jump worth it?

I've watched some reviews ad the Erbaur on skill builder, and they seem rather happy/shocked at the price/quality and do recommend it...

The MAKITA SP6000J/2 has popped up a few times, but not gone into much, with Maktia vs Bosch, anyone recommended anything? or is the erbauer fine?

Thanks in advance
 
Sponsored Links
There really is no "mid range" with plunge saws - it's either DIY or pro. Personally I'm a pro and a long time Festool TS55 user (12 years, but I also have a newer TS75), in addition I have a Makita 2 x 18 volt cordless (4 years old) and last year I bought a secondhand Bosch GKT55CE specifically to do cement fibre board and fire insulation cutting. I had a Mafell MT55cc on loan for a week 5 or 6 years ago. I regularly use a Makita DSP600 cordless saw (2 x 18 volts), but I have used corded SP6000s in the past (and the DSP is basically very similar apart from being cordless and having a brushless motor)

The professional saws are far better put together than the DIY models, but as a DIYer will you really need that? If you think you'll ever need longer rails, then you really should look for a saw which uses rails that are compatible with the Festool/Makita style of rail - DIY saws tend to come with Mickey Mouse 700mm rails which can be an issue to get straight at the joints. If you do want to go pro (for the saw) you could save money by buying some lower cost rails, such as the Evolution rails. When I bought the Bosch last year I wanted some rails to use on cement fibre boards (rather than trash my Makita/Festool rails), so I bought two 1500mm Evo rails plus a couple of 700mm ones. The Bosch will run on Festool/Makita rails, and the Evo rails are Festool/Makita-saw compatible, but if you remove a plastic strip in the bottom of the saw so will the Bosch.

In terms of the pro tools I find the Mafell is the best, but not by £100 over its' nearest competitors it isn't (and frankly, my experience with Mafell users is that it is a snob's purchase in the UK - I've yet to see any of them actually justify the price difference), the Bosch GKT55CE and Festool TS55/TS55R are much of a muchness in terms of fit/finish and performance whilst the Makita is a little bit less well finished, but just as accurate, whilst being a LOT cheaper than the rest. Being trade and needing cordless or 110 volt I can't say about the DIY tools other than having looked over a few, but I'd suggest you Google "Ten Minute Workshop" and take a look at Peter Millard's many, many videos on the subject of rails and saws both DIY and pro. He'll give you some excellent advice
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thoughts as a Diyer,
Jobandknock has really answered and given you quite a comprehensive reply - but I thought i would give my 2 pennies as a DIYer. As i have been looking at tracksaws for a while now, and have various posts on forums about choice

i follow Peter Millard and also watched all his tracksaw video , and also all the series on Skill Builder - Plunge Saw Showdown! Top 10 Best Saws Review and various other people

My son-in-law was also after a saw, he's 1.5hrs away or we may have just shared. but not somewhere to pop round
He did buy the Makita SP6000 , after a lot of discussion , reading and watching lots of reviews - he has made a few chest of draws for bedroom, and door/shelf unit to fit under stairs and cupboards - BUT he plans to make all the Kitchen cabinets and fit it himself so justified the saw for that project.
My brother 2.5hrs away has the Festool which he purchased when it was on offer at the FFX show many years ago and did a dozen odd kitchen fits for people.

I had thought i would get the Mafell, BUT priced at £599 for a kit last year was too much. (did look at when at Axminster tools - but they were out of stock of all the kit) Now its £650

I have pretty much all Dewalt gear, so I looked at the Dewalt saw - but the reviews were very poor , but along with a router guide i did consider this , although it was out of stock for quite a while , otherwise, I may have impulsed purchased - watched a few Youtube videos , also considered the Dewalt Circular Saw (again was out of stock and D&M/FFX` etc) you can actually use on a track...

Anyway, as mainly out of stock, when i would have pulled the trigger and purchased -
I have pretty much ended up just using my circular saw (Freud or saxtonblades 40T /48T blades) with a wooden blade distance template and a few saw guides, which i clamp to the sheet material -
I have a
Silverline clamp guide 1200mm - which i have removed the mech (i found the clamp did not grip reliably) and just used separate clamps on the material, this i have used most of the time
A plaster feather edge 1800mm - on offer at B&Q
Again on offer - a Trend Varijig clamp guide, 2 parts which join and go to about 2.5m - not used that yet.

So i'm covered for most cuts on a 8'x4' sheet

I have various pieces of wood cut to exactly the distance from the edge of the Circular saw to the Kerf, for the types of blade thickness i have - Saxtonblades, Dewalt & Freud

This so far seems to have covered all my needs,
A lot slower to setup than a Plunge saw , as i have to setup before each cut , but as a DIYer, and retired, time is not so critical, the extra amount of time to setup is not a big deal as i dont do a lot of sheet material cutting.
Doing any or a lot of repeat cuts are slow and a bit of a pain - however, I have only really needed to do this once for a Shaker door and some panels.

I have made shaker style doors and panels for cloakroom, couple of Windows seats / storage , a big cupboard in a conservatory (all using from MR-MDF), various shelfs , outside fencing, outside porch made with Marine ply and sort of shaker style panels, etc
I have a big project coming up refitting a Utility room 5m long with cupboards on both sides, but not decided on the design yet, sliding doors , Ikea Cabinets - so may yet treat myself.....

The family tend to club together for big presents like that , I had a SDS Drill from all the children 1 year

Anyway, just my thoughts - as already mentioned Peter Millard does review the cheaper saws.
 
Last edited:
Thoughts as a Diyer,
Jobandknock has really answered and given you quite a comprehensive reply...
Thank you. I tried to cover the topic in general without being biased towards any particular product, but input from DIYers such as yourself is probably of more use to the OP

I have pretty much all Dewalt gear, so I looked at the Dewalt saw - but the reviews were very poor , but along with a router guide i did consider this , although it was out of stock for quite a while , otherwise, I may have impulsed purchased - watched a few Youtube videos , also considered the Dewalt Circular Saw (again was out of stock and D&M/FFX` etc) you can actually use on a track...
Whilst they don't mention it many of these adaptors often run on other manufacturers' kit (as do the saws), for example, I have the Bosch router guide for their track - it turned out to be factory-drilled for my Elu MOF177e (deWalt DW625 these days) router and it runs on both the Mafell/Bosch tracks and also the Festool/Makita tracks, same as the Bisch GKT55CE saw does. Result! I did try the DW plunge saw (the original corded model) many years ago, comparing it to my oddball Hilti WSC-265, and found I just couldn't live with the rather unusual plunge motion of the DW, although maybe an actual user like @big-all might be better placed to comment based on longer period usage
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sponsored Links
Interesting I got a banner
More ex demo products available
Not sure if this is ex demo nothing seems to say
But worth a check may be
 
Interesting I got a banner
More ex demo products available
Not sure if this is ex demo nothing seems to say
But worth a check may be
Interesting - maybe they use more cookies than they say they do as I have most switched off.

I've bought from them in the past so maybe that is why I have the offer - £century for the plunge saw and track.
 
all i have is dewalt plunge
both the original 18v that "chugs " along on anything more than 35mm but it only cost me £200 from ITS plus the dreaded vat at 17.5% then so saw £100 tracksx2 £100 it also uses the old plug in nicads
cant fault it but have never used any other plunge other than the near identical 54v which off course has a bigger motor and battery which whilst great on thicker stuff is off course a bit heavier and a personal niggle because i use it wrong handed so the saw goes left to right so not overstretching but moving with the saw the fatter part off my fingers are around the handle and squashed between handle and battery i assume this is the negative etaf mentions ??

update
played with it its the knuckles that get in the way as there is only 35mm between handle and 6ah battery 33mm on a 9ah battery
 
Last edited:
This is today's offer from Rutlands ...

The one thing I'll say about that is that the Rutlands guide rail has only a single joiner - modern Festool/Makita rails, and those by Evolution (plus others) use TWO. May not sound like much of a difference, but having two joiners makes it easier to join two rails straight and keep them that way. Before I bought my Festool TS55 I had a Hilti WSC-265 which ran on the same Festool-pattern guide rails, and I had the original Festool guide rails which had a single joiner and every single time you moved the rails you had to check them for straightness before using them again. PITA. Festool changed their rail design about 2004/05 (i.e. pre-TS55) and Makita only ever made the later 2-joiner style rails (they stsrted priduction around 2008) so yhis is maybe a detail which people are unaware of, but I think it is worth knowing about if you are in the market.

Also, the saw comes with one 1400mm rail (which is far better than 2 x 700 rails that some saws have), but to do a lot of full length ripping of 8 x 4ft (2440 x 1220mm) sheets, something that you'll need to do if you are making lots of full height book cases, or even just installing plywood sub-floors, it is a lot easier to work with 2 x 1400mm rails joined together (making a 2800mm long single rail) as opposed to  four 700mm rails. If you see this as a possibility, make sure you can get a second rail and joiner at an affordable price.

It may also be worth checking if you can actually make a full 1220mm crosscut of a sheet with the 1400mm guide rail (or 2 x 700mm ones) - the extra length of the baseplate on the Makita saws over Festools meant that with their original 1400mm rails they couldn't quite do it - which is why Makita now sels 1500mm rails
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top