Grizzly track saw came today!

[bobby milam]

I needed a track saw and while I wanted a festool, I just couldn't spend that kind of money on one at the moment. After looking at reviews and prices, I pulled the trigger Friday morning and ordered the Grizzly. My thought process from the reviews was that it wasn't the best tool out there but was the best for my budget. My main concern was the wobble that I was seeing in the video reviews. If it would do what I needed for now, I could always upgrade to a festool at a later date.

My order was shipped Friday and when I got home today it was waiting on me at my front door. My initial impressions on unpacking was that it felt a little cheaper made than I expected. The plastic adjustment nuts felt cheap. I kept an open mind and took it to the garage. This is my first experience with any track saw so I didn't have much to compare it to. I placed the saw on the track and tried adjusting the rail adjustment knobs. It took a while to figure out where they really needed to be set to provide a smooth slide but still provide enough support. I got them dialed in in just a moment or two to where I was happy. I then noticed the rocking of the saw in the track like I saw in the video. I wasn't real happy that but, for what I am doing it would probably be ok. I then did something that I never do. I read the instructions (well atleast part of them)! I saw that there was a plastic stabilizer included in the accessory pack that came with the saw. I put it on the saw and screwed it down. The wobble disappeared.

I cut one board to set the splinter guard. Overall, it was a nice cut but was just on MDF. While I'm not overly impressed with the plastic adjustment knob feel, in reality, I will set it once and rarely ever change it. I have a stack of corian to break down tomorrow so I will have a better idea of any issues that I might have with the saw. I didn't use a vac on it but did notice that even without one, I didn't have all of the dust floating around that I normally have.

So my initial impressions are that I am happy with the choice. Both my circular saws recently died so I had to buy another anyway. That makes the price even more of a bargain for me.

[Ole Anderson]

I have used mine more than I thought I would. Happy with it. Need to cut a sliver off a board to make it fit? No problem.

[david brum]

I've used mine quite a bit in the last few weeks for breaking down plywood for a room full of cabinets. It's also great for cuts that would be really awkward on the table saw, like long taper cuts. I have no complaints other than a lot of fine tuning at first. Now it's a joy to use, one of my favorite tools.

[Rich Engelhardt]

My initial impressions on unpacking was that it felt a little cheaper made than I expected. The plastic adjustment nuts felt cheap.

LOL!
If it makes you feel any better.........the Festool TS55EQ has a bit of a "cheap feel" to it also.
I expected something a bit more,,,,err,,,shall we say,,,substantial for my ~$750 total purchase.

You're correct though - you don't really change settings often enough that the plastic will bother you - @ least that's been my experience.

[Jeff Duncan]

LOL!
If it makes you feel any better.........the Festool TS55EQ has a bit of a "cheap feel" to it also.
I expected something a bit more,,,,err,,,shall we say,,,substantial for my ~$750 total purchase.

+1! The Festool is a very well engineered product, (I have the smaller saw), but it is not the most robust tool out there. It actually feels like a toy after having used a heavy Porter Cable saw for a couple decades But it works well and I can't imagine not having it now! One thing I'll be interested in hearing about your Grizzly version is the power for cutting Corian? My Festool bogs down fairly easily in thicker stock....like 1-1/2" thick mdf for instance. Curious how you make out with your new toy in what seems like a pretty dense material to cut

good luck,
JeffD

[Mike Cutler]

It sounds like you got things worked out.

I think it's going to be fine for you. I know the blade it ships with doesn't get the greatest press, but now that Tenyru makes an assortment of blades to fit various tracksaws, your options increase for specific materials and you can gain performance over the stock blade.

I have the TS-75 from Festool because I needed a saw with a deeper cut capacity than I could get with my Milwaukee worm drive on an EZ rail. It's a nice saw for certain, but overkill for me. If that Griz' had been out a year earlier, I would have probably gone with it to meet my needs.