Milwaukee Cordless Track Saw

[Alex Zeller]

I don't have a track saw yet but it's on the Christmas list. For decades I have been using an 8' Lufkin wooden straight edge clamped to the sheet with quick grips. Then I just run my circular saw against it. After using a cord for all these years I would only get a cordless one. The cord just seems to find a way to get caught on something no matter what I do. A dust collection hose is much larger so it's never been an issue. But that's me. Since I got sucked into the Milwaukee M18 ecosystem it's the only one on the list. I just don't work with a lot of sheet goods so I haven't jumped in...yet.

[Jim Dwight]

I'm not trying to say the Bosch/Mafell system is not a good idea but I do not find it difficult to join tracks and keep them straight. At home, for 8 foot material I have a 106 inch track which is not as long as I'd like but it works OK so no joining. But at church, we have two 50 inch Wen tracks and they have to be joined to cut down an 8 foot sheet. I just put a long metal level along the rib of the track to be sure it is straight as I tighten the grub screws. That track, like the Festool, has two bars so the joined track is pretty strong and can be handled pretty normally. When I was making my 10 foot dining room table I had to rip a straight edge on 10+ foot long boards so I had to join a couple of my tracks. The DeWalt track only has a place for one joining bar. I followed the same process but had to be a little careful with the joined track.

Long way of saying I don't think joining tracks is a big deal but it is a very good idea to check to be sure the resulting track is straight. Two 55 inch tracks is cheaper than a 55 and a 112 and will do pretty much the same thing. 55 inch ones are also easier to store and transport. I like my long track but I'm not sure I'd buy it if I was starting out again with a track saw.

[Derek Cohen]

I've never owned a track saw. I would like to pick one up for building shop cabinets. .....

Would I be wasting money on a cordless track saw if it's just for my shop and I won't take it to job sites? The YouTube video compared the Milwaukee cordless saw to a corded Makita and I was surprised to see there was no difference in performance. (Recharging being the exception.) .....

Thanks!

Pat, since this is for your work shop, the more important question is whether you need a tracksaw? If you have a tablesaw, then you can do all - and more - than a tracksaw can do. I can say something about this from personal experience.

In addition to a tablesaw (Hammer K3), out of curiosity I purchased a 20-year old (but unused) Festool tracksaw about 18 months ago. I already had a Makita track (also purchased some while back for an experiment). The Makita is near-identical to the Festool, as well made, and half the price. Cheap set up. I then went about building a multifunction table around this, also to use for storage.



This combination works very well. Cuts cleanly and accurately. But is it an important addition to the shop? The answer to this is that I can live happily without it. The first time it really did something that the K3 could not (as easily do) was the trim the end of a table top which had curved sides (which made it difficult to register against a fence for squareness) ...



That could have been done with a circular saw and guide, as this could also cut up panels (but I do not work with ply).

The second issue is portability in the workshop. If you look at the photo above you will see that there is also a dust ose connected. Where is one less connection going to matter? Dust collection is not a choice.

It comes down to whether you have the space and budget for a tool which may be little used, but very useful when needed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Michael Schuch]

That could have been done with a circular saw and guide, as this could also cut up panels (but I do not work with ply).

The second issue is portability in the workshop. If you look at the photo above you will see that there is also a dust ose connected. Where is one less connection going to matter? Dust collection is not a choice.

It comes down to whether you have the space and budget for a tool which may be little used, but very useful when needed.

Very good points Derek! For the amount of money I have in my track saw I have used it very little. But the times I have used it the saw has proven its worth.

I have used my track saw for:
First cuts in 4 x 8 sheets.
Cutting 12mm acrylic sheet (with an acrylic blade and a reduced blade speed so the cut doesn't melt).
Cutting the bottom off of doors for a friend who got new flooring in her house.

and that is pretty much it. I have better tools in the shop that are better for other cuts. I will say that no matter which circular saw I use and which blade I have tried I have never gotten the cut quality out of a circular saw and a guide that I have gotten out of my track saw. I personally don't see any need for a track saw cut station. I can see how one would be great on a job site but I don't see any practical use for "MY" shop. I think many woodworkers got caught up in the hoopla of how great track saws are for contractors and missed the limited use they have in an otherwise well equipped woodworking shop. I know I did.

[Derek Cohen]

By coincidence, this review of the Milwaukee, and comparison with the Makita, came up on YouTube. The presenter is Scott Brown, a professional carpenter in New Zealand, and he knows the ins-and-outs of the trade. I have followed him for some time and trust his judgement. He covers all the issues here.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Michael Schuch]

I'm not trying to say the Bosch/Mafell system is not a good idea but I do not find it difficult to join tracks and keep them straight. At home, for 8 foot material I have a 106 inch track which is not as long as I'd like but it works OK so no joining. But at church, we have two 50 inch Wen tracks and they have to be joined to cut down an 8 foot sheet. I just put a long metal level along the rib of the track to be sure it is straight as I tighten the grub screws. That track, like the Festool, has two bars so the joined track is pretty strong and can be handled pretty normally. When I was making my 10 foot dining room table I had to rip a straight edge on 10+ foot long boards so I had to join a couple of my tracks. The DeWalt track only has a place for one joining bar. I followed the same process but had to be a little careful with the joined track.

Long way of saying I don't think joining tracks is a big deal but it is a very good idea to check to be sure the resulting track is straight. Two 55 inch tracks is cheaper than a 55 and a 112 and will do pretty much the same thing. 55 inch ones are also easier to store and transport. I like my long track but I'm not sure I'd buy it if I was starting out again with a track saw.

I have used both the Bosch/Mafell tracks and the Festool tracks. The joining system on the Bosch tracks is a cool feature and better engineered than the Festool system. It isn't the be all, end all of track saws or track saw tracks but it is a neat feature. Could I live without this feature? Yes, I definitely could! Is lining up two tracks with a straight edge really that hard? No, definitely not, but it is something that I don't have to worry about. I will mention that the piece to join two Bosch tracks together costs $90 by itself. The Bosch kit with two 63" tracks, the joining piece and a bag to carry everything is a reasonable $270. The 8' 6" Mafell track is $463.50, plus $56 shipping... which is a pretty good reason to buy a saw that uses the Festool profile track!

Another advantage of the Festool track system is that it is pretty much the universal standard at this point. Even my Mafell track saw will run on the Festool tracks.

I did a lot of research before I bought my Mafelll track saw. My research narrowed my choices down to 2 saws, the Mafell and the Makita. The Mafell was the most expensive of the saws I looked at but was well within $100 of all the other high end saws available at the time. The Makita was, at that time at least, the least expensive of the track saws. Either saw would work well for my purposes. I splurged and went with the fancy one. For as much use as my saw actually gets the wise choice would have been the Makita... but I do love my Mafell!

What I have discovered is that track saws are the most incredible tool ever created... for contractors. For "my" woodworking shop they are of limited use. I use my track saw and love it for what it does but it really isn't the be all end all tool that many contractors seem to think it is. I am quite pleased that contractors finally have a way to cut a straight line! The workmanship in all of the houses I have owned or worked on say that a straight line was impossible before Festool! When I rebuilt the main stairs in my house there wasn't a single step or riser with anything near a straight line on it. I was a little perturbed that I had to replace all the treads and risers to finally have a staircase that didn't squeak on every tread.

[Jim Becker]

Michael, is your Mafeil the "big" one with the larger blade?

[Michael Schuch]

Jim.

I have the Mafell MT55cc 6 1/2" track saw with a cord.

P.S. I saw your post about the Festool clip to track feature on their new saws and thought found it very interesting. I haven't cut any bevels with my track saw and I don't know how bad the saws without this feature are to control? But I knew I had to have this feature when I read about it in their marketing material... LOL!

[Pat Germain]

I have a very nice SawStop PCS. But it's difficult for me to cut full sheets of plywood on my table saw. I have a three car garage with most of my tools crammed into the third bay. If I pull the cars out, I can put plywood on the garage floor over some foam insulationg to breaking it down. This is why I want a track saw. Sure, I can use a saw guide and I have done so many times. I'm getting a little tired of the extra hassle with a saw guide and thought a good track saw would make things easier. I'm hoping a track saw will allow me to make precise cuts from full sheets of plywood without having to trim it in the table saw.

Thanks.

[Jim Becker]

P.S. I saw your post about the Festool clip to track feature on their new saws and thought found it very interesting. I haven't cut any bevels with my track saw and I don't know how bad the saws without this feature are to control? But I knew I had to have this feature when I read about it in their marketing material... LOL!

Yes, it was very nice of Festool to add the FSK crosscut track capability to the new track saw model since there are conceivably a lot of situations where having a captive track for repeated crosscuts (including on angles) with a "finish" type saw could be nice to have, such as for finish carpentry. No harm in adding additional utility! Think of it as being able to take a "miter saw" to the material instead of moving the material to the miter saw.

[Michael Schuch]

I have a very nice SawStop PCS. But it's difficult for me to cut full sheets of plywood on my table saw. I have a three car garage with most of my tools crammed into the third bay. If I pull the cars out, I can put plywood on the garage floor over some foam insulationg to breaking it down. This is why I want a track saw. Sure, I can use a saw guide and I have done so many times. I'm getting a little tired of the extra hassle with a saw guide and thought a good track saw would make things easier. I'm hoping a track saw will allow me to make precise cuts from full sheets of plywood without having to trim it in the table saw.

Thanks.

What you describe is exactly what I use my tracksaw for and it excels at this job! The Milwaukee track will do an excellent job for this as will most of the other name brand track saws. If cordless is your preference then go with a cordless. There is certainly an advantage to not having to mess around with a cord! None of my track saw cuts have needed table saw trimming. The track saw cut is the finished cut. I get much better results with my track saw than I ever got with my circular saw and a guide.

I think I saw in a review that Festool has a Bluetooth enabled track saw which will automatically turn on a Festool dust collector every time the saw is started.

[Michael Schuch]

Michael, is your Mafeil the "big" one with the larger blade?

I have the Mafell MT55 6.5" saw. They have so many different circular saws I don't know if that is the big one or the small one. LOL! Unfortunately is isn't the $8K Mafell track with power feed.

[Pat Germain]

What you describe is exactly what I use my tracksaw for and it excels at this job! The Milwaukee track will do an excellent job for this as will most of the other name brand track saws. If cordless is your preference then go with a cordless. There is certainly an advantage to not having to mess around with a cord! None of my track saw cuts have needed table saw trimming. The track saw cut is the finished cut. I get much better results with my track saw than I ever got with my circular saw and a guide.

I think I saw in a review that Festool has a Bluetooth enabled track saw which will automatically turn on a Festool dust collector every time the saw is started.

Thank you, Michael. This is very helpful.

Maybe I'll put the Milwaukee track saw on my Christmas list and see what happens. :-)

[Clifford McGuire]

Just a quick note in support of the cordless track saw.

My new shop is in the basement and going through the house is the only access. I break down sheet goods in the driveway, with the dust port pointed at the grass. Sure, I could do it closer to the house, with a vacuum attached. But it is so easy to pull them off the truck, lay them on the foam board, cut and take them downstairs. I've also done this at a friends cabin. I even did it once in a Home Depot parking lot.

I wish the Mikwaukee was available when I purchased the track saw, since that's my 18V battery platform. I ended up with the Makita and am very happy.

[Ron Selzer]

I have a very nice SawStop PCS. But it's difficult for me to cut full sheets of plywood on my table saw. I have a three car garage with most of my tools crammed into the third bay. If I pull the cars out, I can put plywood on the garage floor over some foam insulationg to breaking it down. This is why I want a track saw. Sure, I can use a saw guide and I have done so many times. I'm getting a little tired of the extra hassle with a saw guide and thought a good track saw would make things easier. I'm hoping a track saw will allow me to make precise cuts from full sheets of plywood without having to trim it in the table saw.

Thanks.

Local Woodcraft store has a device mounted to their SawStop that you set the sheet of plywood in and then raise the sheet up to cut. I looked at it 8-10 yrs ago, however don't need or want it as I use a 60" panel saw to handle all sheet goods. Something for you to hunt for as I am certain it would be a whole lot less money. I don't darken the door at Woodcraft store anymore as I have not received any customer service last three times there. Order on line instead of driving 40 minutes to get ignored. I did buy my SawStop ICS with all options there in 2014, was not a pleasant experience. Shop instructor where I work has same problem with them, yet is forced to deal there.
Ron