Track saw

[Kelly Colin Mark]

I have the Makita SP6000 and the Festool TS55. In many ways the Makita is very close to the TS55. I would rate it above the Dewalt and it seems the clear choice to me for someone that is having a tough time with the price of the Festool. I understand that completely and couldn't quite justify the Festool TS55 replacement for my old Festool Track Saw, which is why I bought the Makita in the first place. I would rate it 90% of a Festool TS55. I only upgraded to the TS55 because I had a shop that could reimburse me for the Makita. Otherwise I would continue to use the Makita and be happy.

Just curious - where does the Makita fall 10% short of the Festool ? Dust collection, perhaps ?

[David Weaver]

I don't think my of1400 router guide works with the makita rails. If it does, I haven't figured it out, but I usually make those router cuts against a hardwood batten so it's not a big deal. It's not something I would pay a couple of hundred dollars for.

[Brian W Evans]

Thanks, David & Kelly, for the feedback on the Makita. What I meant to say earlier was that Makita doesn't seem to have the market-share that Dewalt and Festool have - not that I'd heard anything bad about it. Your comments caused me to take another look at the Makita and now I think I'll end up with one.

I don't care much about the accessories since I have a large router table, table saw, SCMS, etc. and would rather do most work with those. I really just need something to cut plywood sheets down to manageable size and the Makita seems like it would be fine for that.

Thanks again.

[Greg R Bradley]

Just curious - where does the Makita fall 10% short of the Festool ? Dust collection, perhaps ?

Bear in mind that I'm comparing to my TS55, not the just introduced update.

The biggest reason I updated is that the Makita does not have anti-splinter on the outside of the blade. If you attach the outside anti-splinter on the TS55, you have 2 finished edges. Inside anti-splinter is handled by the strip on the rail on Festool, Makita, Dewalt.

The cord on the Makita is stupidly short. Sounds like a minor problem but if you are ripping 8' plywood with a saw with an 8' power cord the tool will unplug itself when the extension cord catches on the edge. Festools plug-it system is great if you are going to use other Festools and tie a power cord to the vac hose. No more winding up power cords to put the tool back in the box. This is no longer an issue as the Makita is now attached to a dedicated break down table with the vac hose and power cord suspended on a tether from above. Taking the saw apart and installing a new cord could have voided the warranty and by the time the warranty was up, I was irritated since it would have been so easy for them to have "fixed" it in the first place.

Makita has no riving knife. This didn't cause me an issue but I wondered if it might someday if I never bought a table saw at home.

Makita has more power than the TS55. The TS55 will cut a 2" thick solid door, but not as fast as the Makita.

These are minor bitches about the Makita and some of them are likely irrelevant to some buyers. We are talking about trivial issues compared to the major complaints we hear about the cheap asian tracksaws sold under many diffferent names. That is why I said the Makita is 90% of the Festool.

I like Makita in general and my last major purchase was a Makita Demo Hammer. I'm thrilled with it.

[Cary Falk]

I bought the DeWalt about a year ago. I bought it because I had heard good thing about it and I got the saw and 55" track for $310. I'm not a DeWalt fan but for the price and reviews I took the plunge. At that time I had a hard time getting accessories. I waited over 3 months to get the track connector. They apparently had production problems back then and things still have not changed. If I had known that back then I might have had second thoughts.

[David Weaver]

I kind of wish festools connector system wasn't on smaller tools. I spend so much time with the ETS 125 screwing around with the stupid connector, because your hand will end up on or near it, and all of the sudden the sander is off and in a few seconds, the vac, too.

[Harley Reasons]

I use the EZ Track system also, have the 108" two pc track. Cutting with a Makita 5007MGA. I added the EZ dust collection option and it works very good to control the sawdust. Dino at EZ Trac is great to work with and he stands behind his products. All are quality made. If something is not right, he'll make it right. You can also buy the EZ Trac by the foot, so you could have any length you want.

[Kelly Colin Mark]

I kind of wish festools connector system wasn't on smaller tools. I spend so much time with the ETS 125 screwing around with the stupid connector, because your hand will end up on or near it, and all of the sudden the sander is off and in a few seconds, the vac, too.

I have issues with the dust hookup on pretty much all my Festools, including some bigger ones like the OF2200 and the TS75. Plenty of times I start a cut not realizing the hose has fallen off since I last picked up the saw a moment ago, and then sometimes halfway through a cut, I find the hose falls off. I usually notice this a few moments AFTER I see a lot of dust and start thinking that maybe Festool's dust collcetion is over-rated.

I wish there was some way to positively lock them, but I know that the one-port-fits-many-hoses approach makes that hard to achieve.

[Brian W Evans]

So I went to order the Makita track saw tonight and Home Depot (best price) is sold out. Amazon has 5, Toolbarn has 4. Is this a ripple effect of Dewalt's production problems?

If you're thinking about a Makita, better get it soon or you might be waiting a while.

[Art Mann]

I just bought the Makita track saw and 55 inch track from CPO outlet. I paid no tax and got free shipping. When those factors are taken into account, the price is the same as HD. I have never used any other brand of track saw but the results are much, much better than what I get with a home made saw guide, Dewalt circular saw and premium plywood blade. So far I am very pleased.