So, I think I need a circular saw in my tool arsenal. Nothing too expensive as it’ll be used rarely.

I have a couple of projects coming up that will need some plywood cut (12mm~) with nice straight cuts. Never been successful with a jigsaw for such tasks.

Should I go full size:

Or one of these mini jobbers:

What do the woodworkers of STW reckon? It’ll be corded, whichever.

Track Saw.
Pretty much made for what you describe.

Fantastic for cutting ply.

You can actually cut pretty thick timber too with the right blade. I’ve cut 2” Oak with mine, in steps of course.

They’re very versatile, much safer and can produce far finer and more accurate work than a trad circular saw.
Game changers.

Festool* FTW

More seriously, yes a track saw of some description. Brilliant bits of kit and very very versatile.

*I say that as a newby that has a long term loan of a Festool. If the owner ever gets it back, I’ll be dead and he’ll need a crowbar to loosen my grip 😆

And the seemingly obligatory Peter Millard YouTube video looking at the Middle of Lidl option

Unless you need to lift floorboards
Then a circular saw is handy. You can set it shallow and at 45 to scarf the joints.
Those little ones are handy for roofers and tricky access cuts, but a multi tool will do the same, just slowly
Sliding mitre with guide bar may also worth a look for lump wood. But for 12mm sheet ply track saw is the best, circular saw with a clamp on some 2×1 as a guide will do the job, get a 40t blade

The bigger saw will be much easier to keep straight. Of the two I’d go for that for the cutting you mention. I’d also echo the above that a track saw will be the perfect tool. The budget track saws are pretty good now so you don’t need a festool. Love my track saw, it’s a significant step up from just a circular saw. Makes cutting simpler, quicker, safer and more accurate.

need some plywood cut (12mm~) with nice straight cuts.

^Track saw, definitely.

(My Lidl one has been absolutely awesome, but if you can’t get one, the Triton ones are also OK, but (usually) a bit dearer).

I second the track/plunge saw. The budget ones are fine, just some quirks about rail compatibility but if you’re just using with the supplied rail, not a problem.

Spent years with a circular saw measuring offsets and clamping on guides, being able to just plonk a rail down exactly where you want to cut, and it stays put while you do it, saves a huge amount of time. If you need square cuts (cabinets, etc) then a cheap MFT style top and some dogs makes that super easy for another £50 or so.

If it’s just a one off job, either borrow one or get the cheapest circular saw and make a cutting guide (we woodworkers call it a fence) out of a couple of pieces of scrap. If you envisage doing more projects in future get the rail saw that stretches your budget by an acceptable amount.

Cheap track saw proper blade

I’ve been putting in some kitchen units over the last few days & have borrowed a circular saw.

Getting straight cuts was a concern, but I just ended up clamping my large spirit level to the piece of wood with a couple of quick clamp things.
Obviously you need to measure the distance of the blade from the edge of the footplate to offset the guide.

Depending on how frequently you expect to be using it & how large the cuts are you will be making, this might be a suitable alternative.

Track saw is a fab tool…
I got a screwfix one – 1.4m of track (bought more in teh end) and it’s great.
Watch the youtube videos on HOW TO SET IT UP AND MAKE THE FIRST CUT… i didn’t, and messed up my first track!

Can use it for LOADS of projects.

DrP

I’ve just taken receipt of one of these:
HYCHIKA Saw

Seems to look good, although I haven’t used it yet as my materials haven’t arrived.

The one thing I’ll say as a warning if you do buy a Track Saw. Is that it wont end with the Track Saw.

E.g. I’ve just received and tested my new dust extractor….

And am busily eyeing up a random orbital sander with suitable dust ports.

I’ve just realised, I’ve got so many plans underway I can no longer remember why i got this track saw in the first place.

Screefix sell a titan hoover with a pto you can plug your rsil saw into
When ypu saw it sucks, when you stop, it stops.

Another vote for tracksaw. I got a cheap McAllister one from Screwfix last year.

Really good for ripping sheet material. Even used it to create a bevelled edge on some oak worktops, as I don’t have a router. Did a surprisingly good job.

I’ve just got a circular saw like the OP shows to go along with my Mitre saw. Can you get a universal track saw rail to adapt to a standard circular saw ? – Otherwise I’ll use some timber clamped to anything I want to cut as a guide.

Jigsaws aren’t great at straight cuts.

fossy

I’ve just got a circular saw like the OP shows to go along with my Mitre saw. Can you get a universal track saw rail to adapt to a standard circular saw ? – Otherwise I’ll use some timber clamped to anything I want to cut as a guide.

Kreg do a couple of options – a Rip-Cut saw guide & an Accu-Cut rail.

Rip_Cut

Accu-Cut

I’ve got one of the compacts and have used it in the past with 12mm ply, was a pain after the first couple, switched to the full size, mainly due to the compact blade starting to melt 😂

The compacts great for what it’s good at, in situ awkward stuff, but for bigger, more precise stuff, it’s not that good.

As others say, get a decent blade as well, lots of stuff come with cheap or jack of all trade blades as standard, a decent one will make the job easier

Occasional use ? A Makita 5402NA should have you sorted no matter WTF you want to cut 😆

400mm blade. About 160mm depth of cut.

Can you get a universal track saw rail to adapt to a standard circular saw ? – Otherwise I’ll use some timber clamped to anything I want to cut as a guide.

You can make a ‘poor man’s’ version by fastening a straight batten to a matching strip of ply then ripping the edge off with the saw against the batten. Saves measuring the blade offset every time.

I used to be one of those people who said it was every bit as good as the real thing. But it isn’t.

I’m no pro, and it’s occasional use, as was the Mitre saw…. Said Mitre saw got ‘loaned out’ by my son for 6 months – I was not happy as you find uses for these things when it’s not there… y tools are there to be used when I need them, going into the garage and finding them missing, and a ‘mate’ can’t be arsed to return them….. grrrr.

I stopped lending out tools when my neice returned my tile cutter blade burnt out, despite me saying change the water every couple of cuts… Then my son gives them away…..

And am busily eyeing up a random orbital sander with suitable dust ports.

Festool Rotek are just amazing – very fast at removing material, superb finish and the dust extraction is almost 100% on a flat surface.

You can make a ‘poor man’s’ version by fastening a straight batten to a matching strip of ply then ripping the edge off with the saw against the batten. Saves measuring the blade offset every time.

I used to be one of those people who said it was every bit as good as the real thing. But it isn’t.

I started off like that, then bough a cheapish Bosch track saw – night and day difference! Perfect cuts every time, really quick to set up the track – cuts exactly where you expect etc.

I have a Makita LXT 5” cordless – brilliant little saw and very versatile. I’ve also got a 10” mains saw that previously spent most of it’s life fixed to a saw bench. It’s pretty scary on it’s own, everything needs to be clamped down firmly and you need 2 hands on it at all times.

And am busily eyeing up a random orbital sander with suitable dust ports.

From what you’ve told us so far, is this in a shop or your mates garage 😉 😆

A track saw sounds ideal dor the job if you can get one in budget.

I’ve got both a normal circular saw and one of those little plunge saws. The normal circular saw scares me more than my petrol chainsaw tbh – it’s got a bit of a kick and I don’t like it at all.

The little plunge saw however, is brilliant. If you could make a guide rail somehow for that it would rip through 12mm ply no problem. Mine is a Worx one I think. Still got to pay it a healthy respect but it’s much nicer to handle than the big saw.

I have pretty much the cheapest tracksaw I could find, a Silverline 624327- cost me £85 including the rails. I can’t compare it to any of the more expensive tools but it’s done brilliantly, I absolutely love it. Only concern is that I don’t know for sure what other rails it can be used with- think it’s Festool compatible but I’m not 100%. It does come with 2 700mms.

If you want to try those mini-saws I have the exact Erbauer you linked. It’s fine, but I found it hard to get a really good straight line even with a guide. I was going to stick it on ebay but I could do a STW rate just for an easy sale if you want it. But I replaced it with the tracksaw and so that ought to tell a story 😉

Well, the opinion is track saw, but I think that’s a bit over the top for what I’m doing.

From watching various videos, I think a cheap full size, with the proper blade for the job will do the trick. Along with some timber to aid alignment along the cuts.

TBH, I’d love to know why using a jigsaw is causing me such bother. Many instruction videos on YT show love neat and clean, straight and vertical cuts. I have a good Ryobi, all solidly built. Even when cutting slowly and being a careful as possible, the cuts I get are straight, or vertical, but never both.

I had one of those Kreg accu-cut jobbies for turning your regular circular saw into a tracksaw.

It was ok….. but it was a bit fiddly and awkward to use. These are not good atributes in the context of a running circular saw! You are better off putting the money into a cheap tracksaw IMO. I sold the kreg thing on gumtree and bought the Makita – 300x better (approximately).

in my opinion, if you are buying a tool anyway – you should get the right one for the job that you are doing – even if that means spending a little more. Same goes for those mini circular saws: fair enough if you have a specific use-case, but too often have I bought something like that, only to go and buy the proper full size version soon after.

From what you’ve told us so far, is this in a shop or your mates garage 😉 😆

A) Shipping Container territory not garage
B) I already have his Sander (well, one of them, hes one of lifes horders and a retired builder), it’s just not very good and has no dust port 🙃

I’m a bit stuffed really, I’ve read enough about “dust” now to worry about what it could do to the dog, let alone me. So anything that’s going to make a lot if it needs extraction.

TBH, I’d love to know why using a jigsaw is causing me such bother.

It’s just the wrong tool for a long straight cut. Narrow blades makes it easy to turn, whether you want it to or not.

Evolution do a circular saw that comes with rails which is not particularly expensive. Challenge would be finding a straight bit of timber to use as a guide otherwise. Also the High tooth count blades to get a nice finish aren’t cheap, so circular saw + plus blade + straight edge and you’ll be into track saw money.

I’d go track saw as well.

I bought a cheap Bosch circular saw from Gumtree a few months back, I only wanted something cheap to do a job and then I was going to sell it on or chuck it as I didn’t want power tools like this in the house with my young lads around, but I wish I’d picked up a track saw instead/as well, just loads more accurate, especially now as I need to cut down 3 sheets of 2.4m 25mm ply…it’ll be a poor man’s fence for me.

Picked up a S/H Titan mitre saw on the weekend, once used it’s going in the loft with the fuse taken out of the plug and the blade removed, so it stays out of harm’s way.

Even when cutting slowly and being a careful as possible, the cuts I get are straight, or vertical, but never both.

Narrow flexible blade only fixed at one end that will get hot and more flexible as you cut long runs combined with a much smaller base than a circular saw or tracksaw.

TBH, I’d love to know why using a jigsaw is causing me such bother. Many instruction videos on YT show love neat and clean, straight and vertical cuts.

Good, sharp blades help (I rate the Bosch ones) but it’s still not a given.
Make sure that the blade is appropriate for the material too.

I think you’d be wasting money on a circular saw – a cheap track saw is not much more expensive than the circular saw in your first post.

I was going to sell it on or chuck it as I didn’t want power tools like this in the house with my young lads around

Blimey!
Take the fuse out if you’re that worried!
(Do you not have knives and forks either?)
😉

TBH, I’d love to know why using a jigsaw is causing me such bother.

I’ve tried a Jigsaw against a metal straight edge, even with a decent Bosch jigsaw it was impossible to keep it flush with the edge and the blade wanders a bit. Wrong tool for the job. For long straight cuts a track saw is the best tool.

I think a jigsaw actually cuts worse if you try to run it along an edge. Slow and steady freehand, following a line seems to give the best results. As mentioned before, you need the right blade. Its still miles from a circular saw in terms of ease and finish but I have had some pretty good results (usually when rough cutting before routing the edge, then I get a perfect edge 🙄 )

I think a jigsaw actually cuts worse if you try to run it along an edge.

You are probably right, with freehand you’re continually correcting it, whereas pushing along an edge once you realise it has started wandering its too late to correct and you have to arc back to the line, so you get a long wandering edge.

If I was buying afresh I’d go with a traksaw. Whatever is within budget

I have a makita circular saw and I use it quite a lot, although most recently it’s used for chopping up old pallets