EDIT: If you own one, perhaps don’t watch it.

Not really sure what he was expecting to find, a solid gold body, diamond encrusted bearings? It’s a nicely designed tool, fit for purpose and well liked by its users.

So you pay a premium for a ‘quality’ brand, same as DeWalt, Makita etc.

The guy behind BOLTR seems to really know a fair bit about electronics, mechanics and materials. However, of the few videos I’ve watched, they follow the format of: Unbox, dismantle, slate construction/mechanics/electronics, leave item in pieces on workbench for a bit (weeks sometimes), put it back together, use for the first time then be surprised that the item is better than he expects/predicts.

So you pay a premium for a ‘quality’ brand, same as DeWalt, Makita etc.

Makita SPJ600, box and rail – £299

Festool TS55, box and rail – £441

You pay a premium for quality tools but for Festool, the price is even more premiumerer…

Festool make good tools for sure, but they’re overpriced. Difficult to see £140 worth of better in their track saw for instance.

Festool make good tools for sure, but they’re overpriced. Difficult to see £140 worth of better in their track saw for instance.

There is a simple solution to this, don’t buy one!

I don’t, I haven’t. Well, except the Domino, but that’s only because they are exclusive to them. I just struggle to see why they are so praised and so expensive. They’re good of course, but I’ve never seen the price justified above others personally.

Festool make good tools for sure, but they’re overpriced. Difficult to see £140 worth of better in their track saw for instance.

I got the Festool HK55 (with a box and rail) for less that the price of that Makita. In fact almost enough change to buy a second rail, so not really a premium price

The track saw is one of their most competitively priced products.. , the others are more expensive, you do get 3 years warranty and 3 years theft insurance which is quite attractive for mobile workers , originally there were no competitors Festo brought out the modern track saw in 1980 ,
It took time for them to become popular and then workers soon saw(sorry) others using them and how much faster and more accurately they could work especially in a mobile environment – add to that the dust extraction – a very real long term worry that Festool made a point of having a solid solution for each application it was and still is a major selling point.

I assumed this was going to be about folding saws for track maintenance….

Should have realised when it was in the Chat forum 😳

The track saw is one of their most competitively priced products.. , the others are more expensive, you do get 3 years warranty and 3 years theft insurance which is quite attractive for mobile workers , originally there were no competitors Festo brought out the modern track saw in 1980 ,

Didn’t know that. That’s very good, and yes they undoubtedly innovate.

Still blummin expensive though 😂

Mafell mt55 if you want rolls Royce performance.its better than the ts55 festool which I used to think was great
It’s not cheap but i can’t afford to buy cheap tools.
3 year warranty and German manufactured

For anyone looking at the Scheppach PL55 track saw then Screwfix have it done to £135 for today only.

The Aldi PL55 saw (made by Scheppach) is £70 in store or £80 online

Probably a good place to ask….

I’m after a decent square for DIY stuff. Got a couple of cheaper small ones, but would like something a bit bigger , 30cm +, and want some recommendations.

Thanks in advance

Si

Dewalt premium 12 inch rafter square is good. £20 in screwfix
Stanley plastic one isnt too bad either

The rafter squares etc. have all turned out to be too inaccurate for my work. Peter Millard has a Youtube feature on making your own.

I use 2 only – the little 150mm Bahco Combination square which is a real gem, and a kitchen cupboard door. Get a nice B&Q square edged MDF door, screw a piece of hardwood onto the bottom edge so you can butt it up against the piece you’re cutting and there you go.
As a further refinement you can cut it into an L shape (makes it lighter) and the offcut can be re-cut into a smaller framing square.

There’s a sure way to see if it really is square. Use it to make a right angled line on a board, turn it over and draw a second line a few mm away. If the lines are parallel, it’s square. If not, not.

Thanks guys – great info there. Never thought of that really simple check for the squares I have. Doh!
Guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow….

Can anyone recommend a cordless track saw that’s not too eye wateringly expensive? I could do with a track saw but don’t have access to electric points sometimes.

What’s eye-watering in terms of price to you?

If you’re already invested in a battery platform then that one, providing the brand make one.

I’m not sure there is really that many options for them currently.

As I say above, I’d certainly recommend my Makita, but it’s by no means cheap.

Cheapest way might be to find the bare tool, then get eBay batteries, but it’s a risk and probably a false economy.

I bought a Lidl one last year – Very impressed. It doesn’t cut into the splinter guard when canted over (but does undercut it very slightly (<0.5mm) at full tilt which you can allow for when cutting 45 degree bevels). Seems better made / “nicer” than the Titan one in Screwfix. For @AlexSimon it has double markings on the depth stop – for use with / without the track.

I bought a Freud blade for it at the same time but the blade that came with it was pretty good, TBH (I was cutting laminated plywood and melamine faced chipboard). Extra track sections are available cheaply so I have two sections accurately aligned and permanently joined / epoxied together for a 1.4m track, along with the original 700mm long one. (Either that or get a Makita / Festool compatible track). Makita track clamps also fit the Lidl track and I have a pair of these for extra insurance when cutting £130/sheet laminated ply.

I used it pretty much every day for 3 months last summer and it’s still like new. It’s not a professional quality tool (no soft start, no blade brake, no quick scribe cut, mediocre dust capture, etc.) but it’s pretty damn good. It beats the hell out of the DIY guide / circular saw that I had been using previously in terms of accuracy, speed, ease of use and edge quality.

For @AlexSimon it has double markings on the depth stop

Win

Peter Millard has produced a series of videos on using a Track Saw. He seems to be using the Aldi saw, going from setup to techniques to use on projects. Well worth a watch

Thought I’d ask here rather than start a new thread – I picked up the Aldi track saw recently and I’m looking for additional track for working with full sheets. Has anyone found a source oF inexpensive compatible track?

The Peter Millard channel on YouTube will tell you everything you need to know.
You will lose 10 hours of your life. He really is that addictive. I’m on a 4 week holiday in Sri Lanka and I keep checking for updates!

I’m looking for additional track for working with full sheets

The Aldi saw is actually a Scheppach PL55. Google Scheppach tracks, make sure it’s one for PL55 and not PL45, which I don’t think is compatible

The cheapo track saw I mentioned on page 1 failed at the weekend. I think I paid about £60-70 for it and when I think of how little it’s been used, combined with slop and how some of the guide parts fared, have written of cheapo tools as false economy. The guide rail I made worked well but was clunky and a pita compared to a proper track

I got lucky and replaced it with a Dewalt DWS520 that for £95 (display model) and a 1.5m track for £60.

It’s a revelation. Much easy to use, so accurate and way better built (no slop, quality knobs etc).

I’ve decided that I need a better blade (160×20) for my Aldi/Scheppach tracksaw as I’d like a smoother cut, what should I buy?

I’ve decided that I need a better blade (160×20) for my Aldi/Scheppach tracksaw as I’d like a smoother cut, what should I buy?

Based on Peter Millard’s demonstrations I bought this blade from Trend:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trend-Saw-blade-fine-trim-165mm-x-48-teeth-x-20mm-for-plunge-saws/253066524478

Not fitted it yet though

Would the extra 5mm on that blade make any difference?

Yes , the zero stop on depth will be 2.5 mm out , on some saws you can adjust for that , the later Festool and Mafell for sure – others not sure apart from Parkside (Lidl) which you cannot .

“Would the extra 5mm on that blade make any difference?”

Would it even fit in the housing??

I might have overlooked something then. Is the Aldi saw definitely 160mm?

Aldi saw is 160.

The depth gauge is out on that anyway, you have to add extra for the thickness of the track.

If the 165mm blade fits into the saw housing then setting the depth gauge to the material thickness plus 5mm for the track will give an ideal cut. Going only 2-3mm past the required depth means the saw teeth don’t break out of the material (another Peter Millard tip).

I might see if the Trend blade is available in 160mm as it gave a really good cut on birch ply in Peter’s video, comparable to a Festool blade (albeit a used one)

Machine Mart have them…

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/circular-saw-blades-2/?blade-diameter-mm=160

That’s not quite the same one. It was the Waveform one that Peter Millard used

What does the waveform one do different then?

What does the waveform one do different then?

No idea! 🙂

But I think this is the one:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TREND-160MM-48T-2-2MM-TCT-SAW-BLADE-FESTOOL-TS55-PLUNGE-SAW-FT-160X48X20A/303039813679?epid=16011373602&hash=item468e94982f:g:mI8AAOSwXIdcSeML:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

Another blade option from Key Blades, this gave a great cut too as I remember and the reviews back that up

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07C6GCVBW/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A1O7JDUV0MLJ2O&psc=1

Re cheap extra track – I’ve got the Lidl parkside saw and have just ordered another 4 700mm lengths of track and joiner bars for £30 delivered direct from kompernass who deal with all the Soares and servicing of parkside tools.

I dont know if the Aldi saw is compatible with the Lidl track – I know my saw will run on festool rails but I was shocked at how cheap the replacements were.

Perhaps Aldi can offer replacements for their saw at a similar price?

I make a living out of fitting kitchens. For many years I used a Skill circular saw and a piece of 6×1 with clamps as a guide rail and it worked well. But times move on and I bought a Dewalt plunge saw and rails soon after they came out. It was a step up but when it packed in I bought the Festool. This is a different world! But at a price that most diy’ers could not justify. since then every new power tool I have bought has been Festool. – Dust extractor, 10.8volt drill, 1/2″ router.