Another new plunge saw - this time from Virutex

[Forrest Anderson]

In the UK, the Spanish company Virutex is possibly best-known for its range of high-quality specialised wood-working power tools like hinge routers, door trimmers, edge banders, lock mortisers, curved planers, and edge lipping planers. They even have two abrasive planers which are a cross between a belt sander and an electric planer.

After DeWalt, Makita and Mafell, it now seems that Virutex is the latest company to come out with a plunge saw, as the snappily-named SRI174T-UCP has just joined its range:

The specifications are similar to the TS55:

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Input power:  1150 W
Saw blade diameter:  160/20 mm
Cutting depth at 90?:  55 mm
Cutting depth at 45?:  35 mm
No-load speed:  5500rpm
Weight:  4.7 Kg
 
Optional accessories:
7406518 Cutting guide UCP174T 800 mm length 
7406519 Cutting guide UCP174T 1400 mm length 
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For more details, see their 4-page English-language brochure.

Forrest

 

[alanz]

Am I missing something, or does this rig not use a sacrificial edge?  I can't tell from the photos, but it seems to be missing the equivilant of the black strip that the Festool rails have.

 

[nickao]

In the instruction manual it appears there is not a strip and they note a 5 mm offset.

 

[Frank-Jan]

If they fit the festool rails, the little suction cup - rail-holders might be a more afordable alternative for the festool gecko-clamps.
The saw doesn't apear to have a springloaded riving knife.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

If the color reproduction is near true on my PC, if you had not told us what we were looking at, I would have guessed it was the Makita track saw.

I don't quite understand the marketing strategy of these competitors to Festool.  Unless they are offering equal or greater capacity or features than Festool at less than Festool's pricing, what is the point?

I could see buying a less costly saw to use for cutting cement board and other nasty, abrasive material with Guide Rails, or even paying as much or more than Festool pricing if the saw was specially designed for such purposes, e.g, wet cutting, especially sealed bearings and motors components.  I ruined the motor of a favorite old, discontinued model circular saw using an abrasive blade to cut cultured stone (concrete) products.  I succesfully made many cuts, but then apparently one or more small pieces torn off the stone got sucked by the motor fan through the motor and it was ruined.

Dave R.

 

[woodshopdemos]

I don't quite understand the marketing strategy of these competitors to Festool.  Unless they are offering equal or greater capacity or features than Festool at less than Festool's pricing, what is the point?

It is evident that these companies think that Festool's patent period is out so they are hopping on the bandwagon with any form of "me too" they can scramble together, So far, I have not seen any product improvement so they just may compete on price. This is not unusuaal but it does often have a nasty effect on the  market...and that is by selling crap products. I havent seen that yet but wait.

 

[Tinker]

I could see buying a less costly saw to use for cutting cement board and other nasty, abrasive material with Guide Rails, or even paying as much or more than Festool pricing if the saw was specially designed for such purposes, e.g, wet cutting, especially sealed bearings and motors components.  I ruined the motor of a favorite old, discontinued model circular saw using an abrasive blade to cut cultured stone (concrete) products.  I succesfully made many cuts, but then apparently one or more small pieces torn off the stone got sucked by the motor fan through the motor and it was ruined.

Dave R.

Dave, Many many moons ago, when i first went into the masonry biz, I found it much more profitable to cut many masonry products with a circular saw as oposed to the old hammer & chisel methods i had learned with.  Even tho i went thru saws at nearly a one or two job per saw rate, it was better than breaking two or three stones wrong with the harsher hand cutting methods.  I did, however, get tired of going after a new saw every couple of weeks. 

I finally went to my newest tool supplier who just happened to sell Milwaukee exclusively. (i think I have mentioned this elsewhere but no time to search where).  we took down every saw in the shop and looked them all over to every detail.  I finally spotted a difference on the 8-1/4 saw.  All of the saws had a vent hole on the arbor housing right next to the blade.  The 8-1/4 was unique in that the vent was at the far end of the housing.  I decided that was the saw to get.  I added the cost to the next job and the darned thing only last for another 30 years before it one day burst into flame.  I never did anything to it other than abuse by dropping from truck once, dropping from scaffold once, cutting thousands of bricks, blocks, nails and probable thousands of feet of flagstone and slate. 

Sometime after the fact, i happened to be talking to a Milwaukee sales man who was trying to sell me a new saw (I had already retired from mason biz and was not really interested).  With tongue in cheek, i told him i felt i had been really gyped with that old 8-1/4 that only lasted for 30 years and then caught fire.  I thought i should get my money back etc etc etc.  I must be good actor as the guy took me seriously and tried to explain about warrantee periods and so forth.  He was very relieved when I finally told him i was really getting out of the biz and was not interested in his tools.  :

I love my Festool toys, but if I need a power tool to really stand up to unestimable abuse, I would still look for Milwaukee.  Those were the moneymakers for me for masonry construction.
Tinker

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Tinker,

Thanks for sharing another great and informative story.  I, too, am a fan of old Miwaukee power tools.  The metal housing of my ancient 2 speed Sawzall (4.5A) is partially corroded away, but that saw still runs smooth and  quiet - definitely quieter than my LS 130 which is a newborn baby by comparison in service hours.  That Milwaukee has also survived several drops from the tops of farm silos.  My wife's father used to be in the business of equipping farmers to raise and care for farm animals.  His employees were not known for being gently on equipment.  Milwaukee was his chosen brand because they siimply lasted much longer than any others he gave to the same workers.  My Sawzall is a hand-me-down from that history of service.  The Milwaukee tools I am referring to were made in U.S.A.

Dave R.