Makita or bosch portable table saw?
- Thread starter obdoor
- Start date
Sorry for going on about this...
Notice that I haven't said anything about Festool versus the other brands. Festool has a good name and works very hard keeping it. Dewalt and B&D seemingly don't care, and Bosch I wonder about.
My negative comments about Dewalt, B&D, and Bosch products come from personal experience with them. My positive comments about Festool come from the same source.
All of these companies could spew marketing mendacity at me 'til the universe expires and it wouldn't change my opinion. It's the personal experience that counts. I believe Festool understands this; I don't think the others do. Or they may, but don't care.
I believe that Festool worries about what customers will think 10 years from now. Most of the other companies worry about the next quarterly finance report (on which management's stock options are based). Pretty sad commentary, isn't it?!?
The only other company that I feel comfortable buying is Makita. They've done some nice work with their new LiIon tools. I wish they'd do the same with their table saws.
Dan.
Notice that I haven't said anything about Festool versus the other brands. Festool has a good name and works very hard keeping it. Dewalt and B&D seemingly don't care, and Bosch I wonder about.
My negative comments about Dewalt, B&D, and Bosch products come from personal experience with them. My positive comments about Festool come from the same source.
All of these companies could spew marketing mendacity at me 'til the universe expires and it wouldn't change my opinion. It's the personal experience that counts. I believe Festool understands this; I don't think the others do. Or they may, but don't care.
I believe that Festool worries about what customers will think 10 years from now. Most of the other companies worry about the next quarterly finance report (on which management's stock options are based). Pretty sad commentary, isn't it?!?
The only other company that I feel comfortable buying is Makita. They've done some nice work with their new LiIon tools. I wish they'd do the same with their table saws.
Dan.
Mike_Chrest
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- Jan 26, 2007
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- 386
If Festool would release a tablesaw in this country, I bet we wouldn't be having this discussion. 
Mike
Mike
Of all the brands, I have had the worst luck with Makita. Like everybody else I have a mix of tools. Makita, Dewalt, Porter Cable, Bosch, Craftsman, Skil, B&D, and now a Festool. The only ones I have had stop working are Makita (recip saw and drill) and Skil (drill). My 12V Dewalt circular saw functions poorly, doesn't have enough power to cut anything usefull. I guess quality is hit or miss on most of the brands. I bought a ETS 150/3 to replace a PC333VS, but not due to it not working. My hands were numb after any significant time sanding.
Mike
Mike
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- Feb 8, 2007
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- 1,671
i use a lot of the makita brands the blue 18v ion and the new white and black 18v and they work good, espcially the impacts drivers.
Tinker said:
Are you going to tease us or are you going to tell us how to get such small rips? 'cause I have the MFT and a saw table (another thread) and Bosh Table Saw and a sliding compound chop saw (some day will grow up to be a Kapex?). SO I haul a heavy load to site.
honeydokreg said:
I like the Makita tools, sorry to hear about Bosh... cause I have good older tools from them... Panosoic makes good drills... and I don't see no one disin' them... (12v NiCd outlasts any 18v DeWhats?) Though the Festool C12 is on my wish list. Tho a: RO150 & a CT22 or 33 are first on the list.
Dave Ronyak
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- Jan 23, 2007
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- 2,234
Dan Clark said:
One other difference I see thus far with Festool, is the consistency of quality across their entire line. I hope they never change that part of their company philosophy. I might gripe about the presence or absence of certain design features (sometimes due to my being a "lefty"), but overall, Festool exhibits high quality across their tools "programme." In contrast, in other brands, individual tools may be well made, while others are not. Thus just about the time you have decided to buy Model XXXX from Brand YYY based on user reports, the manufacturer has changed models and you don't know what you are getting until you use it. And with Festool, if you aren't satisfied, you can return it. (I note that some competitors are now offering similar "return it if you don't like it" deals. My recently purchased PC 7518 router has a 90 day return policy and so did the Freud 13 A router I bought about a year ago. The Freud is OK, but I would have been willing to pay more for more precision during manufacturing. Precision costs money to achieve.)
Dave R.
Obdoor,
I have had a Bosch 4000 For about 3 years now. I originally bought it for a Kitchen renovation project where it was used daily by three carpenters for making up corner posts and ripping down lengths of plinth. We hooked it up to a Festool dust extractor to help out our lungs, using a 50mm Festool hose. One of the things that became a pain was the integrated crown guard. When ripping narrow stock (less than 100mm I think, will check later?) It just gets in the way and the provided fence extension has to be fitted. This really restricts your view of both the blade and the timber, i.e., not good! To get over this I bought a second riving knife and ground it to size and shape and made up an acrylic tunnel that fitted to the back of the fence. It meant that we were safe and could rip as narrow lengths as we wished. Next up was a huge new build project. We set up the saw in the centre of our "site-shop" and it again was used daily rebating (rabbetting?) and ripping Idigbo to size. The Saw packed up after about 11 months of hard use. I took it back to my dealer and it was replaced with a brand new saw.
Since then I've mainly been working on framing jobs with the occasional "Shop fit out." For this kind of work the TS55 is the weapon of choice!!
I had to import the gravity rise stand as it is apparently too expensive for the UK market!!???!!!
Points that I would pass on:
1. The saw is V.Heavy.
2. You need to factor in the cost of a stand either the Bosch or (NAIUK) Rousseau.
3. It takes up a lot of room.
4. TS55 is more site friendly and accurate.
5. Motor quality issues?
Hope this has been helpful
Dan.
I have had a Bosch 4000 For about 3 years now. I originally bought it for a Kitchen renovation project where it was used daily by three carpenters for making up corner posts and ripping down lengths of plinth. We hooked it up to a Festool dust extractor to help out our lungs, using a 50mm Festool hose. One of the things that became a pain was the integrated crown guard. When ripping narrow stock (less than 100mm I think, will check later?) It just gets in the way and the provided fence extension has to be fitted. This really restricts your view of both the blade and the timber, i.e., not good! To get over this I bought a second riving knife and ground it to size and shape and made up an acrylic tunnel that fitted to the back of the fence. It meant that we were safe and could rip as narrow lengths as we wished. Next up was a huge new build project. We set up the saw in the centre of our "site-shop" and it again was used daily rebating (rabbetting?) and ripping Idigbo to size. The Saw packed up after about 11 months of hard use. I took it back to my dealer and it was replaced with a brand new saw.
Since then I've mainly been working on framing jobs with the occasional "Shop fit out." For this kind of work the TS55 is the weapon of choice!!
I had to import the gravity rise stand as it is apparently too expensive for the UK market!!???!!!
Points that I would pass on:
1. The saw is V.Heavy.
2. You need to factor in the cost of a stand either the Bosch or (NAIUK) Rousseau.
3. It takes up a lot of room.
4. TS55 is more site friendly and accurate.
5. Motor quality issues?
Hope this has been helpful
Dan.
[/quote]
Seems to me I've seen comments around FOG about different lines within Makita, distinguishable by color.
Feel comfortable with any Makita, or only certain colors? Which?
Ned
[/quote]
I've been using a great little RED Makita router since the early 90's. i bought it through some overstock mail order company way back when and I've never seen another red Makita tool since.
Seems to me I've seen comments around FOG about different lines within Makita, distinguishable by color.
Feel comfortable with any Makita, or only certain colors? Which?
Ned
[/quote]
I've been using a great little RED Makita router since the early 90's. i bought it through some overstock mail order company way back when and I've never seen another red Makita tool since.
