The new Makita Guided Saw

[Dan Clermont]

Met a friend for lunch today so I could get my Rotex and Sander back and took a couple of minutes to look over the new Makita Guided saw.

It looks and acts very much like the TS-55. The blade was marked 20mm x 165mm which leads me to believe they are using the same blades as the Festool (never had a chance to check for arbour size).

It still seemed tippy when you placed the saw on a 45 but because no sales reps wanted to help me out I can't confirm this.

The guide rail was pretty much an exact copy of the Festool

I was rather alarmed at how bumpy the base was. You could visibly see and feel the hills and valleys on the stamped steel. Matter of fact it was so noticeable you could see the wear spots on the metal base.

I'd love to see the saw in action or would have liked to have handled it more but they had the power cord locked down and all I could do was flip the saw over.

The price was $499 Cdn and it was on sale for $469.

Dan Clermont

 

[Daviddubya]

...The price was $499 Cdn and it was on sale for $469.

Dan Clermont

Dan - How does that price compare with a TS55 in Canada?  Do you know if the Makita price includes a guide rail?

 

[Dan Clermont]

...The price was $499 Cdn and it was on sale for $469.

Dan Clermont

Dan - How does that price compare with a TS55 in Canada?  Do you know if the Makita price includes a guide rail?

The Makita does come with one guide rail and it does appear to be the same length as the Festool version

I buy all of my Festool's in the US but managed to call Hafele Canada today and they charge $500 Cdn for the TS-55 with one guide rail.

The specific store which now sells the Makita version tends to have allot of monthly sales and they send out marketing flyers all the time. Looks like they are really trying to market this saw

 

[Daviddubya]

Thanks, Dan.  So the list price of the Makita is the same as the Festool.  Interesting, eh?  The fact that most products, other than Festool, can be bought on sale will certainly create a "street price" for the Makita.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Thanks, Dan.  So the list price of the Makita is the same as the Festool.  Interesting, eh?  The fact that most products, other than Festool, can be bought on sale will certainly create a "street price" for the Makita.

And when Amazon starts selling them Festool could have a problem, time will tell.

 

[Dan Clermont]

Thanks, Dan.  So the list price of the Makita is the same as the Festool.  Interesting, eh?  The fact that most products, other than Festool, can be bought on sale will certainly create a "street price" for the Makita.

Yes, the market in Canada is different from the US. As Brice says once Amazon gets a hold of the Makita Guided saw a new prince benchmark will be set.

Other then the stamped steel base with all of the hills and valleys kinda turned me off!

Dan C

 

[robsw]

Does anyone know if the Makita guide rail is the exact copy of Festool's guide rail? I was at the woodworking show in Abbotsford and they were demostrating the Makita and I asked the guy at the booth but he didn't know. I asked him how much the 10' guide rail is and was told $160. If the guide rails are interchangeable between saws, that is quite the difference in price from Festool's $270.

 

[jakiiski]

It's not exact copy,  but very close. The only difference is one extra "wing" in the 2ndary track profile for keeping the Makita not tilting when using different cutting angles. This wing only prevents you from using the Festool stop block, everything else works OK - i.e. you can use Makita saw on Festool tracks and vice versa. I have the 3m Makita track as it was significantly cheaper than the Festool track.