Caught myself disagreeing with everyone about Festool track saws

Found a stat online that showed 85% of cabinet guys still use a regular circular saw and straightedge for long cuts, which surprised me given how everyone raves about Festool. Has anyone else found that the expensive track system isn't actually faster for production work?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_caleb4d ago

Man that stat is exactly what I've been seeing too. I think the Festool hype is mostly about dust collection and the magic of the track connecting perfectly every time. But for production cabinet guys cranking out sheets all day, a good worm drive saw with a clamped straightedge is honestly just as fast once you're in the rhythm. The track system slows you down when you gotta set it up and check alignment for every single cut. And forget about doing multiple quick rips without the track slipping.

rose_murray4d ago

Oh man, here's the thing that nobody talks about though - the blade guard situation. I was helping a buddy do a kitchen remodel last month and he's got the Festool saw with the track, and I've got my old Skilsaw with a straightedge. We were both cutting melamine and the dust collection on his was great yeah, but I swear I spent less time cleaning up because I wasn't having to stop every third cut to clear out the plunge saw's blade guard mechanism when it got jammed with little melamine chips. His saw kept binding up and he had to take the guard apart twice. My worm drive just kept chugging along even when the dust port clogged up. Sometimes simpler is just more reliable in the trenches.