Building bookshelves etc

[John Rumm]

You also need to consider what kind of work you will do and where. What is good in a workshop might not work so well for on site work. What works well in a large workshop not so well in a small one.

2x18V is ok if you are already on that battery system - and probably preferable to the larger more expensive high voltage batts IMHO.

I think if I were looking these days I would go straight to a plunge / track saw in place of normal main circular saw. However it is nice to have a small battery circular for quick onsite work - light enough to use one handed etc, and you ca run it against a quick square as a guide for cross cutting 4x2 etc.

Large workshop, not much beats a decent table saw, and with a bit of imagination you can do a whole lot of work on those (rip and cross cuts, dados, groves, raised panels, bevels, even make coving!)

Small workshop, then tracksaw with a track fixed and hinged on a bench with multifunction style holes drilled in it makes a very flexible replacement for table saw and mitre saw.

Not sure why we don't get worm drive saws over here.

Blade brake only tends to come on larger saws - typically where they would not be able to meet the H&S mandated stopping times without. So that is usually only 10 and 12" saws that are affected. Some of the brushless battery saws kind of get it by default.

Yup choice of battery system will be with you for some time, since it make no sense to mix platforms...

I wend Makita 18 LXT since there is vast range of tools, and the prices on them are not bad "body only". However even with their choice of hundreds of tools there are some gaps - like no battery only framing nailer (only battery/gas)

[Theo]

I don't have a workshop so any work is done outside on a workmate, or between the bins or whereever. While jigging up a tracksaw or a circular saw on the workmate might work, a table saw isn't an option.

Use case is more general carpentry than woodworking - fencing, loft boards, built in shelving, etc. I'm not going to be making furniture.

One use case for a battery saw is chopping things up so they can be transported. eg somebody was selling some 2000x550mm boards - that might not fit in the car, but if I could quickly saw them in two...

I did note that some circular saws fit tracks. So I wonder if the advantage you get with a track saw is the enclosed blade and the ability to plunge? (which is risky on a circ saw)

Are there things a circular saw will do that a plunge saw can't? What about crosscutting, eg fence post?

Different H&S regs I think.

That's what leads me towards battery. Neighbour has some kind of mains saw and the long spin down noises are quite annoying.

I don't see why not - there are adapters. For some tools like circular saws they might not physically fit, but others aren't so problematic.

I'm leaning towards the Makita system given they have the 2x18v tools, which seems more flexible than the Flexvolt concept, and the LXT batteries are easier to get hold of on discount (benchmark price roughly £10/Ah). Although Makita now have 40v XGT and maybe they're going to phase out the

2x18 idea?

I'd happily use Aldi or whatever batteries in adapters, but saws are tough on the batteries and I couldn't say for sure that the Aldi batteries can provide enough current. So rather suggests matching the battery to the saw and then adaptering other, less demanding, tools.

(Frustratingly, I already have a 36v 10ah lithium ion battery. But I don't think a 2x18v tool can be powered from a 1x36v supply, since the battery monitoring will get confused)

Adapter + another brand of 18v tool?

Theo

[Theo]

There's this kind of thing:

which claims to do it all (circ saw, multi material, track saw), but various people say the track isn't up to much (350mm pieces are too short). It might be better to get the bare saw and another brand of track. Also the dust collection is terrible.

Theo

[RJH]

From a sample size of 1, I can confirm a Lidl (Parkside) circular saw manages just fine - just the other day it got through a couple of metres of 22mm beech. And I've done dozens of projects over the past 3 years on the same pair of batteries, which still seem to take and hold charge as new. The previous batteries lasted 3 years almost to the day . . .

The main downside is that the 18V/2A batteries run down fairly quickly - one battery only just finished the beech cutting for example.

[John Rumm]

That gets a bit of coverage here:

Its a hybrid saw - basically a circular saw that can also run on a track rather than a true plunge saw. Actually probably a good match for your use case.

Yup one of the downsides of not being a true fully enclosed plunge saw.

The tracks are generally interchangeable between makers, so you can ignore the included ones and get what you need.

[John Rumm]

It sounds like basic circular saws will do what you need.

Track saws excel at breaking down panels, accuracy, and the offer better dust collection and safety. However you can get lots done with a traditional circular saw - you just lose some of the accuracy and ease of use for long rip cuts.

Yup, I have taken my small battery circular saw to Wickes in the past to get larger boards into the car!

Yup plunge is particularly handy for cutouts in things. As you say a more risky cut with a traditional circ saw since you have to pivot into the plunge while keeping straight, and you can't use a riving knife.

They will both do that well.

About the only thing I can think of that you could with with a workmate and a traditional saw, but not a plunge saw, is using it inverted, gripped in the workmate as a kind of poor man's table saw. With clamped on diagonal guides on top, that would let you make cove cuts.

I have a brake on my Makita LS1214 SCMS - its actually quite noisy in operation and also a change in sound from when cutting - so I am not sure it is any less disturbing that a normal spin down.

Well there are adaptors, but they are a bit of a hack, and possibly circumvent some of the protection circuitry built into the tool.

Yeah, sometimes worth watching the SF special offers as well. I have see say a basic drill driver but with two 5Ah batts and a charger for the same price as two batts on their own.

Probably not... My guess would be the 40V was a "me to" kind of thing to keep up with the marketing of the other brands. The 2x18V concept offers more flexibility in many cases and higher power density. (the 40V (or

36V if you use the same measuring criteria!) batts are smaller and lighter than 2x18V but offer a lower power density. Handy for some tools like an impact wrench, but not really an advantage on a chain saw or 9" angle grinder.

The circular saw is relatively heavy on batteries, but not as bad as an angle grinder.

Yup possibly... I have used them to run my old NiMh era ID from modern LXT batts.

To be fair there are not many tools I am likely to need where Makita don't have something.

[George Miles]

evolution tracksaw or new carpentry saw and tenon saw

[newshound]

It was quite slow, and the supporting structure was large. Cutting into a concrete building which had previously housed a (very low power) nuclear reactor for research.

[newshound]

Agree with all that. My main comment is that while table saws are useful for reducing the width of planks, they are less useful for cutting them to length unless you have plenty of space. So for DIY I would start with a hand-held circular saw plus sawboard (and a couple of workmates), then a chop saw or variant (the larger the better) and only get a table saw if you have a garage-sized workshop. As you have said, worth getting new or better blades for circular saw.

[newshound]

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Sawboards (I have 4 foot and 8 foot versions) are the single most useful carpentry tool that I have.

[Andy Burns]

That's not an uncontrollable rotary saw ... THIS is an uncontrollable rotary saw

Rewind to the start if you want to watch an hour of it being torn down, cleaned, repaired and re-assembled.