Grizzly Track Saw.

[Dave Diaman]

Grouse,
Here is my take on track saws. My bread and butter is reproduction furniture so I don't do much with sheet goods in general. However I usually take one custom cabinet job a year just to throw some variety in the mix. I hate breaking down sheet goods in my shop. I'm just not set up to work with large sheet goods. I prefer to break everything down outside before it goes into the shop. I had been borrowing a Festool track saw to break everything down. Finally I bit the bullet and bought one of the Grizzly saws since the price was so much easier to swallow. Is it as nice as the Festool? No it isn't but after I put a new blade which was the first thing I did the cut quality was better than the Festool. This was 100% due to the blade. It is a little more awkward to plunge but after a few times I had it down. If you have really small hands it might be more of a problem. Other than it being a little heavier I can't say that functionally there is really any big differences. I got the whole set up with an extra 55" rail for under $300. You can get a $25 toward shipping coupon for new email subscribers. For occasional use the Grizzly is hard to beat. Just keep an eye out for a replacement blade for it. You can pick a pretty nice one up on Amazon for $20-30 and you will be in business. If you have any other questions feel free to contact me.

[arthropod98]

good to hear you're happy with the grizzly.

i ended up going with the makita, and i'm really happy with it.

i'm only upset that i waited so long to get one of these setups. for breaking down sheet goods, it's just awesome.

[WaterlooMarc]

I have the opposite issue. For years I put off buying one and suffering through breaking down panel goods with a circular saw or wrestling pieces onto the tablesaw. I finally bit the bullet and bought the festool (already had a vac and sander, so why not) and damned if i haven't used a sheet of plywood in over a year!

[arthropod98]

it's like buying a snowblower!

might i also recommend the 4X8 centipede to go along with any tracksaw purchase.

[Dave Diaman]

I Almost bought the Makita. I found a deal on one for the saw and track new for $375. It just killed me to spend the extra money on the additional track which I did need. One thing about Makita is the blades on their saws are awesome. The blade I took off my old Makita slider is still one of my favorite miter saw blades and it has been sharpened many times. I'm guessing the same is true for their track saw. The only draw back I was able to find with the Makita was no riving knife but if all you are doing is sheet goods anyway I don't think that feature is all that important.

[arthropod98]

yep, VERY pleased with the blade that came with the makita.

i figured since i survived all these years with a cheapo guide and circular saw, i'd be allright without the riving knife.

[sbarlin]

I had one. I put a Freud blade on it and I thought the cut was pretty good. I got a good deal on a Festool so I sold the Grizzly. I just use then to break down plywood. If I hadn't found the Festool I would have been happy with the Grizzly.

[AHill]

I've seen several reviews of track saws, including one in FWW.  Grizz came in dead last in all of them.  The saw itself was rougher, adjustments were not as smooth as the others, and it had less power than the higher rated saws.  Festool was rated highest in the FWW review, and it wasn't even the highest priced saw (some other European saw was priced higher).  Dewalt and Makita seem to get good reviews on the forums.

[Alan S]

There are a lot of videos on youtube showing how to modify the Grizzly (scheppach) tracksaw to keep it from wobbling on the track (though putting slick tape on the bottom of the saw and leaving the track unmodified works fine), reduce plunge force by trimming the spring, or improve dust collection by closing up the big air gaps.  If you don't think you should need to modify your saw, buy a more expensive one that doesn't need it.  But by doing these things and adding a good blade, you can make a Grizzly behave quite well for a lot less than the price of the nearest competitor.

I have helped set up one of these so it works well, but in my shop I use a tablesaw and standard circular saw with guide.

[Landis Stoots]

I own one and for the price its ok. I cut a lot of plywood and i only use it to get to sizes i can handle. I do use it a lot for angles on plywood and again its ok.the blade cuts with only a small anount of tear out and i always cut on back sade so this is not a issue. My only problem with saw is the strips on the bottom of guide came off after about 12 cuts . grizzly does not sell replacements but dewalt does and they stick to track much better. I got two tracks and they fit together great as there is no bump crossing over to second track on a 8 foot cut. All in all I would rate this saw as a 8.5 out of 10. Again great price and i do use it a lot.