The Right (Fes)tool For The Job

A Festool plunge-cut saw is a versatile addition to your workshop. Add ‘cordless’ to the equation, as well as Festool’s rail system, and you have a highly capable all-rounder that’s suited to a range of cutting applications.

- Mark Samuel

WHEN I WAS A boy, my dad was always doing woodworking projects, so I was exposed to a garage full of hand- and power tools. My dad has a safety-first philosophy, so wearing eye-, ear- and body protection when operating power tools was the norm. (He was the operator, I was the helper.)

But all the protective gear in the world didn’t make me less afraid of his radial-arm power saw. That thing seemed angry, and the unreasonable sounds it made while dad was cutting certainly backed up my theory. Like an enraged predator, it looked poised to devour a finger, hand or forearm in the blink of an eye.

That impression has always stuck with me, when it comes to power saws, so when I received a new Festool cordless plunge-cut saw from Vermont Sales to review, I had a nagging apprehension deep in the reptilian complex of my brain. Was this tool going to exhibit those same angry traits as my dad’s decades-old saw?

I can happily reassure you that the answer is a resounding no. Never have I used such a politely behaved, easy-to-operate and well-designed power saw. Festool knows a thing or two about making power tools.

This cordless plunge-cut saw takes the notion of circular saws to the next level. It’s designed to be exceptionally safe, operating in a way that makes it very difficult to injure yourself. Every component on the saw that can be adjusted is bright green, a clever feature on all Festool power tools. The depth-of-cut adjustment (up to 55 mm on this model, or 5 mm less when paired with a guide rail) is green, the cut-angle adjustment lever is green, the safety trigger is green, the cut speed dial is green, and so are the knobs for detaching the batteries. Even the zipper on the sawdust bag gets the treatment.