Bigger isn’t always better. Grizzly’s 4-1/2″ mini-track saw is an intriguing tool because it is lighter and more compact than most other track saws and it is designed to cut a variety of materials including wood, steel, and stone. It is also far cheaper.
The saw uses a 4-1/2″ blade with a 7/8″ arbor hole. With such a small blade, the cut depth is limited to just 1-1/16″ when used with the track and 1-1/4″ without it.
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Grizzly makes the saw body from aluminum and “engineered” plastic. This 7 pound saw features a 1.5HP, 10A universal motor spins the blade at 12,000 RPM.
To make straight line cuts, like all track saws, you can just rest the track right on the material you are cutting. The track won’t slip, due to the non-slip back, or you can attach the track to the material with optional rail clamps. The track is sold in 24″ long sections, and can be joined together with a track connector to make longer cuts.
The plunge cutting action of the saw also lets you start cuts right in the middle of a panel without mucking about with guards and blocks, which would be needed to make the same type of cut with a traditional circular saw.
Much of the dust created by a cut can be collected through the 1-1/2″ dust port.
Grizzly bundles the saw with four different blades:
- A 20-tooth carbide-tipped blade for cutting wood and wood-based material
- A 40-tooth carbide-tipped for cutting soft metals, melamine panels, and plastics
- An abrasive disc for cutting steel
- A diamond-tipped blade for cutting tile, slate, brick, stone, and concrete
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Right now you can purchase the saw without a track from Grizzly for $90, it’s normally $110. The base saw does include the four blades. Shipping is showing to be $12.
Note: When this post was first published, the sale price was $70.
Price: $110 reg., $90 on sale
Buy Now (Mini Track Saw only)
You can also buy a kit that includes the track saw, the four different blades, a 24″ section of track, a track connector, two track clamps, and a limit stop for $140. Regular price is $163, and shipping is showing as $19.
Price: $163 reg., $140 on sale
Buy Now (Mini Track Saw Master Pack)
It is unclear as to whether the saw is compatible with any other brands’ tracks.
First Thoughts
If I would have known about this saw when I was installing laminate flooring in our family room, I would have jumped to buy it. When I was installing the floor, I ended up going down to the basement to make all my cuts on my miter and table saws. I didn’t want to spread dust all over the house and I was too lazy to lug both saws upstairs. Sure I could have used my circular saw, but it spews dust everywhere.
A saw like this would have allowed me to make all the cuts quickly and accurately and suck up a good chunk of the dust as well — all for about a quarter of the price of a bigger track saw.
I’m sure I would have found a ton of uses for this saw after that project. Most of what I use my circular saw for is breaking down plywood before bringing it down to my shop, so the one inch cut depth wouldn’t matter. And with a track saw I could cut plywood to the final dimensions right in my garage without the added step of using my table saw.
fred
Like you my table saw (a 40 year old Unisaw) is in a basement shop. (I have Bosch 4100 jobsite saw in my Garage for when I’m travelling to one of the kids houses – but use the Unisaw more often) While I have a big Bilco door to get into the basement, I much prefer to break down sheet goods before carrying them down. Before I bought my Festool (160mm blade) track saw – my tool of choice was a Rockwell-Porter Cable 9314 worm-gear saw – which also sports a 4-1/2 inch blade. I still grab this saw occasionally – and as you say 4-1/2 inch is plenty for sheet goods and flooring. I guess if I were making butcher block counter tops or dealing with thick slabs of wood the 4-1/2 size or even the 160mm blade would be a detriment – but for many applications its fine.
BTW – having the abrasive and diamond blades is a neat addition by Grizzly – but if sparks are flying – hooking the saw up to a conventional vacuum is a no-no.
Benjamen
Good point about sparks and using a vacuum, I’m really surprised they don’t warn about it. It’s not in the manual. The closest I could find was this line:
STEEL CUTTING SAFETY. Cutting steel can produce sparks. Do not cut steel near explosive gasses or flamable [sic] liquids.
john
That is a smart little saw.
I always have thought there is a space in the market for a compact plunge saw.
The TS55 sized ones are big enough and blimey the TS75 is like moving a tank around
Nathan
I’m intrigued – that depth would cut just about anything I would use a track saw for. I mean I wish it was say 5 inches but whatever.
so being grizzly I wonder if there is another version of this out there. also I’m not that familiar with blades in that size – will getting replacement blades be an issue?
Benjamen
Grizzly sells a replacement pack for $30:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Replacement-Blades-for-T10824-4-pk-/T26876
A quick search of Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?field-keywords=4.5+inch+saw+blade
So you can get replacement blades from other sources too for $10-$15. I see carbide, diamond, and masonry blades.
With an aftermarket blade, you might have to pay close attention to the width of the blade though, because it cuts right next to the track.
fred
The arbor size might be a problem. My 4-1/2 inch saw has a 3/8 inch arbor for which blades are available from Porter Cable (OEM) as well as aftermarket blades from Forrest and Freud (TK001 uses a bushing to reduce size from 20mm to 3/8). The Forrest is an excellent blade – and if you asked them they might re-bore it to fit the Grizzly saw.
http://www.amazon.com/Forrest-WW04H407080-Woodworker-64-Inch-Circular/dp/B000OMR19M
Benjamen
Okay forget that previous Amazon search:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=4-1%2F2%22+blade+7%2F8+inch+arbor
I’m not familiar with this market, but looking at masonry blades and grinders, 7/8″ seems to be a common sized arbor (at least with an adapter). That’s probably why they went with 7/8″ and not 20mm.
There’s only one wood blade in the search that’ll fit this saw. The Kwik Tool 24 tooth one that’ll run you $17.
Jimmie
I wish more circular saws included dust shrouds like this.
Blythe M
Cool idea, I can see a lot of applications. Side note- they say you can cut tile with this, but those segmented blades, and turbo rim for that matter, produce a horrible cut edge. You really need to get a continuous edge blade for tile
Dean
Interesting… It would be nice if they sold their track in 48″ or 55″ lengths rather than 24″. I guess they don’t want to compete with their full size $ 250 kit that comes with the saw and a 55″ track.
Dennis
I’ve never owned anything from Grizzly. How do their tools rate/compare?
Nathan
personally I’d call them the Harbor Freight of industrial tools. Only because every Grizzly thing I’ve ever used has been from china – and they are considerably cheaper than other like devices – usually because of missing features.
quality wise though honestly they aren’t bad. both of my grinding and polishing wheels (6 and 8 inch – on stands) in my garage are front Grizzly. with stands they were cheaper than other competing devices – most of whom were also made overseas – with similar sized or bigger motors – so I bought Grizzly.
Nathan
TL:DR revisit
I have used some of their stuff – it’s OK and I would be comfortable buying that device shown above. it would most likely work as advertised.
fred
Can’t comment on their power tools – but If you live near or are travelling past one of their showrooms – they are great paces to visit.
Jimmie
I’ve never used Grizzly’s portable tools but I’ve had no troubles out of my G0555X bandsaw (though I do wish it offered dual speeds).. Their G1023-series cabinet saws are generally well-regarded for the price as well.
s.h
Very danger to use this saw for wood because RPM very high( more than 10,000)
and all saws blade MAX. speed less than 10,000 RPM.
fred
Unless there is typo on the Grizzly catalog page – you are right.
They list the motor speed at 28,050 RPM – which would be OK for a router – but not for a saw – even one with a smallish diameter blade.
18,00 SFPM is about the maximum you want to run a blade at – and normally stay below 15,000 SFPM. So for a 4.5 inch blade – that has a circumference of 7.64 inches – at 18,000 SFPM – that translates to a maximum RPM of 11,462 – and a preferred maximum RPM (at 15,000 SFPM) of 9552.
For comparison purposes my old Rockwell-Porter Cable 9314 4-1/2 inch worm gear saw runs at 4500 RPM
fred
BTW – you can back calculate to see what size blade might be OK at 28,500 RPM. My calculation says its something like 2 inch diameter (14923 SFPM)
Benjamen
They state that the motor spins at 28,050RPM, but if you look at their spec sheet they state the arbor speed is a more reasonable 12,000RP. If you look at the parts diagram in the manual there’s a 16 tooth gear driving a 34 tooth gear a 1:2.125 reduction .
PDF: http://cdn2.grizzly.com/manuals/t10824_m.pdf
s.h is right, I missed this, and I should not have. I assumed it was direct drive. I do not know why you would call out a motor speed instead of the arbor speed.
fred
The manual also specifies the blade rim speed at 14,222 SFPM – which is just about an ideal speed for cutting wood.
Pete
Only a 24″ track? Seems short for any considerable project that a track saw is even needed.
Benjamen
That’s what I thought at first, but being a specialty product I can see why they would only want to sell one length of track that connects together to make larger track rather than multiple track sizes.
fred
I’m not sure how good Grizzly’s rail connectors are – but I’m not a fan of Festool’s. When I bought the T55 – it came with the 1400mm (55 inch) track. I bought an 800mm (32 inch track) for convenience – and planned to buy a second 1400mm track. When I tried a setup connecting the 800mm and 1400mm tracks with Festool’s 482107 connectors – I was not pleased with the result. Lots of fiddling was needed to get things aligned, and they did not stay aligned over multiple cuts. I ended up biting the bullet and bought the outrageously expensive (IMO) 2700mm (106 inch) track – rather than a second 1400mm track.
CB
I too have to chime in about safety of wood cutting with this thing. I’m sure it’s fine but the spec’s say Motor Speed is: 28,050 RPM!
That’s smoking fast for cutting plywood. Can’t imagine what would happen if there was kickback? Which can be a easy thing to do when someone (improperly) extends a saw with just one hand while trying to rip a long 8′ sheet down.
In perspective a Delta Unisaw cabinet tablesaw is 3450 RPM which is the typical motor speed for most tablesaws.
Second issue, I can’t find any wood carbide cutting blades in 4- 1/2″ size rated higher than 10,000 rpm. The Grizzly rated speed is 3x’s past the safe working speed for most blades.
It’s a cool little saw even though Grizzly probably paid for this write up on Toolguyd, I would have to say if you search around you will find others almost identical to being sold abroad by other companies. I think this originally came from/designed by a European company like there larger T10687 saw.
CB
Just editing my own comment. I too missed this and only saw the 28,000 which is scary fast like a die cutter. You are correct above about the rpm’s at blade tip but does it still mean it’s above the recommended safe working speed of 10,000 rpm’s rating of most wood saw blades of this size?
fred
You might read the comments above – from Ben about the gearing that brings the motor speed down to an arbor speed – much lower – and a very acceptable blade rim speed spec’d at 14222 SFPM. Also remember that your Unisaw (mine too) has a 10 inch blade with a circumference 2.22 times a 4.5 inch blade – so naturally you want to spin it at a lower speed. It is SFPM that you need to focus on – not just RPM. I’m not supporting or in anyway recommending anyone buying this saw – and it would not find a place in my shop – but I’m just making an observation.
Also I would think that Grizzly buys these saws from an OEM somewhere in Asia – and that their OEM and other’s probably market similar if not identical tools. I’ve noted in the past that some of these Asian tool companies list motor RPMs as “no-load speed” – so it is sometimes hard to tell what actual speed will be under load.
Benjamen
“It’s a cool little saw even though Grizzly probably paid for this write up on Toolguyd,”
I don’t know if you think your making a joke or if you are serious. But I take this kind of accusation seriously.
First off, no I did not get paid to write this, nor did Grizzly prompt me to do it. I actually saw a Tweet (this one: https://twitter.com/Grizzly/status/623135119088332800)
and thought that it was something cool to write about.
Second Stuart does not allow paid placement read his About section (on the bottom nav bar right now). This is the relevant part:
Ultimately, there’s no way I can make you trust me, so you have to look at the quality of my content, the content on this site, and how open Stuart has been in the past about any relationships he’s had with other companies.
As for other similar saws, I didn’t run into any while I was researching this, and I didn’t find any just now after specifically searching for a couple of minutes. Do you have any links or leads? I’d be happy to take a look and update this post is there was another similar source.
fred
Here is one possibility – although blade size on this one is 110mm – which is closer to 4-3/8 inches
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/1050W-Track-Saw-with-Guide-Rail_60243988794.html?spm=a2700.7724838.35.1.JIs2x7&s=p
Stuart
As mentioned, Grizzly probably published whatever specs were provided by the OEM.
As for the “Grizzly probably paid ToolGuyd for this post” part – really?! You’ve been following and commenting on ToolGuyd for a couple of months, and should know better.
I don’t think I have ever heard from or reached out to anyone at Grizzly, let alone been solicited for sponsored posts.
Michael
I don’t believe I have ever seen the integrity of this sight questioned before. I would hope that was an ilconcieved joke
Anton
Let me get this straight, if I buy everything separately instead of the kit, I can end up with an extra track for free?
Benjamen
Yeah, I guess I didn’t do the math on that one and assumed the one sale master pack would be a deal. Here’s a case where it really pays to scrutinize sale prices. This is what Anton is Talking about:
The Master Pack is $140.
The Bare saw is $70, one track is $23, and the accessory pack is $20. which is $113.
So if you buy everything that is in the master pack separately, you save $27! enough to buy another track.
Good catch!
Anton
Exactly,
But it looks like you need to be careful about the accessory pack. The one for $19.95 is for their full size track saw but shows up as a related product occasionally. The one for 23.95 is the one for the mini track saw leaving $23 and some change left over. It seems like its almost on purpose.
Still trying to find a justifiable excuse to get into it. Minimum investment is almost $150 but the full size one is only $250.
Benjamen
That accessories pack for the full size track saw looks pretty darn close to the pack for the mini track saw, but…
I looked at the manual for both the large track saw and the mini track saw and the track connector and track clamps are different part numbers.
Yes, be very careful to order the right accessory pack. Like you said it showed up in the related products for me when I was pricing it.
Brian
if/when they offer a 100″ and 50″ track, I would be interested. I dont care for split tracks. Too bad it cant share the track with the bigger one.
Ole
Here is a version with european voltage specs, sold under the german Scheppach name. Looks like a similar kit with several blades and a track.
http://www.scheppach.com/Produktdetails/Tauchsaege-PL305-scheppach—-230V-50Hz-1010W.aspx
Joren Wendschuh
Was looking for a metal cutting track saw for some aluminum and steel stock.
No longer offered by Grizzly.
Any idea on any other options out there?
Stuart
For cutting wood? Yes. For cutting aluminum and steel? Unfortunately, no.