Metabo KS 55 FS Circular Saw Compact Sawing for Demanding Users


Independent Review by Peter Brett


Not every site chippy or home user wants the biggest saw in the range. There are lots of reasons why not. Most roofing professionals will use roof timbers of 35 to 50mm thick much of the time. To lug a bigger and heavier saw up a scaffold and use it in a confined space is simply a pain. A smaller saw, that is just as capable, is in fact, a better solution. It will be easier to handle, lighter and possibly more accurate in the right hands. Enter the Metabo KS 55 FS – to my mind a great little saw that is professionally specified and robust enough to cut it on the site with the big builders. With my furniture-


making hat on, I use circular saws a lot, so I very quickly sort out the ones that I like using and the ones I don’t. In my head I divide them into the ones I would be prepared to pay my own hard-earned cash for and those I would not.


My pet hates are


unsuitable blades that leave a rough finish, very noisy and rough motors and dust spouts that deliver dust down the front of the trousers when the vacuum tube comes out unexpectedly. You will not be surprised to learn that better saws usually come into the “more expensive” price range! With all of this in mind I unpacked the Metabo


from its custom made quality case and gave it the once over. The thing that struck me first of all was the big flat cast alloy base. This is good news. A big, flat base means easier and more accurate cuts because the saw is well supported and will not tend to flip to one or other side. When I examined the base more carefully I


noticed that the base has cast-in grooves ready for the addition of an optional guide rail. Good news! I am a total convert to guide rail saws since they literally save me hours of cutting and planing. To have this option on a small circular saw intended for site use is a definite bonus. There is also a small adjustable steel side fence included as standard. The connections between the base and saw are also important for accurate work. They need to be


strong, easy to adjust and accurate. The Metabo KS 55 meets all these criteria. Although the connections are made in black plastic, they are actually easier to use that the usual bent steel ones, and the graduations on the angle scale are clearly marked in five degree segments. If you move the red tab out of the way at the top of the scale you can even go slightly over the 45 degree mark! Simple butterfly nuts are used to hold the adjustments, but they are easily accessible, reliable and not fiddly to use.


pushed either way by thumb or opposing forefinger. Both the front handle and main handle have a grippy black rubber overmould that is comfortable to use. Blade changing is pretty easy because there is a big


red-buttoned spindle lock below the auxiliary handle and the necessary hex key hidden in front of the front angle adjuster quadrant. The standard blade is a160mm of high quality with


eighteen TCT teeth. For general site work this is really good enough, and I found that it gave a pretty smooth cut in hardwoods and softwoods, particularly across the grain. For more specialist cutting in MDF or ply it would be better to buy a blade with more teeth like the Metabo Precision Cut blade. Indeed, if you wanted to cut metals as well as wood and manmade boards, there is also the Metabo Multi Cut blade. As it happened, I


was able to test this saw on some rough sawn oak planks I had just bought from the timber yard and need to reduce them to planeable sizes for a table project. The planks were about 32 mm thick and the KS


Depth of cut is adjustable via a red lever beneath


the handle and although the scale is a bit vague, it is workable enough for the kind of use this saw is intended for. Upper and lower blade guards are made of coated


cast alloy and are very substantial to provide protection for the blade and the user. The bottom blade guard is spring loaded so that it moves out of the way as the cut advances, and a big red lever can be used to reveal the blade when necessary – for example when cutting close up to an edge. The red lever is big enough to keep the fingers well out of the way of the blade. Right at the back of the blade guard is a plastic


extraction spout with a standard 35mm diameter outlet. A standard vacuum pipe should fit this without any problems. For a 1200w motor the ABS housing is


remarkably slim and compact with motor ventilation slots as well hidden from dust as they can be. As we would expect from a Metabo tool, the housing is very well made and the controls are logically placed and easy to use. The main handle holds


the trigger mechanism, but the trigger cannot be operated unless the push- through safety switch is used. This switch is suitable for left or right- handers as it can be


16 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE www.toolbusiness.co.uk


55 FS had no trouble getting through them at all. Noise levels from the motor and blade were remarkably quiet bearing in mind that the timber was hard oak that was pretty dry. At first I didn’t bother with the dust extraction as I


was working outside on a pair of trestles – but I soon changed my mind as my trousers were right in line with the stream of dust that was pouring out of the dust spout. I figured that if the dust was being collected in that quantity then the addition of the vac was a good idea. Once connected, very little dust escaped onto the path or my trousers. I grew to like this little saw very much, and


although I didn’t get a chance to use it with the guide rail, I think that with the rail it would be a very handy package for shopfitters and carpenters of whatever stripe.


Reply No. 217


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