Festool’s Schwertsägen—or in English, sword saw—is the chainsaw version of a corded circular saw. This isn’t a completely new idea; Prazi has been doing it for years, but their product is a chainsaw attachment for standard wormdrive or sidewinder saws. What’s different about the Sword Saw is it’s a purpose-built as a chainsaw circular saw that’s designed to be very precise. A groove in the base allows it to be used with the same guide rails used by Festool track saws. As with circular saws, the base of the sword saw can be tilted—in this case from 0-60 degrees.
There are two different versions of the Schwertsägen. The smaller one (first video below) is a carpentry tool designed for cutting wood and other dense materials up to 7 7/8 inches thick. The larger one is designed for cutting structural insulated panels (SIPs) up to 13 inches thick. Both saws take chain oil, have multiple speeds, and can be connected to dust extractors—an unusual feature for a tool with a chain.
Introduced in Europe in 2009, the sword saw originally carried the Protool brand label (second video below). According to a post by jo041326 on the Festool Owner’s Group forum, Protool was created by Festool’s parent company (Tool Technic Systems) after it purchased a Czech tool company called Narex. Narex power tools were aimed at the hobbyist; Protool’s were aimed at professional carpenters. In the fall of 2013 the Protool brand was discontinued, but some of its products live on and now carry the Festool label—including the saw shown here.
Currently available in Europe, the Schwertsägen may or may not make it to the U.S. market. I’m betting it will, since Festool’s European products usually find their way here—though it sometimes takes a while for it to happen.
In case you are wondering what Festool knows about chainsaws—well, they claim to have invented the portable chainsaw in 1925. It wasn’t exactly them; it was Fezer and Stoll, which became Festo in 1933. Festo spun off its tool division in 2000 and renamed it Festool. At the very bottom of this page is a video of a couple of guys trying to start an early Festo chainsaw.
