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Metabo circular saw buying guide

Updated: 21 October 2026

You have 18 mm chipboard for a kitchen carcass, or softwood on a driveway, and the amazon.co.uk results mix a £147.99 mains body with a £613.79 site kit and two cordless tools that do not include a battery. This Metabo circular saw buying guide sorts those five listings by cut depth, what the rail costs, and whether you already own Cordless Alliance System (CAS) 18 V packs. The [Metabo circular saw comparison](/hub/power-saws/metabo-circular-saw) holds the prices, scores and review counts captured on 20 October 2026. Peter F. compared the listings with public Metabo sheets. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have 18 mm chipboard for a kitchen carcass, or softwood on a driveway, and the amazon.co.uk results mix a £147.99 mains body with a £613.79 site kit and two cordless tools that do not include a battery.

Our top picks

Metabo KS 18 LTX 57 BL bare

Best overall

Metabo KS 18 LTX 57 BL bare
7.2/10about £159.95
View offer
Metabo KS 55 FS corded

Rank 2

Metabo KS 55 FS corded
8.6/10about £147.99
View offer
Metabo KS 55 FS + FS 160

Best value

Metabo KS 55 FS + FS 160
8.4/10about £274.69
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Depth and blade class
  2. 2.What you pay for a rail
  3. 3.Corded mains or a bare CAS body
  4. 4.Listing noise before you pay

Depth and blade class

Metabo’s KS 55 FS page states 55 mm at 90°, 39 mm at 45° and 50 mm on a guide rail, on a 160 × 20 mm blade. The £147.99 body, model 600955000, is 1,200 W with an 18-tooth blade for breaking sheet. The KS 18 sheet gives 57 mm at 90° and 52 mm on a rail. The KT 18 bullets claim up to 66 mm. That is plunge depth, not a KS figure. Rail names are on the guide rail page. The KS 85 set is 2,000 W and 8.4 kg, and the amazon block prints no depth. A 50 mm piece is at the KS 55 rail limit.

What you pay for a rail

FS is a groove in the shoe, not a rail in the carton. The bare KS 55 at £147.99 ships a blade, a parallel guide, a vacuum adapter and a wrench. The £274.69 set adds a case and FS 160, a 1,600 mm rail. It covers a 1,220 mm sheet width, not a 2,440 mm length in one pass. Reviews mention a tight room, a first cut that trims the rubber lip, and clamps bought separately. The £613.79 KS 85 set includes a KFS 44 timing rail, not a long FS rip rail. Which listing fits which job is on the best-of page.
Metabo KS 18 LTX 57 BL bare

Testsieger

Metabo KS 18 LTX 57 BL bare
7.2/10about £159.95
View offer

Corded mains or a bare CAS body

The KS 55 and KS 85 need a BS 1363 plug on 230–240 V. The KS 18 at £159.95 and the KT 18 at £359.00 are body-only: no battery and no charger. Price two CAS 18 V packs before you compare £159.95 with £147.99. That is a rule of thumb, not a quoted basket. Metabo puts the KS 18 at 2.7 kg without a pack; amazon says 3.7 kg, against about 4 kg for the KS 55. The cordless file is 5.0 from four reviews, against 4.7 from 227 on the bare KS 55. The corded versus cordless page includes the plunge saw.

Listing noise before you pay

The bare KS 55 page is Spanish-titled. Check model 600955000 and a UK 13 A plug. A battery row on the FS 160 set is listing noise. The KS 85 capture has no star line, so judge it on 2,000 W, 8.4 kg and the KFS 44. The KT is 3.9 from 33, with reports of a shoe that is not flat. Our top pick, when you buy the rail yourself, is the bare KS 55. Best value for saw, case and FS 160 together is the £274.69 set. Hand-held circular saws fall under BS EN 62841-2-5:2014. At work, HSE limits are 3 mg/m³ hardwood and 5 mg/m³ softwood dust over eight hours.

Common questions

Does FS mean a guide rail is included?
No. On the KS 55 FS and KS 85 FS, FS marks the groove in the shoe. The bare KS 55 FS at £147.99 ships a blade, a parallel guide and an extraction piece, not a rail. The set at £274.69 is the listing whose title names an FS 160 rail and a case. Read the title and the included-components line on the day you buy, because amazon rows on these pages are noisy.
How does the KS 55 compare with the KS 85 for depth?
Metabo states 55 mm at 90° and 50 mm on a rail for the KS 55 FS, on a 160 mm blade and a 1,200 W motor. The KS 85 FS set is a 2,000 W saw at 8.4 kg with a 24-tooth blade and a KFS 44 rail, and the amazon capture does not print a depth. Do not treat the two as the same class with a bigger motor. Check Metabo’s KS 85 sheet if a specific millimetre decides the purchase.
What does CAS add to the price?
The KS 18 LTX 57 BL at £159.95 and the KT 18 LTX 66 BL at £359.00 are body-only. You add at least one Metabo or CAS 18 V pack and a charger if you do not already own them. A second pack is the usual way to keep cutting while one charges. Until those prices are on the same list as the saw, the cordless sticker is not comparable with the corded KS 55 at £147.99.
How is the KT 18 different from the KS 18?
The KS 18 LTX 57 BL is a hand-held circular saw: 57 mm at 90° on Metabo’s UK sheet, a rail-ready shoe, and a leading-edge cut like the corded KS. The KT 18 LTX 66 BL is a plunge saw with a claimed depth up to 66 mm, variable speed and undercut, and it costs £359.00 before a battery and a rail. Reviews also repeat a warped shoe on the KT, which the KS 18 file, thin as it is, does not.
Can I use a Festool rail?
Metabo’s copy for the FS groove lists rails from Mafell, Bosch, Festool, Makita, HiKOKI and Hilti, and KS 55 reviews mention Festool and Makita tracks. That is compatibility of the groove, not a promise that clamps or a 1.6 m length ship with the saw. Confirm the rail you own before you skip the FS 160 set.

Related pages

How to use a Metabo circular saw

Metabo circular saw

Best Metabo circular saw UK: a rail, body or plunge

Metabo corded vs cordless circular saw: the real cost

Metabo circular saw guide rails: FS 160 and KFS 44

Sources

Public sources from the research digest, then the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Listings captured 20 October 2026.

  1. Metabo UK: KS 18 LTX 57 BL (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. Metabo: KS 55 FS (600955000) (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. Metabo UK cordless range catalogue 2025 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. Metabo: KFS 44 guide rail (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. HSE: Wood dust (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: Product marking, UKCA and CE (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. BSI: BS EN 62841-2-5:2014 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings for the five retained Metabo ASINs (retrieved 20 October 2026)