55 vs 75

[Kwolsen]

New to Festool. Have the TS55 Req plus and MFT/3, first project and I may not have thought about it enough and got the wrong saw. I need to rip to depth of 2-1/4" and the 55 won't go that deep. So, I'm still in the 30 day return window and considering returning and getting the 75. I've tried flipping the piece and cutting from other side to give more depth of cut, but can't get good results due to alignment errors. The 75 ships with a 36-tooth blade. If ripping clean pine to 2.5x2.5, will I get smooth glue ready edge with that 36-tooth blade? Also, will I get clean edges if ripping say a 36in rip down a 3/4" thick piece of pine?
Thanks

 

[Birdhunter]

My guess is that the cuts will not be perfectly normal as they would be using a jointer or a high quality table saw. Even a small variation in cut angle will be a big problem in edge to edge joining.

 

[PreferrablyWood]

New to Festool. Have the TS55 Req plus and MFT/3, first project and I may not have thought about it enough and got the wrong saw. I need to rip to depth of 2-1/4" and the 55 won't go that deep. So, I'm still in the 30 day return window and considering returning and getting the 75. I've tried flipping the piece and cutting from other side to give more depth of cut, but can't get good results due to alignment errors. The 75 ships with a 36-tooth blade. If ripping clean pine to 2.5x2.5, will I get smooth glue ready edge with that 36-tooth blade? Also, will I get clean edges if ripping say a 36in rip down a 3/4" thick piece of pine?
Thanks

The standard blade for the TS 75  ripping  3/4" og 2.5" will be fine.

 

[Svar]

Yes, in most cases you will get glue ready square cuts with TS75 and 36t blade. I do it all the time, so much easier than hand plane.

 

[Stephen B]

[size=13pt]Re Jointing with TS saws, see -http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/edge-jointing-a-countertop-with-the-ts75-(or-ts55)/30/

[member=1619]SRSemenza[/member]

 

[Digital_precision]

I have both of the saws and I can't really notice a consistent cut quality difference that can't be eliminated by adjusting blade rotation speed.  The only time I use the TS75 is for the obvious - depth.  With that being said I find the TS55 being used at least 25x more frequently than the 75.  In hindsight, the agility of the saw is far more important to me personally than the added depth of cut.  I do have a Sawstop industrial table saw with a great infeed/outfeed area, which further eliminates my need for the TS75.  It truly depends on how much deep hardwoods you'll be cutting up and if you have a quality table saw rig already available. 

As to the heart of the original question, no, I wouldn't get a TS75 expecting that you are going to get a better quality cut from it.  I'd adjust the TS55's squareness, blade type, blade speed and feed rate.  You truly can and will get better cuts with the TS55 than you'll see on the factory edges but if you're doing furniture quality work/glue ups I can't imagine not running them through a jointer first. 

 

[Paul G]

[size=13pt]Re Jointing with TS saws, see -http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/edge-jointing-a-countertop-with-the-ts75-(or-ts55)/30/

[member=1619]SRSemenza[/member]

Yup, this ^^

 

[Kwolsen]

I have both of the saws and I can't really notice a consistent cut quality difference that can't be eliminated by adjusting blade rotation speed.  The only time I use the TS75 is for the obvious - depth.  With that being said I find the TS55 being used at least 25x more frequently than the 75.  In hindsight, the agility of the saw is far more important to me personally than the added depth of cut.  I do have a Sawstop industrial table saw with a great infeed/outfeed area, which further eliminates my need for the TS75.  It truly depends on how much deep hardwoods you'll be cutting up and if you have a quality table saw rig already available. 

As to the heart of the original question, no, I wouldn't get a TS75 expecting that you are going to get a better quality cut from it.  I'd adjust the TS55's squareness, blade type, blade speed and feed rate.  You truly can and will get better cuts with the TS55 than you'll see on the factory edges but if you're doing furniture quality work/glue ups I can't imagine not running them through a jointer first.

Thanks for the replies. Your comment about agility of the 55 is really resonating with me. I'm sure the 55 will be fine for the majority of my use cases. If I could just figure out how to rip some pine that is true 3x3 x30 to true 2x2x30 with the 55 I'd be happy camper. I don't have any of the various dogs yet and very new to using the 55, MFT3 and protractor head. I do have the longer 1900/2 rail though. I'm making some desk legs. Thanks !!

 

[Digital_precision]

The dogs I use are Qwas dogs, in particular the original Qwas Dogs, A-dogs, and Fence Dogs.  All are available from qwasproducts website, and there is a package deal that I bought from Bob Marino's Festool website.  The more I use the dogs (and MFTs in general) I can see how it's possible to not have a table saw or miter saw and still get good results.  I would be shocked if I ever fully migrated away from either of those, but as I get older the more I dread setting up and tearing down the mobile jobsite each day, and two of the biggest culprits are the full size mobile contractor table saw and miter saw.  Discovering things like the Parallel Edge Guide for the TS55 (item 491469) helps, as you don't even need to use the FS guide rails at all.  Sure, it has size limitations, but I can honestly say that item alone has me using the track saw more than ever before.