Advice sought: replace table saw w/ Kapex and track saw

[StevenO]

Advice and/or opinions requested:  I'm considering selling my table saw (excellent saw in all regards: Inca 2200; about 15+ years old-- only hobbyist use); and replacing it with all Festool: specifically the Kapex and a track saw (I would need to purchase the Kapex and its stand, but I already have TS55 EQ and several tracks, as well as the MTF 3).  I could use the smaller footprint in my small shop, plus added safety of no table saw at all.    Advice and/or opinions about this move?  Have others done this, too?  Thanks in advance.

 

[dltflt]

I was thinking of doing the same thing. I have found that I still need a table saw for the narrow cuts.  So my plan is to get a portable table saw for doing the narrow rips.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I don't get the unsafe stigmata table saws get around here.  I have cut the same finger 3 times with a miter saw, including my kapex.

Almost lost some toes with my rail saw.  Anything with spinning blades can be dangerous and I use lots of things with dangerous spinning blade things.

 

[curt boyer]

Why would want to get rid of your table saw? The track saw is great for cutting doors, plywood, flooring inlays,and a lot more. When it comes to ripping repeatable small pieces the table saw rules! With a table saw you can miter, bevel, dado, rebate, and scribe. I use my TS55 a lot as a carpenter but I use my table saw everyday. Keep the table saw and buy the green!

 

[Stephen B]

[size=12pt]

If you use recycled, or purchase rough sawn timber you will want to keep your table saw. I still use mine for ripping when rough sizing timber in conjunction with a planner before thicknessing to the exact size I require. I have recently installed a ripping only blade.

Consequently it is still part of the team in the shop, with Makita Compound (will one day replace with Kapex) and T55.

And +1 what Warner said. I have had more incidents with compound saws (mine and others), than with my table saw.

 

[NiteWalkerGR]

I'd never get rid of my table saw.
When it comes to efficiency of cutting, plus versatility in what you can do with it, the table saw is hard to beat.

I'm sure a tracksaw is nice, but the kapex is one of the festool products I'd never touch, along with their router table.

 

[Throwback7r]

I love my Kapex, I don't understand anyone that would not want to use something that is really nice. I can't find any other saw that is better than the Kapex.  The track saw with the parallel guide set Will do just about everything that a table saw can but I think better. I think it is more accurate and I think it is totally safer than a non retractable blade saw.

 

[NiteWalkerGR]

The track saw with the parallel guide set Will do just about everything that a table saw can but I think better.

Narrow, repetitive rips? Box joints? Dados? Tenons? Etc?

 

[Toolpig]

I have a TS55, and MFT3, and a Kapex, and I would never be without my tablesaw.  Many operations are just faster and easier on a tablesaw, especially a nice big cabinet saw!

Advice and/or opinions requested:  I'm considering selling my table saw (excellent saw in all regards: Inca 2200; about 15+ years old-- only hobbyist use); and replacing it with all Festool: specifically the Kapex and a track saw (I would need to purchase the Kapex and its stand, but I already have TS55 EQ and several tracks, as well as the MTF 3).  I could use the smaller footprint in my small shop, plus added safety of no table saw at all.    Advice and/or opinions about this move?  Have others done this, too?   Thanks in advance.

 

[Stone Message]

Advice and/or opinions requested:  I'm considering selling my table saw (excellent saw in all regards: Inca 2200; about 15+ years old-- only hobbyist use); and replacing it with all Festool: specifically the Kapex and a track saw (I would need to purchase the Kapex and its stand, but I already have TS55 EQ and several tracks, as well as the MTF 3).  I could use the smaller footprint in my small shop, plus added safety of no table saw at all.    Advice and/or opinions about this move?  Have others done this, too?   Thanks in advance.

I did exactly this 3 years ago and have not looked back. See my recent review of the Kapex.

I do have a CMS TS which I use for rebate work and ripping thin strips. I also use a bandsaw for resawing.

Kapex is brilliant. TS and rails is also brilliant. They will change your woodworking for ever.

Peter

 

[Kev]

The answer depends on what you do, but a table saw is a good tool for many specific processes.

Safety on table saws relates to the user (as it does with just about anything). Eye protection, push sticks and common sense are you best safety aids here! Don't get sucked into some of the hype pedalled.

 

[grbmds]

It truly is difficult to do without a table saw and, even though I've been using the TS55 for about a year, I have not yet sold my table saw. (Partly it just seems stupid to sell something I won't get much money for, since it's not a world class saw. I already have it, so keep it even though it is not a great performer.) I don't know whether I will be able to get along without using the table saw at all, but I'm trying and, since buying the TS 55, have only used the table saw once, so I'm almost there, I think. It seems like a great challenge to find another way to do something when my first though is using the table saw, but then I don't woodwork for a living and don't need to worry about whether something takes me a little bit longer or not.

 

[Throwback7r]

The track saw with the parallel guide set Will do just about everything that a table saw can but I think better.

Narrow, repetitive rips? Box joints? Dados? Tenons? Etc?

Narrow Repetitive rips, the Parallel guide set can do them splinter free. The only thing that is harder for them to do is to cut down uneven stock E.I. ripping trim

Box joints can be done with a router
Dados can be done with a router or repetitive cuts on the track saw " not as efficient"

Tenons are done with the Domino ..

Festool is truly a system with many parts, And if you don't have a lot of the system it makes somethings really hard. I did not fully understand it at first, after I went to a training class I saw some different ways to do things that is when I saw the light.

 

[tjbnwi]

I use a table saw very seldom. Have yet to find a cut I cannot make with the TS-55 or 75. I do not own parallel guides and narrow rips are no problem at all. Do a search, I believe someone posted how to achieve accurate rips with the TS.

Tom

 

[Stone Message]

Narrow Repetitive rips, the Parallel guide set can do them splinter free. The only thing that is harder for them to do is to cut down uneven stock E.I. ripping trim

If you had a strip of wood, say 6 feet long and 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch thick could you use your method to rip it into two pieces 3/16 inch by 1 inch?

Peter

 

[tjbnwi]

Narrow Repetitive rips, the Parallel guide set can do them splinter free. The only thing that is harder for them to do is to cut down uneven stock E.I. ripping trim

If you had a strip of wood, say 6 feet long and 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch thick could you use your method to rip it into two pieces 3/16 inch by 1 inch?

Peter

I can. I've done it up to 17' long at 1/8" width, 5/4 thick with no blade wash at the end of the cut.

These are 3/4 material, by 4-5' by 3/16. They very through the entire flitch (end to end, piece to piece) no more than 0.002.

I've resawed 5-1/2" wide by 3/4" thick material with my TS-55 into 1/4" strips by 5-1/2".

How easy is it to straight line a bowed board on a table saw? The TS will out preform a contractor and most shop grade table saws when it comes to straight lining a board.

Tom

 

[amt]

I am always in awe how some here can rip a very thin piece in to 2 even thinner pieces with the track saw.  I still cannot master this after many attempts.  Even so, some day I would like to make this work for me.  I think I just need a well designed cutting jig/table to take all of the potential error out of a cut like this.

 

[CNX]

I once read an article in Fine Woodworking, explaining by a master woodworker how he can do his work without a table saw. He uses a bandsaw for most of his work.
So, I think a table saw is not a must, although I agree it can do many things faster.
As a hobbyist, I too feel uncomfortable with my table saw and, after I got the tracksaw, I always think a way not to use the table saw.
Yes, it may need few more extra work, but we are not working in a production workshop. It is a part of fun to learn new tricks and master it.
Even if the risk is small, I don't want any injury from my woodworking. In addition, many hobbyists, including me, are not obtaining a proper safety training either.
In the Festool guide by Brice Burrell (The Festool MFS mouli-Routing Template System) and Jerry Work (Getting the Most out of the Festool Multifunction Table), you can find almost all operations, including the narrow rip, can be done by a track saw and a MFT. I especially like MFS400 that can complement the MFT for enhanced accuracy and narrow rip.
Now I seldom see myself using the table saw. Mine is a small table saw and there is no need to get rid of, but if your space is limited, I do understand the dilemma.

 

[shed9]

Surely the decider is whether or not your work load requires the features only a table saw can deliver, if not, then this answers the question.

I would buy the Kapex (and stand) and live with it, the table saw and your other Festool kit for a short time before selling anything. If you find you made a mistake in selling the Inca and try to replace it, I suspect you will lose financially.

I appreciate the concern for safety on table saw's but a little fear is healthy - if anything people become complacent with mitre and track saw because of that lack of fear with those tools.

 

[tlpriebe]

I replaced my Crapsman radial arm saw with a Kapex, TS55, and a Bosch 4100.  Perfect
combination for me.  I mainly use the table saw for ripping hardwood.  This combination
allows precision that I couldn't do before.