Buying a new TS 55 - Should I wait

[mdayanim]

Hi all,

I am thinking of getting the TS 55 R.  This plunge saw is hard to come by recently.  Digging in to it a bit at my local woodcraft shop I found out Festool is coming with a new version of the saw.  I was wondering if anyone in the forum has any insight on the matter.
I am trying to figure out if I should keep on looking for the current model or wait for the new one to come out.

Thx

 

[Birdhunter]

Usually, these new products are introduced to Europe first and come to the USA a year later.

 

[milo-vs]

The new saw is already introduced in the EU. We're talking about the TS55 FEBQ. Thinner saw blade is practically the only change compared to the TS55 REBQ.
So, if you care about the saw blades thickness, yes you should wait. If not.. Buy now!

 

[Bertotti]

Love my ts 55 but if I would have realized my needs would have shifted to thicker woods I would have gone for a ts 75 which is sadly missing now. The ts55 is a great saw!

 

[squall_line]

Love my ts 55 but if I would have realized my needs would have shifted to thicker woods I would have gone for a ts 75 which is sadly missing now. The ts55 is a great saw!

I wouldn't kick yourself too much over this.  I started off wanting an HK55 for some outdoor projects from dimensional lumber, and a TS55 and DF500 for cabinet work.  Now I have 800+ bf of ash and maple, over 75% of which is 8/4, and I want to make tables, doors, and beds, so I had to track down a DF700 and TS75.  If I find that I'm not using the TS55 or DF500, I know I can get most of their price back for them.

Speaking of which, I still have an HK55 I need to sell.  The HKC is my go-to for small dimensional lumber projects that don't warrant dragging out the Kapex.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Love my ts 55 but if I would have realized my needs would have shifted to thicker woods I would have gone for a ts 75 which is sadly missing now. The ts55 is a great saw!

I kind of came about it the opposite of that. "We", meaning the company I work for, had a TS75 that was purchased for a specific job. It was a situation were several long bevel cuts needed to be made on-site. The accuracy of the tracks and the cleanliness of the CT22 was the way to go. Afterward though, it sat in the supply storage room, effectively unused most of the time.
This was way before I had any Festool gear of my own, but I would occasionally get it out for special situations.
After the big shop fire, when we moved into a temporary facility, with very minimal equipment (initially) I bought the TS55 and built the cross-cut station that I still have today. The TS55 is far lighter and easier to handle in a situation where sheet goods are the primary use. For the most part, that is what I do in the cabinet shop. But, as I have stated several times, I don't choose what I make, so I have to be geared to lots of unknowns. Several reclaimed timber jobs had come along and the TS75 was more suited to that and I lucked into one when a small batch popped up after the first round of "unavailable" was the news.
I use the TS55 far more often, but I wouldn't want to be without the TS75 either. The only thing I might have changed is going for the cordless version of the 55? Some say it is more powerful, which is not a huge thing, mine does what I need just fine. Having already been on the battery platform might have gotten me to buy a Vecturo though.

 

[Bertotti]

Love my ts 55 but if I would have realized my needs would have shifted to thicker woods I would have gone for a ts 75 which is sadly missing now. The ts55 is a great saw!

I wouldn't kick yourself too much over this.  I started off wanting an HK55 for some outdoor projects from dimensional lumber, and a TS55 and DF500 for cabinet work.  Now I have 800+ bf of ash and maple, over 75% of which is 8/4, and I want to make tables, doors, and beds, so I had to track down a DF700 and TS75.  If I find that I'm not using the TS55 or DF500, I know I can get most of their price back for them.

Speaking of which, I still have an HK55 I need to sell.  The HKC is my go-to for small dimensional lumber projects that don't warrant dragging out the Kapex.

Grew up in Muscatine now in SD no state income tax made my mind up. I will keep my eyes open for a ts75 at some point I will get one. For now, it will be double cut with the ts55 which is ok for boards but once some of this 4/4 and 8/4 cherry is jointed into larger panels that will be a serious pain so I'll find an alternative. Maybe just finish up with a hand saw and hand planes. I still have a rigid 18v circular saw for dimensional lumber outside. It just doesn't die, it's from the first year of production. As for the bora, the big downside is storage under it. With the cross pieces it has for stability it has no real useful storage under it where the MFT can handle quite a lot under it. I have had a need for that space and for that reason alone I like it over the bora. Like I said though, the darn price is crazy high for what it is, the markup has to be incredible.

 

[Bertotti]

Love my ts 55 but if I would have realized my needs would have shifted to thicker woods I would have gone for a ts 75 which is sadly missing now. The ts55 is a great saw!

I wouldn't kick yourself too much over this.  I started off wanting an HK55 for some outdoor projects from dimensional lumber, and a TS55 and DF500 for cabinet work.  Now I have 800+ bf of ash and maple, over 75% of which is 8/4, and I want to make tables, doors, and beds, so I had to track down a DF700 and TS75.  If I find that I'm not using the TS55 or DF500, I know I can get most of their price back for them.

Speaking of which, I still have an HK55 I need to sell.  The HKC is my go-to for small dimensional lumber projects that don't warrant dragging out the Kapex.

Grew up in Muscatine now in SD no state income tax made my mind up. I will keep my eyes open for a ts75 at some point I will get one. For now, it will be double cut with the ts55 which is ok for boards but once some of this 4/4 and 8/4 cherry is jointed into larger panels that will be a serious pain so I'll find an alternative. Maybe just finish up with a hand saw and hand planes. I still have a rigid 18v circular saw for dimensional lumber outside. It just doesn't die, it's from the first year of production.

I can see a case for battery operation in some situations but I do everything I can to avoid any battery system. I have the Ridgid but have not added any others. I just hate buying certain consumable items, especially batteries. I'll take a Honda generator to where I need to be if I need a tool. It really wasn't an issue until I went in the last time for a battery and it cost as much as the tool.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I can see a case for battery operation in some situations but I do everything I can to avoid any battery system. I have the Ridgid but have not added any others. I just hate buying certain consumable items, especially batteries. I'll take a Honda generator to where I need to be if I need a tool. It really wasn't an issue until I went in the last time for a battery and it cost as much as the tool.

In general, I do too. That's why I didn't in the first place. I have two battery platforms now, 18v Makita for drills/drivers and compact routers along with the CXS. Everything else is corded or pneumatic. However, I see the cordless Vecturo to by far superior to the corded version, but without already being on that platform, I don't think it's worth the extra to get started.

 

[ear3]

[member=77071]mdayanim[/member] The thinner blade of the newer version should address what is the one shortcoming of the corded TS55, which is maintaining power on thicker hardwood rips.  The current model of the cordless TSC 55 does not have this issue at all however, and I rip 8/4 (after it's been planed to around 1 3/4) just fine with it in a single cut for glue ready joints.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
I can see a case for battery operation in some situations but I do everything I can to avoid any battery system. I have the Ridgid but have not added any others. I just hate buying certain consumable items, especially batteries.  Snip.

Buying batteries?

I find that for the some drills such as the B&D, it's often better to buy a new one than buying a replacement battery when it's dead. One of my local merchants constantly sells the B&D cordless drill kit for almost half the price, sometimes with an extra battery thrown in. As a basic drilling tool, I can't find any other better budget/price-performance brands...may be with the exception of Ridgid which has life-time warranty for its tools (provided you register your tools).

 

[Bertotti]

It may be the Lithium-ion is a more durable battery. My work rig sits in the vehicle all winter long and I never seem to have a problem with them, a few years now. Now with the 55 I have tripped a house breaker a few times, with batteries that wouldn't be an issue, and with the generator, I sent mine saw back in for service as it just would not run. It came back with a note we found nothing wrong. I discovered the energy-saving mode would not start the saw but standard op would. I assume it senses inrush current then ramps up but with the soft start of the 55 it never triggered the gen to ramp up so it never started. Something to keep in mind if you use the corded version along with a good generator.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I have had the LXT Makita batteries last more than 10 years. The first ones I had came in the 5 piece kit, just before Thanksgiving of '05. They were 3ah, which was all that was available initially. I later bought one of the lower amp(1.5) 2 piece sets (drill/impact driver) that was intended as a more economical "home owner" version. They were white plastic in the places that the regular ones had the typical blue/green. This gave me a total of 4 batteries that I could tell apart by amperage. Performance wise, I saw no difference, so I actually prefer the smaller ones.
One of the original 3ah units failed just after the first of the year in '16. It might have been because of the 10 day break between Christmas and New Years return. The other lasted a couple more years after that. The slightly newer ones were still going until the fire killed them in August of '19.
My new ones are the brushless model with 2ah, same size and weight of the 1.5ah of before. I'm not a fan of these huge high amp things that are out now though. The balance seems off and since I'm in the shop and not in the field, where it might matter, I stick with the smaller ones. They have always done me right, so I stick with Makita.
I have always heard though that you shouldn't allow them to freeze? Some guys even pack them all together and take them inside at night for this reason.

My original CXS was around for about 4 years the first time, so I don't know about them beyond that. I don't use it as hard, but the charge seems to last a very long time.

You popped the breaker with the saw alone? or after going through the CT together?
I have done that with the big 3hp Triton router and the CT26, but even then it was taking some pretty big cuts. Under normal conditions that won't do it and the TS never has.

 

[Bertotti]

It was the ts55 and the ct26 doing multiple rips one right after another. I have considered grabbing the 12 v Milwaukee just for shop work small and more than capable of doing the pre-drilling and driving I need. This time of year they do have some nice sales and I haven't seen a nice small corded drill in years.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Stop over-thinking it and just take the plunge.

See what I did there?  [smile]

 

[Willy Eckerslike]

I SAW what you did.

 

[mdayanim]

Thank you all for your answers.  I will be waiting for the new version to be available. 

 

[JINRO]

Thank you all for your answers.  I will be waiting for the new version to be available.

I almost bought TS 55 REQ today. But different Amazon seller poped up and raised price from $699 to $799. This stopped me and made me to dig up for more research. Upon reviews from Youtube, new saw blade (1.8 ) will not be compatible with old blade (2.2).  Also new saw will be have faster cutting.  I will wait for new version as it's around the corner for US launch

 

[tomktest]

Thank you all for your answers.  I will be waiting for the new version to be available.

I agree you should wait. I had no idea about this when I pulled the trigger on the TS 55 REQ as the website is a bit confusing. Thankfully I was able to get this sorted with Festool and found a TSC 55 KEB.

I really didn't want to get into yet another battery platform but I wanted the ability to break down sheet goods in the parking lot of the home center so I don't have to strap them to the roof of my vehicle. I also did have a different brand of track saw previously and I would constantly get the vac hose and the power cord twisted together which was very annoying. If the new TS 55 FEQ or whatever it will be called had been available it would be a toss up being that the corded version will retain the riving knife while the TSC has a blade brake and kick back protection.

It is so nice to just flip open the systainer and make a quick cut without having to fiddle with the power cord. I've also had my eye on the Carvex as well as the Vecturo so at least my batteries will be used for a few tools.

All that said if I could turn the clock back a few years I would have just stayed on the Makita platform and had the Makita x2 track saw. Now I have DeWalt 12v, DeWalt 18v, Milwaukee 12v, Milwaukee 18v, Bosch 12v, Ryobi 40v, and Festool 18v batteries. There's no doubt that the TSC 55k is a better tool than the Makita but it would be great to only have one battery platform :/

 

[Coen]

If you want the 2.2mm blades; buy now. If you don't care or want the 1.8mm blade; wait so you can get the F version.

Now that the wired TS 55 got the 1.8mm blade too, all the 55 saws in their lineup use the 1.8mm blade and none the 2.2mm blade. So you are buying into a "obsolete" platform if you buy the machine for 2.2mm blade.

TS 55 R's with 2.2mm blade are all sold out here. Used prices seem pretty high too... My gut feeling is that everything recent is sold used for a premium to those that hate the new Sys3.