Customized my TS55 - No more chewed up guide rail rubber strips

[Spike]

I recently posted the topic "why am I suddenly having trouble squaring up sheet goods". I was baffled as to why I was 1/16" out of square. What I found was that my TS55 upon plunging and releasing had a faint amount of twist or flex between the saw motor and the blade housing. This translated into a notch cut deeper than the original rubber strip trimmed to line up to your mark.

I used a 2.0mm x 25.4mm D nylon washer and cyanacrolate glue to adhear the washer to the side of the flange that attaches to the motor side of saw. This glides effortlessly during the plunge and has removed 100% of the twist or flex in the saw. No more guide rail errors. Total time to do this after head scratching, 2 minutes and $.15

 

[cahudson42]

Hi Taos,

Curious how many hours you estimate you might have on your TS-55. Do you think the twist/flex is a wear issue someplace?

You mentioned the accuracy problem developed suddenly. If you don't think its gradual wear, did your TS-55 experience anything drastic? Dropped? A kickback? Or?

Anyone else any thoughts on this as well?

Chris

 

[bonesbr549]

Should this not be covered by warranty?

 

[ccmviking]

Should this not be covered by warranty?

No...  It's not a defect per say.  We've discussed it before, but it's just more of a design issue.  Haven't you ever noticed when you have a new strip but sometimes when you go to make a cut you end up with rubber shavings on your work piece?  How did you think the rubber strip gets so far off over time?  It's not shrinkage!  It has the most play the higher up the saw is.  The best way I've found to eliminate a lot of this is to make sure I have plenty of lead rail and plunge, then get the saw blade up to speed before contacting the work piece.  It's just one of those things.  Sure, it would be great if it didn't do it, but it does. 

 

[bonesbr549]

Maybe I'm lucky.  I've never experieced issues where I have to glue any washer to my tool to get good cuts?  Mine have all been square.  [smile]

 

[Spike]

I've had my TS55 for 2 years. Used it for mayyyybe 6 sheets of cutting...maybe. I have now looked at 5 TS55 saws, 4 brand new in the box and one from a friend. ALL exhibit the faint play/twist/flex that is responsible for cutting further into the rubber strip than at least I would like to see. The washer I used was a 2-3 minute fix and a very long term permanent one at that. My TS now has absolutely no play or flex. I feel the factory could do something very similar in production for almost zero cost since my cost on one saw was I believe .20

 

[Pete Pedisich]

Taos,

My TS55 has done this from the start - it's a design flaw. My ATF55 was rock solid - a perfect saw - like getting a GM car in the last year of production all the bugs were worked out and then I got the new model, and it was, in my opinion, not as well made as my ATF55.
I wanted the new features like riving knife, twist-loc plug, right side anti-ship, et...
The riving knife is an improvement, the right-side anti-chip has not been useful yet, and the twistloc plug does not give enough room for my fingers to grip it properly. The dust collection is no better than my ATF55. I wish I kept my old saw, I'd be wealthier by a few bucks.

Thanks for the solution!

Pete

 

[Julian Tracy]

The suggestion made above to simply make a full plunge and release at the end of the cut would eliiminate being able to do a scoring cut.

BTW - why is there no simply flip out stop that allows one to make a 1mm deep scoring cut for high-chipout sheetgoods?

Pain in the butt to have to reset the ruled stop every time.

Perhaps doing the OP's flex solution (thanks for that - I also wondered why the strip got so "off"), maybe doing that fix will eliminate any chipout for me...

JT

 

[Spike]

Hi Julian,
I have no chipping or need to score. My cuts are virtually 100% perfect. The TS55 and rail system is a fine saw and now with a small modification it is simply awesome. I guess no manufacturer can incorporate everything into design and production for the obvious reasons. I can say that nearly everything in my shop has been tweaked in some way or another.

Important to note that my TS55 cut quality was perfect before my modification but it was the ruining of my guide rail strips that prompted me to figure something out.

The suggestion made above to simply make a full plunge and release at the end of the cut would eliiminate being able to do a scoring cut.

BTW - why is there no simply flip out stop that allows one to make a 1mm deep scoring cut for high-chipout sheetgoods?

Pain in the butt to have to reset the ruled stop every time.

Perhaps doing the OP's flex solution (thanks for that - I also wondered why the strip got so "off"), maybe doing that fix will eliminate any chipout for me...

JT