Cutting Splinterguard for the first time?

X

xhelm7

Member
Joined
May 17, 2009
Messages
3
I ended up getting the ts55 a few days ago.  My first step to do was to cut through the splintergaurd and of course I managed to screw it up.  The cut was beautiful all except for the very beginning where you basically have to kind of freehand the cut because both locking jaws cant be on the track at the same time so you get a little slop.  I went out and got a new strip and I just want to make sure I don't screw this one up so any help would be appreciated.  I was thinking that if I had another track then i would be able to join it from the back to be able to eliminate the slop at the beginning of the cut.  Take it easy on me, Its my first Festool!!!
 
Welcome to the FOG.  You don't need a new strip.  Peel the strip off, remount it, and recut it.
 
Tom,
That was certainly a detailed reply - just one thing regarding the speed, I thought Festool recommends you set the saw speed to low rather than the full speed your article states.  I certainly cut my rubber strips on low speed.

Troll
 
Wish I had have waited a couple days to do mine as I did the exact same thing as you.  So the one end of the splinter guard is cut almost completely off and then the rest is OK.  So looks I will be re-seating the spinter guide and trying this again  ::)
 
slow speed and about 10 - 15mm deep thats how I cut mine and they are ok regards cutting the first bit if you have another rail you could use that to line up so it runs from the old rail on to the new one.
 
Can you tell me where you found the slow speed instruction Troll?

I have always cut at speed 6 and depth of 8 mm. The documentation that I have says to use high speed.

Tom
 
Tom Bellemare said:
Can you tell me where you found the slow speed instruction Troll?

I have always cut at speed 6 and depth of 8 mm. The documentation that I have says to use high speed.
Click to expand...

He may have found it in the TS 55 EQ: Circular Saw Instruction Manual written by Rick Christopherson, and which appears on the Festool USA website. It is also known as the TS 55 EQ Supplemental Manual, and the following is a short quote from the section titled "Trimming the Guide Rail Splinter Guard" on page 8: "Set the motor speed to its lowest setting (setting 1)."

There has always been a difference of opinion between the speed setting used when trimming the splinterguard on the guide rail - Rick's Supplemental Manual says to use slowest speed, whilst the standard Festool TS55 EQ multi-language manual says to use the fastest speed! However Rick's manual is very well written and has great illustrations, and despite the difference in opinion his manual is highly recommended for everyone with a TS55,

Forrest

 
Apparently it doesn't matter what speed is used because high or low works. The only reason I could think of to slow down the speed would be to prevent burning.

Tom
 
Forrest Anderson said:
Tom Bellemare said:
Can you tell me where you found the slow speed instruction Troll?

I have always cut at speed 6 and depth of 8 mm. The documentation that I have says to use high speed.
Click to expand...

He may have found it in the TS 55 EQ: Circular Saw Instruction Manual written by Rick Christopherson, and which appears on the Festool USA website. It is also known as the TS 55 EQ Supplemental Manual, and the following is a short quote from the section titled "Trimming the Guide Rail Splinter Guard" on page 8: "Set the motor speed to its lowest setting (setting 1)."

There has always been a difference of opinion between the speed setting used when trimming the splinterguard on the guide rail - Rick's Supplemental Manual says to use slowest speed, whilst the standard Festool TS55 EQ multi-language manual says to use the fastest speed! However Rick's manual is very well written and has great illustrations, and despite the difference in opinion his manual is highly recommended for everyone with a TS55,

Forrest

Thanks Forrest,

If you are cutting the strip on a supported area, use a higher speed setting, if you are cutting the strip over the edge/unsupported use the slower speed. Either way set the depth of cut shallow. The blade is skewed, so the deeper theh blade extends, the more of the rubber on the guard is removed.

Bob
Click to expand...
 
Are there any instructions on how to replace the rail splinter guard?  Since I kind of screwed up on the first cut on the ends, I decided to move it over a bit and try it again.  When I peeled it off, the white double-stick tape stayed on the rail guard, but separated from the plastic strip.  I am guessing the white tape is supposed to stay on the plastic strip?  I eventually got it moved, but it was a bit of a pain.  I had an easier time with the 2nd rail I did by peeling up the white tape along with the plastic strip, although they didn't want to come up together at first.
 
mikeneron said:
Are there any instructions on how to replace the rail splinter guard?  Since I kind of screwed up on the first cut on the ends, I decided to move it over a bit and try it again.  When I peeled it off, the white double-stick tape stayed on the rail guard, but separated from the plastic strip.  I am guessing the white tape is supposed to stay on the plastic strip?  I eventually got it moved, but it was a bit of a pain.  I had an easier time with the 2nd rail I did by peeling up the white tape along with the plastic strip, although they didn't want to come up together at first.
Click to expand...

No worries here. That white tape tends to stick to the rail and not the strip. Peel off the strip, scrape off the white "tape" and apply some spray adhesive to the rail, place and press the strip to the guide, recut strip and all is good.

Bob
 
Hi everyone,
I received the TS55 with the standard 48 tooth blade and bought a W56 (56 tooth) 439686 for very fine wood and aluminium cuts.
Is it necessary to cut the splinterguard when changing blade.
Thank you for your help

yves
 
hi yverof,

its difficult to answer your question unless you give more details.
i will assume you have already cut through the splinter guard with the universal blade, and i assume this has worked ok.
i guess you want to know if you need to re-cut the splinter guard because you are changing from the universal blade to the aluminium blade.
my answer would be.....yes, you will be re-cutting the splinterguard, so either prepare a test cut over a length of ply/ mdf at high speed or over hang the splinterguard over a workpiece so the blade is cutting only the splinter guard at low speed.

not sure if this helps you or not!

regards, justin.
 
[Corrections applied to orginal mistakes] - The TS 55 comes with a 48-tooth ATB blade called the Fine Tooth Blade and has a 2.2 mm kerf, the aluminum blade has a 2.5 mm kerf. The splinter guard should not already be cut properly.

I'm not sure why you would want to use the aluminum blade on wood. It has the wrong tooth configuration, a triple chip grind.

Tom
 
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