Fine tune or calibrate saw height on a Festool CS 70 EB

[dutchie]

Hi guys,

So I thought I'd treat myself and I went ahead and bought a used Festool CS 70 EB today. Managed to get a great deal on it, partly because it has clearly been used. Some scuffs here and there but nothing too serious. Appears to be running perfectly fine and sounds great.

But I did only just notice one minor problem with it. With the saw turned all the way down one or two teeth from the saw blade still stick out about 1 to 2mm. Since it's a Festool machine I'm hoping there is a little screw or knob somewhere I can use to fine tune this. I already looked in the manual but couldn't find anything.

Anyone have any idea how to fix this? It's not a deal breaker for me, but would be nice if went all the way down.

 

[D1llig4f]

The cs70 isn't a common tool on the FOG as it's not available on the far side of the pond. I have one tho and speaking from experience I believe your problem may be wood chips that get caught in the blade housing when it's used without being hooked up to an extractor. So then when you wind down the blade the chips prevent it from fully retracting. There is a cover you can open below the saw to clean this out. Hope this helps

William

 

[dutchie]

Ah yes forgot about that. Thanks for the tip, will try it tomorrow in the daylight!

 

[neeleman]

Maybe a larger saw blade is installed.
The CS 70 normally needs a Ø225 mm blade.
But blades are also available in Ø230/237/240 mm.
You might check this.

 

[AlexThePalex]

I've experienced what William said, wood chips can fill up the bottom. Normally the blade should retract well below the table surface. When you cut off very thin slices they tend to drop down into the housing and it's pretty difficult to get them out without removing the blade.

Neeleman also makes a valid point. Should definitely check it out.

Though the CS saws have plenty of adjustment screws all around, I have not seen any on the carriage to correct this.

I have one question for other CS users, my blade's fitting bolt has a tendency to get really stuck, and the standard hex spanner that comes with the saw isn't long enough to give enough force to get it loose. Anybody experienced this and knows a way to solve it?

 

[Frank-Jan]

When the arbor nut gets too stuck for the standard alankey, I use my knipex adjustable wrench.

 

[NH-Engineering]

Hi,
On my CS 70 EB the blade noes not retract much below the table, only 0,5mm or so.
Btw as other users have mentoned you can try to clean out the housing at the bottom where the blade is placed.

Be aware of one detail here: There is a little hatch that you open to enter the space below the blade. To open this hatch you have to turn 3 screws, the middle one is done by hand only, the left and right is operated with an allen wrench. Theese two are easy to overlook and than you may break something if you try to open the hatch with some force.

If you have access to pressurized air I recommend you to clean the underside of the saw with it. On my CS70 dust tends to build up on several places in the mechanism and can may clog the mechanism over time and can limit the range of operation of the adjustments.

 

[wrightwoodwork]

I personally don't have the saw myself. The advice above is the way I would go as well. Also I would try some resin cleaner in mechanism. Just in case there is a build up of resin there as well.

 

[greg mann]

Hi,
On my CS 70 EB the blade noes not retract much below the table, only 0,5mm or so.
Btw as other users have mentoned you can try to clean out the housing at the bottom where the blade is placed.

Be aware of one detail here: There is a little hatch that you open to enter the space below the blade. To open this hatch you have to turn 3 screws, the middle one is done by hand only, the left and right is operated with an allen wrench. Theese two are easy to overlook and than you may break something if you try to open the hatch with some force.
If you have access to pressurized air I recommend you to clean the underside of the saw with it. On my CS70 dust tends to build up on several places in the mechanism and can may clog the mechanism over time and can limit the range of operation of the adjustments.

This is a very good caution to heed. I have the CS70 and the bottom hatch was pretty much missing in action when I got the saw. Someone had missed this feature and damaged the hatch. I have replaced it with a segment from a plastic caulking tube. I keep meaning to look it up on the EKAT site but never think of it until I am using the saw, and then only when I need to clean up. The homemade fix is not per Festool standards for dust collection.  [embarassed]

 

[dutchie]

Thanks guys, will try the above suggestions and report back here!

 

[dutchie]

So I went ahead and checked some things. And I took some pictures In attached photo 1 you can see the blade just sticking out.

1) There is a 225mm blade in there
2) The little compartment that you can open up with 2 allen nuts and a hand screw is close to completely clean. See photo 2.

But I did notice something else that might explain all this. If I raise the saw all the way up the blade gets stuck in its enclosing black compartment and can't spin around. See photo 3. After I removed the blade (to check its diamter) I also saw two (three if you count one tucked away) little screws that also appear that not to go all the way. See photo 4. I was wondering if anyone else with the CS70 could take a photo of these screws with their saw all the way up. I'm talking about the little black screws with 'gold' plate around it.

What do you guys think? That might be it?

 

[D1llig4f]

I took a few pictures for you to compare from.

[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3][attachimg=4][attachimg=5][attachimg=6]

 

[dutchie]

Thanks for the pics!

The guy who sold me the used CS70 was kind enough to let me trade it in for another (more lightly) used one. On this table the blade does fully retract.

What I already suspected turned out to be true, on this table the black with gold plate screws do go all the way up.

Thanks for the help, problem 'resolved'

 

[Picktool]

....  I have the CS70 and the bottom hatch was pretty much missing in action when I got the saw....

greg in michigan has one..... heyyyyy...... [tongue]

 

[greg mann]

....  I have the CS70 and the bottom hatch was pretty much missing in action when I got the saw....

greg in michigan has one..... heyyyyy...... [tongue]

I bought it from a guy who brought it back from the UK after spending a decade there. 220 volts is the only drawback but I use in a workshop along with a 220 jointer and a 220 planer so it is not a big deal.