Metric or imperial ts55REQ?

[antss]

[member=48572]Shane Holland[/member]  - thought I remembered something about conversion.  Does that mean they buy a saw from you and then ship it back to Indy for the swap ? Or can it just be ordered through a dealer that way?

[member=41196]Nat X[/member] and Shane - We use the depth setting ( which is quite accurate on our saws by the way)  to mill out slots for LED light cabling and to cut kerfs in veneered toekick to bend. Simplying knowing I want a 5mm or 9mm deep cut and setting it and having at it is a lot faster than lowering the blade an d checking. It's just become habit.

If the scale wasn't really functional or used by craftsman , I can't see why FT would spend the money to put it on the saws or adding the 2nd readout accounting for the guide rail thickness in later generations.  I'm sure many people don't care about that functionality, but some out there do.  It's part of what differentiates a TS from reg. circular saw with a crude scale and no graduated limit function.

 

[Shane Holland]

[member=48572]Shane Holland[/member]  - thought I remembered something about conversion.  Does that mean they buy a saw from you and then ship it back to Indy for the swap ? Or can it just be ordered through a dealer that way?

You would order the saw and then send it to Festool for conversion.

 

[papester]

I was told there is no sticker overlay top go from Imperial to Metric. You would have to send the saw back to Festool for conversion.

 

[Meyer138]

I recently purchased the TS55REQ in metric ( from California) even though Festool was moving towards imperial.  I prefer using metric for woodworking (learning the 32mm system) because I hate fractions. It has already been said, but it with the track saw or router, it really doesn't matter which way you lean as long as you learn 18mm = 3/4 and 12mm = 1/2 inch...roughly.

 

[Stephen B]

[size=10pt]

I recently purchased the TS55REQ in metric ( from California) even though Festool . . . . . . . . . It has already been said, but it with the track saw or router, it really doesn't matter which way you lean as long as you learn 18mm = 3/4 and 12mm = 1/2 inch...roughly.

[size=13pt]
More accurately though, 19mm is 3/4 inch, 12.5 mm is 1/2 inch and 25 mm is approx. 1 inch.  [smile]

 

[Bob D.]

[member=58556]Splou[/member], welcome to the forum.

Festool is phasing out metric scales on its tools in the U.S. That's one reason to consider going imperial, plus most Americans know inches better than millimeters/centimeters.

Shane

Why don't they have a scale with both measurements systems on it?
Put Imperial down one side and Metric down the other.
Then they only have to make one version that can be used worldwide, eliminating duplicate inventory and all that goes with it, saving a lot of money in parts stock space, manufacturing, many other areas. The savings add up.

 

[antss]

Because everyone else in the world would complain .  They don't use imperial .

My guess is , the only reason FT is doing this now is that TS sales are flat and some marketing guy has convinced the "powers that be" ; that sales will be jump started with inch designations. 

Ten and twenty years ago the brass just couldn't be bothered with imperial graduations for the U.S. market citing all kinds of excuses.  Now they risk alienating all those customers they've cultivate over those years.

Again.

 

[Kev]

Is it Groundhog Day?

 

[Cheese]

Why don't they have a scale with both measurements systems on it?
Put Imperial down one side and Metric down the other.

Because that still wouldn't solve the Metric/Imperial detent conundrum. Festool would still have to choose whether to have the detent rail in metric or in imperial.

Unless of course they decided to design a dual detent rail that would allow you to choose either.  [eek]  The metric rail and imperial rails would be placed back-to-back and pushing on the metric button would only allow metric positions while using the imperial button would only allow imperial positions. Injection molded GRP would work and be fairly cheap.  [popcorn]

 

[Kev]

Why don't they have a scale with both measurements systems on it?
Put Imperial down one side and Metric down the other.

Because that still wouldn't solve the Metric/Imperial detent conundrum. Festool would still have to choose whether to have the detent rail in metric or in imperial.

Unless of course they decided to design a dual detent rail that would allow you to choose either.  [eek]  The metric rail and imperial rails would be placed back-to-back and pushing on the metric button would only allow metric positions while using the imperial button would only allow imperial positions. Injection molded GRP would work and be fairly cheap.  [popcorn]

At best I'd guess that the Festool marketing department did the "imperial engineering" ... I can't imagine a German engineer in any universe being ok with a scale that doesn't coincide with the calibration detents [big grin].

Hopefully tools will evolve to be more sophisticated and incorporate digital calibration with scale effectively a personal preference and no more overhead than a few lines of code onboard.

 

[Cheese]

I can't imagine a German engineer in any universe being ok with a scale that doesn't coincide with the calibration detents [big grin].

Amen...such a simple concept.

 

[antss]

Craftsman has or had a digital router.

Don't think there's a long line to buy one though.

 

[Kev]

Craftsman has or had a digital router.

Don't think there's a long line to buy one though.

There's been a few attempts, but it has to be well designed and intuitive ... not a gimmick. I'd like to get my hands on one of the new Bosch routers to see how well they've done it.

 

[Svar]

... Festool would still have to choose whether to have the detent rail in metric or in imperial.

At best I'd guess that the Festool marketing department did the "imperial engineering" ... I can't imagine a German engineer in any universe being ok with a scale that doesn't coincide with the calibration detents.

Wait, do the new imperial TS55s introduced in US have imperial detents? I was pretty sure it's just the printed scale, and German engineering was OK with that.

 

[Kev]

... Festool would still have to choose whether to have the detent rail in metric or in imperial.

At best I'd guess that the Festool marketing department did the "imperial engineering" ... I can't imagine a German engineer in any universe being ok with a scale that doesn't coincide with the calibration detents.

Wait, do the new imperial TS55s introduced in US have imperial detents? I was pretty sure it's just the printed scale, and German engineering was OK with that.

No .. they're metric detents .. hence the quip about the engineering being performed by the marketing department!

 

[Cheese]

That'd be German marketing, aka Festool USA vs German engineering. The imperial saw is a gelded animal...

 

[Holmz]

I try to start with the golden rule.