New TS 55...now what??

[indyjumper]

Well it came. Got my first festool...uh...tool. My new TS 55 was delivered yesterday, and all I've had time to do is look at it so far.

 

[peter halle]

Happy Day!

Now go cut some wood!

Peter

 

[antss]

Um...........

a CT vacuum would be the logical choice........................

if only to clean up after following Peter's advice.

 

[indyjumper]

Hmmm...my original post had one more paragraph. Oh well...

Do I need to fine tune it at all? Or can I trust its setup out of the box?

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[ben_r_]

Put it on the track and cut! Then order a CT Vac! Enjoy!

 

[charley1968]

Mine worked outta the box. What you have to adjust is the 'play' on the rail (2 wheels at the table) and you have to cut the plastic lip on the rail, then you ought to be ready to go..

 

[indyjumper]

Is it safe or feasible to rip a board using the track saw? I'd like to take 1/2" off the width of a 2"x4". I'm away from my home shop for the winter, and the only other cutting tool I have with me is my jigsaw, and I don't think I could cut a straight enough line for what I want to do.

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[semenza]

Is it safe or feasible to rip a board using the track saw? I'd like to take 1/2" off the width of a 2"x4". I'm away from my home shop for the winter, and the only other cutting tool I have with me is my jigsaw, and I don't think I could cut a straight enough line for what I want to do.

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Absolutely.  Track saw is great for straight lining boards.

You can do some rips with the Fine blade that comes with the saw, but that blade is not designed for ripping. Soft wood and or  not too thick will be OKAY.  But if you plan to more than a once in a while rip , get one of the ripping blades.

Biggest issue with ripping 2x construction material will be lack of board flatness (especially twisted) causing trouble.

Seth

 

[indyjumper]

Is it safe or feasible to rip a board using the track saw? I'd like to take 1/2" off the width of a 2"x4". I'm away from my home shop for the winter, and the only other cutting tool I have with me is my jigsaw, and I don't think I could cut a straight enough line for what I want to do.

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Absolutely.  Track saw is great for straight lining boards.

You can do some rips with the Fine blade that comes with the saw, but that blade is not designed for ripping. Soft wood and or  not too thick will be OKAY.  But if you plan to more than a once in a while rip , get one of the ripping blades.

Biggest issue with ripping 2x construction material will be lack of board flatness (especially twisted) causing trouble.

Seth

Thank you! My name's Seth too btw. Our parents have good taste!

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[indyjumper]

And this is probably the only time I'll need to rip with the track saw (unless I find it easier than with my little TS!).

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[Bob D.]

"Biggest issue with ripping 2x construction material will be lack of board flatness (especially twisted) causing trouble."

I would say there is one other issue, might seem obvious but it's still there, and that's a 2x4 is not wide enough to support the track. You'll at a minimum a second 2x4 to lay along side the first and support the width of the track, a 2x6 or wider would be even better. And this is a situation where I would definitely want to use clamps, and not put all my trust in the friction strips on the bottom of the track.

Some of you may feel different about this, but this is how I would do it, and since he's asking he's not sure so I'm offering my opinion. I prefer to err on the side of caution. No use ruining a tool or a body part just to save a couple minutes cutting corners.

 

[indyjumper]

"Biggest issue with ripping 2x construction material will be lack of board flatness (especially twisted) causing trouble."

I would say there is one other issue, might seem obvious but it's still there, and that's a 2x4 is not wide enough to support the track. You'll at a minimum a second 2x4 to lay along side the first and support the width of the track, a 2x6 or wider would be even better. And this is a situation where I would definitely want to use clamps, and not put all my trust in the friction strips on the bottom of the track.

Some of you may feel different about this, but this is how I would do it, and since he's asking he's not sure so I'm offering my opinion. I prefer to err on the side of caution. No use ruining a tool or a body part just to save a couple minutes cutting corners.

I appreciate the advice!  I was planning on putting a couple boards side by side.  Bummer will be if the boards are way out of whack, several next to each other will only amplify the problem.

 

[gruz]

For the filler piece, Cut a few short pieces of the 2x stock and use them spaced out instead of a long twisted board. That can help with that half of the warp...

 

[Lettusbee]

Practice on something like plywood first.  Or something you don't care about.  I have had a lot of new hires that have never used a tracksaw, and their biggest problem with it is their lack of familiarity with the plunge action.  That is compared to how a regular circular saw works, which most people are familiar with.  What they tend to do is plunge the blade before it is spinning fast enough, and cause a kickback.  It's tough to hurt yourself with one of these, but we have had damaged products due to this. 

 

[indyjumper]

Practice on something like plywood first.  Or something you don't care about.  I have had a lot of new hires that have never used a tracksaw, and their biggest problem with it is their lack of familiarity with the plunge action.  That is compared to how a regular circular saw works, which most people are familiar with.  What they tend to do is plunge the blade before it is spinning fast enough, and cause a kickback.  It's tough to hurt yourself with one of these, but we have had damaged products due to this.

This definitely qualifies as some material I don't care too much about. I have plenty of extra 2x's, and these are by no means fine pieces of furniture.

Thanks for the advice on letting the blade get up to full speed. I wouldn't have thought of that right away. Probably would have figured it out the hard way! [emoji106]

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[LooseSox]

If it makes you feel any better, I haven't really even looked at mine properly yet! Took delivery of a TS55 and CT36 last Thursday, unboxed it all and tested out the vac on a few spider webs in the shed. Having said that, the weather was ratty and was around 46C (115F) in the shed. Friday wasn't much better. Picked up some extra last minute work on Saturday, spent the day with my family on Sunday and on Monday left for a 4 day regional trip for my main job. So my nice new gear has been sitting all lonely without me for nearly a week, I get home this afternoon and have a day to learn it all before it goes on site with me over the weekend.

 

[grbmds]

I know it's not a popular thing to do, but I always read the manual. In this case, I believe there is a Supplemental Manual online also, which can be very helpful. The only reason to fine tune it outside of getting rid of the play on the guide rail, is if you find something not right on some test cuts.

 

[eddomak]

Fantastic! The TS55 was also my first Festool and awesome with some form of dust collection (even if the budget only extends to a shop vac).

You can watch the official setup video here:

Setup Video

I can't remember, but there is conflicting advice in different Festool publications about whether to set the saw at full plunge or partial plunge when cutting the sacrificial strip. I doubt it makes much difference.

Paul Marcel's videos are also always fantastic:
Refreshing a Splinter Guard