New (used) track saw owner with a few questions.

[Sourwould]

Hello! New member here now that I own my first fes-tool.

I bought a used TS55EQ recently. It just arrived and sadly it appears to have been used by a professional carpenter on site instead of a hobbyist in their garage. I'm going to have to order a few small parts and want to make sure nothing else is missing.

Is the back of the blade/under the motor housing area just open? Nothing missing here?
What is the purpose of this round hole through the base?
Can you buy spare parts (such as a lid) for the old style systainers?

Thanks y'all!

 

[Kevin Johnson]

At first I thought something was missing, but I just looked at my saw and it had that opening there too. I just never noticed it before. So I would say nothing is missing there.

I once was able to purchase a lid for one of my systainers when I damaged it so parts should be available.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Alanbach]

So like Kevin I just went and looked at mine. My model is a little newer than your so there may be slight variations. When looking at your second picture mine looks the same as yours, nothing missing that I can see. As far as the first picture is concerned right at the base of your thumb is where the green splinterguard goes. It is optional but like any splinterguard helps with the quality of the cut. Mine slides up from the bottom and then there is a black knob on the side that secures it. Do you have that black knob on the side of the saw? The splinter guard is a wear part and is easily replaced. Depending on how picky you are about splintered cuts you might even want to buy two so you have a spare.

Also if you have not already done so go to the Festool USA site and download the Suplemental manual for the TS 55. It is much better than the factory manual.

 

[usernumber1]

you can see the breakdown of every piece on the EKAT website. every one of those parts can be ordered
https://ekat.festool.de/login/jsp/m...-Kunde-FT_US&password=Customer&design=festool

 

[Sourwould]

Thanks for the help y'all. I was able to determine that there's nothing else missing from that exploded diagram. Thinking about going ahead and ordering a new base. $50 isn't bad at all.

 

[tallgrass]

instead of ordering a new base, how about using a plate glass and find sand paper and wet sand is to a fine finish? It might do the trick. I did this and re-shot one of my saws with a teflon paint and it was fantastic.

 

[Sourwould]

I'm not really worried about the bottom. It slides fine on the track. The screws for setting zero have ground little craters into the top of the base. I have not made a test cut or set up the saw at all yet. Really need to do that to determine if I need to mess with the base at all.

The part that was missing was the rear bevel knob/bolt. Looks like the previous owner was using it with the rear of the base flapping in the breeze. Hopefully that hasn't caused any issues.

 

[Sourwould]

Well, I guess it doesn't slide fine on the track after all. Got geared up today to give the saw a fine tuning and noticed it rocking side to side on the track. Put a straight edge on the base and it's got a nice big cup. Probably about 3/16. I'll be shipping this back to the seller.

I'm a bit skiddish about buying another used saw might might the bullet and get the new model or look at the makita a little more closely.

 

[Alanbach]

There is one for sale on this site right now that looks to be in very good condition. Seller says it has less than one hour of use. I do not know the seller or anything about him or the saw other than what I read on this site. I just know that many of the tools I have seen for sale on this site look like they are often in very good condition and have been very well kept.

 

[Sourwould]

Thanks for the heads up. The seller is only a few hours from me.

 

[Alanbach]

Cool! Good luck!