Precisio CS70 EB Set

[AlexThePalex]

Three weeks ago I asked people here their advice about which tablesaw might be best to purchase for me. Against all expectations I got a lot of response and some very sound advice about both the CMS TS and Precisio systems. I want to thank all people again who gave their opinion on the matter, it really helped me make the right choice.

After reading everything and getting the saws demonstrated in the store I decided on the Precisio mobile tablesaw. So I started to look for a used CS 50. Turned out it's hardly offered. The CS 70 on the other hand, was very good available, both used and unused but 2nd hand. I am amazed about how many people buy very expensive gear and then for some reason sell it again without even using it.

Anyway, I had my mind set on a basic CS50 model without any extensions, I thought, I can get the extensions later on. It is expensive enough as it is at 1280 euro new. I really hoped I might find one used for 600 to 700 euro. Well, forget it. None offered. After I put a WTB ad up one Festool dealer contacted me, I could get a new demo model for 950 euro because they wanted to get rid of it. Seemed way to expensive for me so, being the pauper cheapskate I am, I didn't buy it. Found a used CS50 somewhere else but the guy wanted 800 for it. Uhm, no. That's way too much. He didn't come off as all that reliable either.

And yesterday, I had a streak of luck beyond imagination. I still can hardly believe it. A retired contractor offered his 'slightly' used CS 70 EB SET for sale. The whole shabang, the big boy with all extensions and accessories included. Starting bid 1000 euro. So I bid it. Only last week did I see one going for 1850. New price almost 2800 euros. 15 minutes later I get an email to call him. I call. He accepts . I jump through the roof.
[blink] [drooling] [big grin]    

So today I go to him to get it. Turns out the machine wasn't 'slightly' used but more like 'very' used. Didn't matter, this was still a steal because over all it's still in perfect condition. It got paint and glue and stuff on it so here and there, but nothing I can't clean up. It's a bit squeaky when I move the parts around but nothing a drop of oil won't fix. Needs some calibration. It's great to see it has these adjuster screws all over the place to level and calibrate every single part of it. I am just so very pleased.  I still can't believe it. I would have been content to get the small basic CS50 for 700. As fate wants it, I get the big CS 70 with all bells and whistles for only 1000. Now that's cool.  Exceptionally cool. [cool]  [cool]

Here some pics:

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[woodguy7]

Looks like a nice addition to the family Alex.  I have never seen one of these before so thanks for all the pics, very interesting.  How portable is it though ?  Looks like it might be a bit of a handfull to move from workshop to site ?

Woodguy.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Looks like a nice addition to the family Alex.  I have never seen one of these before so thanks for all the pics, very interesting.  How portable is it though ?  Looks like it might be a bit of a handfull to move from workshop to site ?

I think it is reasonably portable. The basic unit weighs 34 Kg, and together with all the extensions it's 66 Kg. It's perceived portability also depends on how big and strong you are I guess. I know from experience I'm a bit stronger then the average man so I have no problems lifting it and carrying it for not too long distances (say from car to set up spot), but I can understand other people might like it less. The size does make it a bit difficult to carry up small stairs and through doors. Anyway, I'm just a hobbyist so I'm not hauling this thing around all day like a pro would. All I need is to take it out of my shed and set it up in my backyard when I need it. Set it up and took it apart a couple of times this afternoon and I think that when I really get the hang of it I can do it in 5 minutes.   

 

[Brice Burrell]

[thumbs up] Glad you found a good deal. Your pictures might be the most complete set I've on this product. Maybe after you've had some time to use you can do a short review. Enjoy your new saw.

 

[peter halle]

Alex,

Congratulations!  Well done!  Now I am jealous.  Wish we could get them.  I find it interesting seeing all of the parts and pieces on your tool that have made their way into the design of the MFT/3.

Use it in good health!

Peter

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I call not fair.

 

[GPowers]

LOL, it is not even offered in the USA? [sad]

 

[PeterK]

Yep - NAINA!!
May be wrong but I think these are the first pictures posted here of that system. I surely have never seen one of these before. Looks like Festool outdid themselves designing that piece of gear. Impressive!!!

 

[Nigel]

  Very nice Alex,looks like a wicked saw at an unbelievable price,how lucky can you get ?Seems to have tracks in the left hand table top from the pics is that correct?

 

[hoedma]

Hi Alex,

You must be chuffed to bits. Well done and have fun. Just take a pile of scrap wood and start up the CS70. The festool site has some good application examples of style and rail and such. I went through a couple of those to get a feel for the saw but mostly for the enjoyment of it. It is very precise and I just love using everytime.

Cheers,
Mattijs

 

[jonny round boy]

I found a CS50 on eBay UK over the weekend. It's advertised as new (ex display), but no box, starting price GBP350. Also, the seller has mis-typed, and it's listed as a CB50 in the description.

The seller had put little info, and used a stock photo of the CS50 with both the fixed and sliding table extensions. I emailed him to confirm that the photo was correct, and that he had the extensions - it wasn't, he's only selling the base unit. I told him the ad was very misleading, and that he should change the picture or at least add a note in the description. He hasn't. There is one bid on it now,with 3 days to go, but I think others will bid later & someone will end up disappointed...

The thing is, if it is ex-display, then the seller is most likely a Festool dealer. If that's the case then they should at least put an accurate description! If the seller isn't a Festool dealer, then where have they got an ex-display unit from? Off the back of a lorry, perhaps?

 

[jvsteenb]

Alex,

Congratulations on your sweet deal !
One day I'd like to have one of them myself, but for now the CMS suffices.

Regards,

Job

 

[Forrest Anderson]

I found a CS50 on eBay UK over the weekend. It's advertised as new (ex display), but no box, starting price GBP350. Also, the seller has mis-typed, and it's listed as a CB50 in the description.

The seller had put little info, and used a stock photo of the CS50 with both the fixed and sliding table extensions. I emailed him to confirm that the photo was correct, and that he had the extensions - it wasn't, he's only selling the base unit. I told him the ad was very misleading, and that he should change the picture or at least add a note in the description. He hasn't. There is one bid on it now,with 3 days to go, but I think others will bid later & someone will end up disappointed...

I saw that one too, and also wrote to him at 3pm on Sat, asking if it came with the extensions etc, and if it didnt' suggested he changed the photo and preferably supplied photos of the machine he *was* selling. Like what happened to you, he wrote back and told and me that it didn't come with the extras, however the photo of the "SET" version remains. So that's two people who have told him!

He only registered on eBay on the dale that sale started (23 Apr) and his feedback is zero so far, but he has several Makita power tools now up for sale too (with stock photos). These are 3-day auctions, and all sales are due to end on 29 or 30 Apr.

Forrest

 

[AlexThePalex]

[thumbs up] Glad you found a good deal. Your pictures might be the most complete set I've on this product. Maybe after you've had some time to use you can do a short review. Enjoy your new saw.

Sure, I can do a small review. Along with a couple of others I am long overdue for. I got a laminate flooring job next week, so that will be a good chance to try it out.

I do have one question for you or perhaps somebody else who knows it. I didn't expect to get this saw in time for that laminate flooring job and I ordered a special Festool saw blade of 190mm from Germany for my DeWalt saw that's in my old home build TS. But now it seems it is redundant. However, if I have to change it out I won't have it back in time so I was thinking of using the 190 mm blade in the CS70 although it needs a 225 mm blade instead of a 190. The arbor bore is the same though, 30 mm for both. Do you think this is possible, or could it give problems?

Congratulations!  Well done!  Now I am jealous.  Wish we could get them.  I find it interesting seeing all of the parts and pieces on your tool that have made their way into the design of the MFT/3.

It sure is amazing to see how much parts look more or less the same. Well, that makes the system for ya. 

Very nice Alex,looks like a wicked saw at an unbelievable price,how lucky can you get ?Seems to have tracks in the left hand table top from the pics is that correct?

Yes Nigel, there's a track in it that will fit a Festool clamp. See the second photo below.

The festool site has some good application examples of style and rail and such. I went through a couple of those to get a feel for the saw but mostly for the enjoyment of it.

Thanks Mattijs, got a link for those examples?

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I have one general question though, as you can see in above pictures the aluminium surface has lots of superficial but ugly looking scratches. Does anybody know if there's a way to polish/buff them out of the aluminium with for instance a Rotex?

 

[Frank-Jan]

Alex, congratulations with your purchase, I'm sure you'll enjoy it for a long time.
One of the main reasons I like festool tools so much is the ekat site, you can see the blown up picture with a numbered partslist, with the prices next to it for the individual parts; my cs70 gets hauled around alot in my van, and I've replaced the rubber feet on the legs and the base, one of the scales, and a few times a flat nut and a thumbscrew, that came off and got lost from the outfeedtable, (the outfeedtable is stored in my van all the time, I don't really like the tablewidener and the ripfence, so I mostly leave them at home; I don't have a sliding table). So if you notice any missing or worn parts they're easy to replace.

Another thing I like is that most of the dealers have plenty of blades in stock (Allthough I was surprised they only have very limited diversity of grits in sandpaper when I got my rotex) I don't know if the store in Germany you ordered the blade from has much better pricing than the local stores, otherwise I would just get the apropriate blade locally, and replace the 190mm with a different type you might need. I wouldn't use the smaller blade in the CS, because, unlike on the big tablesaws where it's normal to use different sizes of blades, the rivingknife can't be adjusted closer to the blade.

I have also seen the articles Mattijs mentioned, there used to be quite a few on the festool site, and even more on the German site, but with the new websitedesign I can't locate them anymore.

 

[AlexThePalex]

One of the main reasons I like festool tools so much is the ekat site, you can see the blown up picture with a numbered partslist, with the prices next to it for the individual parts;  .......  So if you notice any missing or worn parts they're easy to replace.

Frank, thanks for your detailed answer. I think the ekat comes in very handy but is not especially more of an extra than other tool brands have. You can find part listing and diagrams for most other brands too. I do find the ekat is absolutely the best in navigation and clarity.   

Another thing I like is that most of the dealers have plenty of blades in stock (Allthough I was surprised they only have very limited diversity of grits in sandpaper when I got my rotex)

I was surprised about that too. It is nice for the saw owners, but not so for the sander owners. I have to order a lot of my sandpaper instead of just walking out of the store with it, which is kind of a bummer.

I don't know if the store in Germany you ordered the blade from has much better pricing than the local stores, otherwise I would just get the apropriate blade locally, and replace the 190mm with a different type you might need.

How about 33%? I got the 190mm "Special saw blade 190x2,6x30 TF54" for 49 vs 149 euro. The 225mm "Special saw blade 225x2,6x30 TF64" would come at 50% with 88 vs 172 euro. Now I'm just a hobbyist and I find 50 euro for a sawblade expensive enough already. No way I'm gonna put down 172 for the CS70 special blade.

The saw did come with the Universal saw blade 225x2,6x30 W32 and the Fine tooth saw blade 225x2,6x30 W48. Do you think the W48 fine tooth saw blade could also do laminate to satisfaction?

On the other hand, I'd really like to keep the 190mm blade because it will also fit my DW65 circular saw. I just thought it might be a great if I could use the same blade for both saws.

I wouldn't use the smaller blade in the CS, because, unlike on the big tablesaws where it's normal to use different sizes of blades, the rivingknife can't be adjusted closer to the blade.

I was actually mostly wondering about the resulting cut. A tooth on a 190 mm blade will travel slower than a tooth on a 225 mm blade at the same RPM. I'm not that worried about the riving knife because the blade will only have 17,5 mm less (225-190)/2. Looking at the size of most objects I saw I guess 99% will reach the riving knife while there's still such a considerable amount of wood connected on the front side that it will stay straight. If need must be I could make my own custom riving knife out of a piece of sheet metal to fill up the 17,5 mm.

I have also seen the articles Mattijs mentioned, there used to be quite a few on the festool site, and even more on the German site, but with the new websitedesign I can't locate them anymore.

I was looking for them but I couldn't find them either. So many stuff has disappeared with the introduction of the new design. Pity.

 

[vulcan]

Enhorabuena por tu compra, yo la tengo desde hace algunos años y cada día estoy mas contento, perdonad que escriba en español pero mi ingles es muy rudimentario, así que me defiendo a través del traductor de google, vivo en España y soy un asiduo de este foro felicidades a sus creadores y gracias a todos por lo que aportáis en el gracias a lo cual aprendo tanto, aquí un amigo para lo que queráis. [big grin]

 

[Wood_Junkie]

Enhorabuena por tu compra, yo la tengo desde hace algunos años y cada día estoy mas contento, perdonad que escriba en español pero mi ingles es muy rudimentario, así que me defiendo a través del traductor de google, vivo en España y soy un asiduo de este foro felicidades a sus creadores y gracias a todos por lo que aportáis en el gracias a lo cual aprendo tanto, aquí un amigo para lo que queráis. [big grin]

Bienvenidos!      [welcome]

Toda la gente aqui son muy amable y no te preocupes por mala Inglés.  Pero, casi toda la discusión está en Inglés.

 

[mouppe]

Enhorabuena por tu compra, yo la tengo desde hace algunos años y cada día estoy mas contento, perdonad que escriba en español pero mi ingles es muy rudimentario, así que me defiendo a través del traductor de google, vivo en España y soy un asiduo de este foro felicidades a sus creadores y gracias a todos por lo que aportáis en el gracias a lo cual aprendo tanto, aquí un amigo para lo que queráis. [big grin]

Allow me to translate as best as I can.

Congratulations on your purchase, I have had one for several years and every day I am happier, sorry for writing in Spanish but my English is very basic, so I get by with the google translator, I live in Spain and I am a fan of this forum, well done to its creators and to all those who have posted I have learned so much, here you have a friend for whatever you want.

(this last bit is better translated as "I am here to help however I may." )

My Spanish is a bit rusty but that's the general gist.

Richard.

 

[RONWEN]

That appears to be a contractor's "dream machine" -- very nice.