Well, I had tentatively decided on the TS55/MFT combo, but when I went down to my local Woodcraft, I could not get waited on. I purposely went mid afternoon, when they would not be too busy, but after looking around for about twenty minutes, I gave up and went home...
Prospective Owner with a few questions...
- Thread starter bs0755
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copcarcollector
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bs0755 said:
That sucks. If you have made the decision on what to buy, there are many great online dealers who know what customer service is. And most dont charge you shipping or sales tax outside their home state. Might be worth a look.
SS Teach
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The TS WFT/3 with a CT would be a great combo. Cutting sheet goods with a TS and track is a lot easier and safer than with a table saw. The MFT/3 is a tremendous work surface. You will need an assortment of clamps to go with the MFT. As far as I am concerned a CT is a must. Your lungs are worth more than the cost of the CT. Later when your wallet allows and you want to expand your Festools you can add sanders, you'll need more than one, a jigsaw, a Domino, and a router or two. Everything connects to the MFT, guide rail, or CT in one fashion or another. Most importantly you will find your outcomes will be better then you expected. Watch some Youtube videos on the various Festools and you will see how much better Festools are. Good luck with you decisions. This is a great site for useful information.
roblg3
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The discount on the MFT saw combo allows for a 10% discount which can be used for a few dust masks. The versatility of an MFT gives you the opportunity do a lot of things that were either difficult or impossible previously. You are a hobbyist so wearing the occasional dust mask probably wouldn't be that uncomfortable. Then you can get another 10% on the ct if you get one of the awesome sanders I think the RO90dxFEQ is the most versatile "projects" sander festool makes. And then you'll have the variable suction that a shop vac doesn't. That is "IF" you decide to buy into the system, which I recommend, if it's affordable for you.
By the way, you'll find festool to be the same price wherever you purchase it so you don't have to price shop, just click and order wherever you feel comfortable. Amazon ships quickly or one of the guys on here are good.
By the way, you'll find festool to be the same price wherever you purchase it so you don't have to price shop, just click and order wherever you feel comfortable. Amazon ships quickly or one of the guys on here are good.
I puchased a ts55, ct48, ro150 and parallel guides from woodwerks over a month ago.
Ts55 is lighter and easy to handle than the 75
Ro150 is good for big flat projects not detail work.
Ct48 is back ordered, parallel guides are back ordered. A month has passed and still waiting. The charge card was billed for all items ordered and not when the items shipped.
So call before placing an order to see if it the items you want are in stock.
Make you own work table and use the money saved to buy a tool.
Ts55 is lighter and easy to handle than the 75
Ro150 is good for big flat projects not detail work.
Ct48 is back ordered, parallel guides are back ordered. A month has passed and still waiting. The charge card was billed for all items ordered and not when the items shipped.
So call before placing an order to see if it the items you want are in stock.
Make you own work table and use the money saved to buy a tool.
Buy the MFT3 and the TS55 and add a cyclone to your shop vac and you will have a good working system right away. See the Wood whisperer shoot out on cyclone separators. If using 55" rails always switch to LR32 rails. Joining rails for cutting 8' board works good, a 3000 rail is absolutely perfect if you can store it. Fein has a connector that will work with most hoses on the TS55
Festool vacuum truly important with their sanders and I prefer the Midi as it is portable and you will be carrying it around the house for projects. The CT26 is great for workshop use or if you are doing major projects all of the time.
You are embarking on a 4-7 year journey to upgrade all of your tools (green slippery slope). Keep your Makita till you are comfortable with the TS55 capacity. I sold my portable table saw when I got the CMS TS 55 insert, waited 4 years for that one.
Festool vacuum truly important with their sanders and I prefer the Midi as it is portable and you will be carrying it around the house for projects. The CT26 is great for workshop use or if you are doing major projects all of the time.
You are embarking on a 4-7 year journey to upgrade all of your tools (green slippery slope). Keep your Makita till you are comfortable with the TS55 capacity. I sold my portable table saw when I got the CMS TS 55 insert, waited 4 years for that one.
Don't forget that Festool will increase their prices again on April 1. In the "dealer" section, someone posted the list of prices after April 1. Dust extractors will see a significant price increase, as much as 6-7%. I think you need to do the math and figure out what works better for you financially (with the coming price increase in mind) and what your further plans are. You can buy MFT/3 in a package only with the track saw. This is your only opportunity to save on MFT/3. You can buy a dust extractor in a package with many other tools. You will most likely buy more than just the track saw, so there will be many opportunities to buy the dust extractor. If you can, order both (maybe TS55+MFT-3 and Midi + sander).
You need a dust extractor to use with TS55. Otherwise, you will be all covered in saw dust. Festool tools work really poorly without a vacuum, worse than most other tools. You could use a regular shop vacuum with TS-55, but as a minimum you would need to buy a flexible and thin hose. The cheapest option is the 36 mm Bosch hose which is around $40 on Amazon. And it still will be a hassle without autostart.
Regarding which vacuum to buy: I have a Midi, 2xCT26, and CT36AC, and the Midi is my favorite. The only advantages of CT26 is that it can be used with a boom arm (a nice thing to use with MFT/3, but requires a dedicated vacuum) and that you can plug in a "Y" into it (which is a necessity for the router table). CT26 is definitely larger than the MIDI, but its suction is pretty much the same and all features are the same. You do not have to buy it local, you can as well order it online. Most online retailers ship Festool for free. Just make sure to place your order before March 31.
Mini is probably does not make much sense because it is neither much smaller nor any lighter, but its dust bag is quite a big smaller.
Good luck!
MFT/3 is a great table for work, but it is kind of small. It allows you to cut only relatively small pieces, albeit with a high precision. For anything large, you will have to cut elsewhere.
You need a dust extractor to use with TS55. Otherwise, you will be all covered in saw dust. Festool tools work really poorly without a vacuum, worse than most other tools. You could use a regular shop vacuum with TS-55, but as a minimum you would need to buy a flexible and thin hose. The cheapest option is the 36 mm Bosch hose which is around $40 on Amazon. And it still will be a hassle without autostart.
Regarding which vacuum to buy: I have a Midi, 2xCT26, and CT36AC, and the Midi is my favorite. The only advantages of CT26 is that it can be used with a boom arm (a nice thing to use with MFT/3, but requires a dedicated vacuum) and that you can plug in a "Y" into it (which is a necessity for the router table). CT26 is definitely larger than the MIDI, but its suction is pretty much the same and all features are the same. You do not have to buy it local, you can as well order it online. Most online retailers ship Festool for free. Just make sure to place your order before March 31.
Mini is probably does not make much sense because it is neither much smaller nor any lighter, but its dust bag is quite a big smaller.
Good luck!
MFT/3 is a great table for work, but it is kind of small. It allows you to cut only relatively small pieces, albeit with a high precision. For anything large, you will have to cut elsewhere.
